Soldier Boy: The Villain Nobody Wanted to Lose
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- Опубликовано: 22 апр 2024
- Soldier Boy has always fascinated me, because he's one of the most toxic characters in the show, but he comes with such a strong backing from the fanbase. Like, seriously, people are criticizing Butcher for not siding with him. He was going to murder Ryan. I know the ending isn't super sweet, but...wow.
Not to mean that I didn't like him too. I loved his presence and I found him to be an absolutely HILARIOUS part of the cast. Sure, I wish we could have some more time with him (who knows? maybe we will), but he was also a HUGE issue. I was not eager to see him running around causing chaos in the coming seasons. We got enough sh*t to deal with.
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Should probably clarify the whole “Soldier Boy isn’t straight” thing bc a couple of y’all are a lil confused- so this is just my interpretation of the information Butcher was given from MM at the beginning of season 3 (ep. 2). This was regarding Gunpowder and the abuse leveled at him when he was SB’s sidekick.
It’s never *explicitly* stated that this abuse is sexual. Butcher makes a joke alluding to this, but it is Butcher…so who knows? Gunpowder does deny it. People in the comments have reminded me that this is not a sure or confirmed thing (except for the comics version, apparently). I do think it is rather open-ended though. It could’ve happened, but it’s not an absolute certainty.
Either way, should not have said that he was gay. Just some extrapolation on my part and I apologize for the confusion!
P.S. *No*, I didn’t assume he was gay just bc he’s hot.
You literally said he "hides his homosexuality". Take some responsibility for what you say, dude.
Well in the flashback with his team he does abuse them by beating the hell outa them
@@ghostofuchiha3807I do- I should not have said that he was hiding the fact that he’s gay. That’s not confirmed and frankly there isn’t much evidence to point to it. Reading the comments has helped me more understand the context of what Butcher said. I do apologize!
@@ghostofuchiha3807He literally is. Anybody with eyes can see that he said "I should not have said he was gay" and realize that he's taking responisbility for it.
what's not to like about soldier boy,
Loyal, true to the mission,
The mission is kill Homelander,
not even a kid can stop him.
then Butcher got cold feet. killing homelander
stupid plot
Not to discredit soldier boy at all, but I think part of the reason we love him so much is because we hate homelander so much(mostly because Anthony Starr as homelander is God tier acting), that we are willing to put up with soldier boy just to finally kill homelander
Soldier Boy is just based. That’s all there is to it.
But I love Homelander 👀
Antony…..Antony Starr
Watch the capital g
Not true homelander is a fan favorite and same for soilder boy. The only reason people like soilder boy is because hes badass and he does whatever he wants while not giving a f what people think. So your comment doesn't make sense
Counterpoint, Jensen Ackles is a very attractive man
I second this
Fact
He is one of those handsome actors who over time became monsters in their acting, it's a shame that not all of them are like that...
I'm not gay but Jensen Ackles is Jensen Ackles
I think fans like Soldier Boy because he never switches sides or lies. He is 100% consistent.
That is definitely a main reason for me. I idolize characters who never change themselves at all! Example being Jegal Taek, Frieza, Kongou Akira, or Walter Kovacs.
he actually DOES lie, it's one of the main traits of his character, he's constantly lying about his war experience because of his insecurity, when it was revealed that he didn't even participate in the war as much as he brags about
@@prska he dint lie. he absoluty believe his war stories.
@@Richardwho-vv5bh you're saying that he's lying to himself? that he imagines himself on the front lines of a battle and he actually thinks his imaginations are real?
even if he really does that, it still doesn't change the fact that it's still a lie
@@Richardwho-vv5bh I feel like people who love and root for soldier boy have never been verbally abused, bullied (physically and verbally), and/or were never put down and told by insecure jerks that they weren’t good enough, especially if any of that became continuous
Another reason why people like him is because he was the only character with more than 2 brain cells in the finale.
Yeah... I hate how the villains in this show are the only ones that are ever competent... like him and stormfront
It honestly felt like half way through the season they realized “ah shit, we made him way too likable” and started editing the script to make him more of a piece of shit but the damage was already done by that point
It really does
He was a fake World War II veteran whose closest teammates/friends despised him.
