Jensen Ackles has unveiled the latest look at the beard he's grown out for his portrayal of Soldier Boy in the highly anticipated The Boys season 3. Based on Garth Ennis' graphic novel series of the same name, the story centers on a team of vigilantes facing off against corrupt superheroes and fighting to bring them down. The ensemble roster for the series includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, and Dominique McElligott.
First premiering in July 2019, the series put Hugh "Hughie" Campbell Jr. (Quaid) at the front of the story as he witnesses the death of his girlfriend at the hands of the drugged-up speedster A-Train (Jessie Usher) and is recruited by Urban's Billy Butcher to join his cause in fighting against the corrupt supes of the world. Season 2 of the series saw Hughie and the rest of the group on the run from the law while Butcher struggles with the revelation that his thought-to-be-dead wife was still alive and raising the son of villainous supe Homelander. All the while, The Boys and The Seven must deal with the sudden arrival of Stormfront and her dark past.
Series developer and showrunner Eric Kripke took to his Twitter to reveal the photo of Ackles and his large beard from the set of season 3's production. Filming is currently underway for the next chapter in the hit Amazon series and is set to conclude sometime this December. Check out the new photo below:
It's interesting to see Ackles growing out any kind of facial hair for his role as the supe because the character was clean-shaven in the comics. But given the series' willingness to change certain aspects of the source material, including a gender-swapped Stormfront, throwing a little facial hair on the character seems like a small enough shift. Plus, with Kripke's past comments of the danger Soldier Boy will bring to the series and his gunning for Homelander's position as the leader of the Seven, it's certainly the smaller of the changes.
Across his 15 years on fan-favorite CW series Supernatural, Ackles sported plenty of stubble as Dean Winchester, but never got to let his beard flag fly. Burying himself under a wider head of hair and woodsman-like beard may make him more susceptible to bringing home some errant fake blood at the end of shooting, but could also help him fully dive into the role that could prove to be one of the most formidable foes for The Boys yet. Only time will tell when the Amazon series returns for season 3.
Source: Eric Kripke/Twitter