Soldier Boy's changes from the comics in The Boys season 3 hint at two alternate storyline options for Homelander's death. Filming is well underway for the third season of Amazon's bleak superhero satire, slated for a 2022 release. The Boys has garnered much acclaim for its expert deconstruction of the superhero genre, with critics particularly citing the nuanced and darkly humorous universe The Boys has built alongside its gratuitous helpings of violence.
The Boys season 3 will return with a slew of new faces for Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and company to contend with. Sleepy Hollow's Katia Winter is set to play Russian mob boss Little Nina, while Dexter's Sean Patrick Flanery will Gunpowder, both characters exclusive to the Amazon Original. One big name that writer Eric Kripke will import from the original Dynamite Entertainment comics is Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, who already looks a far more competent superhero than Garth Ennis' original source material.
The changes made for the character of Soldier Boy by The Boys ensure two narrative options remain open for Homelander's death in season 3. Soldier Boy's redesign and Ackles' casting suggests he will take on a more conventionally heroic role - potentially even opposing Homelander - allowing crucial events to unfold without interruption. Soldier Boy's introduction also sets up two storylines that ultimately converge on Homelander's death, with Homelander's son Ryan central in both.
Kripke has already vehemently stated that the Soldier Boy The Boys season 3 will deliver is a far cry from the original comic book character, with his casting of Ackles backing up this statement. In The Boys comics, Soldier Boy is a pathetic excuse for a superhero, craving the attention of The Seven and debasing himself to impress Homelander. In contrast, Ackles' Soldier Boy is labeled an "original badass" by The Boys design team, representing a character who highlights a bygone era of overt masculinity and grit. While it remains to be seen how powerful Soldier Boy will be in The Boys series canon, his stated qualities suggest he will be introduced in direct opposition to Homelander, embodying everything the disgraced leader of the Seven is not.
Inserting Soldier Boy into The Boys as Homelander's rival allows two foreshadowed Homelander deaths to come into play. With Homelander distracted by his rivalry with Soldier Boy, his son Ryan will finally be far from his stifling gaze, allowing his alternate storylines to develop. The Boys already teased the first of these in season 2, where Ryan incapacitating Stormfront reveals he can harm powerful superheroes, including his father. In this timeline, Butcher saving Ryan from Homelander puts the boy on a path as a force for good, with Butcher using Ryan as a weapon against Homelander. Ryan is still a child and needs time to develop control over his emotionally driven superpowers. Without Soldier Boy occupying Homelander's attention, he is simply not allowed this period of growth and reflection in season 3.
The second option for Homelander's death in The Boys season 3 is also facilitated by Soldier Boy's rivalry with Homelander, this time centering around the "Evil Butcher" theory. Butcher is driven insane with hatred for superheroes, taking compound V to kill Homelander himself in The Boys comics. Despite Ryan not existing in the comics, this storyline is still in play, with Soldier Boy's presence again a key setup component. Butcher placing Ryan under CIA care at the end of The Boys season 2 may very well isolate Ryan further and drive him to darkness just as his father was when imprisoned at Vought. Ryan's devolution in captivity will align with The Boys taking compound V to combat Homelander's threat. Butcher is then forced to kill Ryan, who has become a reflection of his father, while Soldier Boy battles Homelander. While Soldier Boy is destined to lose this fight, he will weaken Homelander enough that a now suped-up Butcher can finally kill his nemesis and fulfill the "Villainous Butcher" storyline from the comics. Whatever does come to pass in The Boys season 3, it is a safe bet that the revised version of Soldier Boy will be a central component of the story.