I think he always sucked, he just hid a lot of the underbelly because that’s usually what fake heroes do.
Even Homelander doesn’t openly act villainous until the end of episode 1.
He even tries to keep up a “come on, guys, don’t fight in front of Starlight!” face for a while.
@@christianc.christian5025 He wasn’t a fake world war 2 veteran, he just didn’t storm Normandy
@@nikeiyomiuri2728Yeah, that’s a fake veteran, man.
He didn’t fight in the war in either the series or the source material. Why do you think they’d pretend he was a part of the Normandy invasion if he really was active elsewhere in Europe?
From the wiki: “The Legend claimed that his participation in the war was Vought propaganda whereas Stan Edgar actually claims the opposite by claiming that he killed Germans by the dozens.”
‘He only lied about Normandy; the rest was true’ is a conclusion drawn in contrast to what’s established.
Another reason is that he wasn't enhanced by the Russians
He was TORTURED
For years
And after he came out he did seem different and somewhat emphatic of his past
Him not joining homelander and even agreeing to take down homelander down was enough for the fans to hope he might become somewhat good
Butcher turning on soldier boy cost them an opportunity and now there is a stronger mini version of homelander that's growing up to be evil.
Well the compound v explosion is a new power he got from the russian
@@norminpontu9905 they didn't "give" to him
They experimented on him and he evolved
And I wouldn't even call it a power given how he NEEDS to explode to dispel the energy or else...
I made that comment cos it sounds like in the video that he's disgusted by soldier boy (understandable).
But not at butcher?
Butcher has done messed up things too if we look at it from that lens
@@daviohla6841 the russians experimented on him with radiation and that gave him his new powers. You can check the wiki if you don’t believe me mane
@@daviohla6841Butcher is definitely *not* a “traditional hero” but I’d really hope that you can tell the reason(s) why someone would criticize Ben and not Billy.
Billy fights back (in an ugly way, at times) against people who want to consolidate their own personal power for the purpose of abusing it.
Soldier Boy not only has false valor, he’s also a vitriolic supremacist.
Butcher is a *real* soldier who didn’t need super-powers in order to do that job… And while he’s a prick and says a lot of offensive shit, he doesn’t base how much collateral damage he causes on whether or not they’re a working-class family in Harlem.
EVERYTHING soldier boy did that was actually fucked up is in the past. At the point of the show, he actually shows growth and that he learned from his mistakes (still a dick, don't get me wrong, but he doesn't really do anything wrong during the time the show takes place). He keeps his word, keeps collateral damage to a minimum (unless you wanna blame him for his PTSD), and is genuinely a positive role model for everyone around him. Of course, he is meant to represent "toxic masculinity", so he has a cartoonishily evil background and everyone turns against him in the end. Soldier boy was right.
At a few Supernatural conventions, Jensen Ackles has been asked the difference between playing a hero like Dean Winchester and a villain like Soldier Boy, and he said an inspiration for his performance was Lee Marvin's response to a similar question: that he has "never played a bad guy in his life." Soldier Boy genuinely believes he is a good guy. That sincerity is hilarious and awful in one so wrong-headed, but a strong performance can make it almost sympathetic. The audience might end up rooting for such a character to become the good guy he believes he is, and maybe part of the tragedy of the character's story is that mismatch between the audience's hopes and the character's reality. Who doesn't love a good redemption arc, but what happens if the character in question tramples all over that arc? Makes me wonder where Soldier Boy's story is headed, if he even returns at all (I hope so).
Yeah, I think a lot of people miss this when they hear an authority figure trying to justify an abuse of power by claiming “that person was a criminal/had it coming.”
A lot of those authority figures might actually believe that - even when they’re lying, they might believe the lies are justified by the ends - but it’s why it’s so important to not require the admission of wrongdoing when deciding if someone in power abused theirs.
A lot of them will *always* think they’re Batman… no matter what they do.
He probably will. The whole train being thrown into MM house was left kinda open
He played red hood... so he technically has played a "bad" guy
@@flamer38544He was also a demon in supernatural for a short time.
KInda remindt me of Handsome Jack from Borderlands 2 and Pre-Sequel.
He also believes he is the Hero until the End.
So crazy to think that Jensen Ackles considered playing Captain America for the MCU at one point, Jensen is literally Soldier Boy, he was literally BORN to play him. I can’t see anyone else play Soldier Boy.
Tbf I’d rather seen him fighting Thanos with thors hammer than Chris any day, way better actor imo.
@@rikflare7970 I’d still be down to see Jensen Ackles play the new Captain America for the rebooted MCU after Avengers: Secret Wars
While morally grey characters can be interesting, there is something refreshing about an unrelenting piece of work as a villain that makes them a palate cleanser for people who are tired of mushy characters who won't own their behavior or give excuses. The man is a jerk and he makes no bones about it
I think he’s also a good depiction of someone who is “cool” and “principled” when at rest, but then loses it under pressure. This effect seemed to worsen after his confinement by the Russians.
A lot of people see themselves as “the good guy” because they simply discount or excuse any bad moments as outlying circumstances.
I don't think Soldier Boy knew about the Bill Cosby arrest. He was just bringing up someone he thougt he knew from before he was captured. Also with how strong Soldier Boy is he probably didn't realize the drinks were spiked.
Huey said there is a lot to unpack there. Also yes he is a bad person but he at least isn't an active threat to civilians as long as his PTSD doesn't trigger. Even when he saw people doing stuff he doesn't agree with he didn't go over beat the hell out of them he just rolled his eyes or said some jab while watching the TV.
Agreed
@@arananime3156 Given enough time he would. He probably wouldn't care about Cosby considering he pulled a Cosby on Gunpowder at least once if not multiple times when he didn't have access to women. He almost beat Black Noir to death when confronted with the fact that he lied to the producer of Beverly Hills Cop. Because he was threatened that Black Noir might have a shot at blowing up to become a big star at a time when Solider Boys career wasn't what it had been. Wanting everyone on the team to be subservient to him the way Gunpowder put up with being physically abused on a regular basis in front of all of them for "training purposes."
I am not going to argue about who I think is the bigger threat between Solider Boy and Homelander. You can with a lot of effort knock Solider Boy out so the pragmatic view would have been to let him kill Ryan. When this was the only time they ever had a chance and a way to get rid of Homelander. Considering Homelander would not be able to do it as skillfully but if pushed would do to Earth what Nolan did to the invading time dilation planet in season 1 of Invincible. And then regret it the next day since he likes to destroy things but he also wants people to do work for him and an Earth in ashes with him alone, he'd go mad being the last man on earth after a month, well more mad than he already is.
Butcher had his Starlord in Infinity War moment. Though it came from a slightly more selfless place, instead of giving in to his urge to hurt the person who hurt him. He put aside the one thing he's wanted to do for almost a decade and honored the promise he made to his wife regarding her son. Unlike Starlord who could have waited for a couple of minutes, and used one of the stones to pulverize Thanos.
@@dcworld4349 what? Gunpowder literally said soldier boy didnt fuck him, he just beat him up like noir.
@@timwoods8297 And you think he had no reason to hide his shame? In a show that is filled with both over very overt and more subtle covert subtext. Where the overt subtext is often put right in your face as lampshading, and they do it the right way. Rather than using it as an excuse for poor writing. It gets used in the meta narrative. While the subtle covert subtext is never tackled directly.
It's not exactly a stretch that Gunpowder put up with a lot more than just beatings. He could wear that as a sick badge of honor "I took regular beatings from Soldier Boy and lived to tell about it." The other thing, it's hard enough for women to say that it's happened to them despite people being much more understanding of it. This is a man and he was supposed to be this mans Bucky, his Robin, of course he's going to lie not just to other people but bury it and lie to himself about it.
Also if that's not enough we know there is one scene that Ackles straight up refused to do when he got the script. We don't know exactly what it is, but his language of why he refused. And the fact that he's had no problem doing some very horrible things in the show. Does narrow it done pretty easily.
Homelander: Liquid Snake
Butcher: Solid Snake
Soldier Boy: Big Boss
Hughie: Naked Raiden
Venom Snake: Black Noir
damn💀😂
EXACTLY!!!
Does that mean Hughie is Raiden?
@@Cappuccino_Rabbit yep
After Googling this, this is so accurate 😂
Wait Soldier Boy was a villain? News to me.
it’s hard to hate jensen
I’ve yet to see a single fan that hates Jensen. Dudes a magnificent actor.
@@darkclaw1462there’s people who hate him simply because so many people like him
I've seen that side of things. When people get mad because they don't get the hype or when they think he's overshadowing their favourites etc. Still even on toxic twitter he fares better than most popular actors.
Soldier Boy is liked because he feels flawed but redeemable, unlike Homelander. We see several examples of him caring for others. For one, he seems genuinely remorseful when he accidentally blows up in New York. He also seemed to care for Crimson Countess, looking devastated when she says she hates him.
The next time we see him, he's angry about what happened in Afghanistan after having presumably served there, further showing some semblance of care about what he was fighting for. After being tortured for 30 years, he's disgusted upon coming into contact with Homelander because he realizes how Homelander is a reflection of the horrible person he himself used to be.
MM's family was a mistake, and Ryan is a second homelander in that fight.
No where is it clear that he "loves" killing children, and compared to the rest of the superheroes he's not THAT bad.
yeah. him bragging about killing many other families is probably because he sees remorse as weakness, because of his asshole father
I think the reason people were upset about Butcher turning on Soldier Boy in the finale is that its shown his powers remove compound V from supes and it doesn't usually outright kill them. Ryan and Homelander likely would've survived the blast but been left powerless. Ryan could've gone on to live as normal as a life as a kid put in such a horrible situation could and Homelander could've been taken off the playing field for good.
We actually don't know if Ryan and Homelander would have survived for sure, They aren't regular Super's that were given there powers as babies, They both born with their powers, for example Ryan had his powers from since he was in his mother's womb, and his father Homelander is The same way because Their powers are so connected to their biology, removing them could be like removing their heart's or removing their brains from their bodies, We really don't know if they can even go on living without their power's.
@@davidcarty7584Not to mention, while Maeve survived a complicated situation, the Crimson Countess and almost everyone at Herogasm outright died.
I don’t know where this theory that Ryan and Homelander would’ve survived comes from, but Kimiko and Maeve were both hit indirectly either by jumping into the blastwave or by tackling him out a window as he was going off.
His blasts does kill supes. It killed Countess, TNT Twins, and killed a bunch of supes at Herogasm. Ryan isn’t very strong, so he likely wouldn’t survive a full power blast.
@@victornieves1794 True but those supes don't poses the same endurance, strength and impenetrable skin as Homelander and Ryan. They where killed by the blast like a normal people would be killed by it.
It is made pretty clear the this special power "burns" V from the blood. The fact that it comes in the form of an explosion/blast would obviously kill those supes that can't handle an explosion.
But for example those who do have that ability, like Homelander, Ryan, Butcher obviously Maeve, Stormfront maybe, would survive but they would be affected by the depowering effect.
Not sure about Ryan regarding it's depowering. He could, maybe even should keep it's powers as he was never given compound V.
@@christianc.christian5025 Maeve's survival literally made me groan. The most inconsistent thing ever.
Whenever Soldier Boy was on screen I was always entertained
I thought it was, from a purely "greater good" point of view, illogical turning on soldier boy for one reason: soldier boy has been and can be contained.
Sure he was going to murder a child, but in exchange of finally ridding the world from the stain that is Homelander, someone who actually can't be contained, it was worth the sacrifice.
I think most people feel this way until it’s their relative or acquaintance who’s being sacrificed.
@@christianc.christian5025true, but if home lander lives, then more of their relatives could be killed but I understand that still wouldn't make some make that choice, even me
Its also not even a 100% guarantee that they would have died in the first place, as both are extremely durable and other supes like kimiko and some herogasm dudes survived getting hit
By murdering the child, he wouldve actually ridded the world of yet *another* Homelander. And they presented him as the villain for that? And then they show Brian smile as an innocent man gets murdered? It doesnt work.
to add to his complexity, he seemed to have genuine remorse for killing a bunch of people when he exploded in the streets after his PTSD episode
I think its 3 key reasons.
-Homelander is worse to deal with
-Jensen ackles as an actor.
-And soldierboy being fun even though hes a bad guy.
I'm genuinely glad jensen and jared managed to avoid the CW curse.
Soldier boy is liked because he does not care. He does not try to hide anything, he act the way he is. In a show where nearly every character is manupulative he stands out as different.
I wish they explained soldier boy killing MM's family better I still have no idea how tf that all went down.
I know he threw a car into their home but why and how? was he fighting someone and the car he threw accidentally killed MM's family or did soldier boy just decide "fuck this family in particular"?
It seemed to me Soldier Boy just pulled an A-Train. The common trait between the comic and the show (aside from every supe is a bit of a pervert) is very few Superheroes actually care. The difference between Homelander and every other Superhero is he's actively vindictive and malicious to people. I think Soldier Boy shares those traits but he doesnt really revel in that or seek it out. He seems mostly content to just exert dominance over the people around him.
@@arcanefury3666so he was just reckless and uncaring of the collateral? Yeah I can see that being how it went down.
@@mr.protagonist5639 basically like very avenger movie where we don't know how but every time hulk or any other hero comes along the entirety of NY is always safe somewhere and they could give a rats ass about the collateral( but the boys shows that's not true , similar to how we saw supes finally being held in trial for their irresponsible actions in civil war)
It's obviously collateral since the show itself often shows supes causing collateral damages to civilians, like how A-train accidentally ran through Hughie's girlfriend.
It's obvious that it was only collateral damage, but the show through its writing and MMs portrayal that THAT isn't why MM hates him, but rather that Soldier Boy is a white supremacist without ever showing how he is. People are tired of seeing people be labeled as racist, sexist, or some other ist just because of an action without ever attempting to understand the full story.
Part of it is probably to do with Jensen Ackles just OOZING charisma. He's the one guy who could kick a puppy and a significant number of people would probably be like "oh okay, thats fine".
"I'm not thirsting over this mAn"💅💅💅
My problem was I only saw Dean from Supernatural in a costume so thats why I didn't want him to lose
Reasons no one wanted to lose soldier boy:
50% because Jensen Ackles aka dean winchester plays him
50% he isn't scared to run the fade with HL
Honestly, a great twist I was hoping would occur in s3 was Homelander simply dying, and then they could pivot into making Soldierboy the new main antagonist. It would have been shocking, but I think it could have really worked too!
He would be a more interesting villain.
You don’t even have to kill homelander. Could have just used the blast and make him manageable.
I think a big part of the show is waiting for homelander to finally snap. I would've been dissapointed if they killed him off earlier
Wait hold on where is it stated that he is homosexual in the show, I’m genuinely curious that caught me off guard, in the comics he is I mean everyone fucked everything in there but when is it said in the show wat episode?
Referring to his relationship with Gunpowder- it’s stated in the show (I believe in Season 3, Episode 2) that Soldier Boy used to sexually abuse him when he was SB’s sidekick. Calling him homosexual is technically incorrect, since he is not exclusively with men, but I simply wanted to point out that Soldier Boy is technically queer and goes to great lengths to cover it up.
@@PosiTVty. if I remember well gunpowder said to butcher *he never touched me like that* implying that his abuse was similar to noir’s where he would just beat him up in training for his ego but who knows maybe he is bi , he was in the comics at least
@@chriscolombie4135 he was a genuine joke in the comics, this is a pure rework. This is pretty much what twitter thinks Captain America is like
@@asaknight321 I actually like the rework but the boys comics were just straight up bad but with genuinely good ideas and moments and yeah that replacement soldier boi was a pussy in every sense of the term
@@chriscolombie4135 the comics were definitely horrible, glad they turned nothing into something with this show
I don't really see soldier boy as a villain, just an asshole with superpowers, he didn't "murder MM's family" on purpose, he was just being an idiot and throwing a car into a house without thinking about the consequences, i don't think he's good, just alot worse than Homelander
I think Homelander is far worse. Soldier Boy is an irresponsible jackass but a whole lot more manageable...
@@saidi7975 same here, i completely agree with you.
Bro loved them GILFS! What’s not to love?!
It was surprising just how quickly how Soldier Boy became one of my favorite characters, thanks in no small part to Jensen, he is just so charismatic.
One issue I did have with the season was at the end of the fight in the finale where they administered the gas to knock him out, where MM douses him in it and calls him a ‘racist’ piece of shit. Honestly, that made me blink because it feels like something that came out of nowhere, and I asked out loud ‘how is he racist?’ Sexiest? For sure. Toxic? Most definitely. But racist? Huh?
I know the obvious point people would bring up is that he killed MM’s family, who were all black, but when confronted with that from MM in Herogasm, Soldier Boy said ‘which one?’ While this could imply that he murdered multiple black families on purpose, I always saw it as he killed so many people and families, not just black, that him saying which one meant that he didn’t bother to care and that many of them may have just been collateral damage, not purposefully and racially done.
If the show was trying to portray him as racist, they probably should have done more to show that before they threw out that line, because all his interactions say otherwise. He beat up Black Noir because Soldier Boy felt that Noir was trying to ‘move on up in the world’ and challenge his popularity, he even says that Axel Foley is funny while Noir isn’t. He was apparently friends with Bill Cosby, and when he saw a gay couple on the streets of New York, he didn’t even look disgusted or anything, just surprised, even befuddled.
Not really trying to defend him, he is still a shit human being, but I feel like the show was trying to depict SB as something he wasn’t or didn’t put in the work enough to show this ‘racist’ side. It could just all be from MM’s perspective but if the show did show more instance of this I would be okay with it, it’s just a weird nitpick that I can’t help but point out and cringe at.
“move up in the world” is actually an archaic term against Black people moving up in the social hierarchy, not popularity. And that liking Foley and Cosby thing means that POC are only good to him if they’re entertaining clowns, for their own enjoyment; if they don’t personally make him happy then they don’t have the right… SB shouldn’t dictate Noir, if he was funny or not was HIS right to pursue, and upto the general public to accept him or not.
This is a case of “tokenism” - Bigots often have a chosen 1 or 2 that they personally approve which they then force as a standard on others. A common case nowadays is for female characters in media - you’ll often see misogynist critics claim they like strong female characters, just “well written” ones: and they’ll give Sarah Conner and Ripley as examples… ONLY those 2. Out of the millions upon millions of media on earth, they choose ONLY those 2 (and another couple more who are identical to them), over and over again. Other people aren’t allowed to accept different characters, JUST those 2 pre-approved ones. This is kinda what’s happening here.
@@LilacSreyaFair enough, I actually didn’t know about the potential, if not implicit, meaning behind those choice of word, and thank you for teaching me something new about that.
You bring up a good point with the type of black people that Soldier Boy is okay with and I can see how that can be evidence of him being slightly racist, if not fully.
I still have some reservations before fully calling SB a racist (or it could be bias on my part because I don’t want to associate a character of Jensen to be racist but whatever). For instance, SB called Cosby ‘America’s Dad’ and seemed to have some respect or fond familiarity toward Cosby with how he talked about him and that’s why I assumed he wasn’t racist or didn’t notice the similar professions of Foley and Cosby.
If what you said is perhaps a subtle intention of the writers that I missed, then again thank you, however I still would have liked to have seen something more explicit of SB being racist rather than just kill MM’s family, because not only is the full backstory of that event or the intent behind SB’s actions still unknown, and likely forever unknown unless we thaw him out and ask him, but as good as saying things implicitly is good sometimes we need more concrete evidence. I’m not advocating for SB to start dropping N-bombs and racial slurs but rather a more ‘show-don’t-tell’ approach like a subtle, but a viewable look of disdain or disgust toward a POC like MM or like with Stormfront by having him attack a POC more violently or with more intent to kill. Him beating up Noir in that ‘move on up’ talk could be evidence of that, but then Noir’s comical remembering of the event also showed SB doing the same with Gunpowder.
Also some people, myself included, can be oblivious idiots that can have something like what you said go right over heads.
@@LilacSreyaHard disagree on the women in lead roles take. Their is absolutely a wide spread trend of female leads being unlikable Mary sues who lack any depth what so ever.
@@LilacSreya thing is MM would have no idea about that interaction he didn't ever talk with anyone who was present for that scene so really he has no reason to believe that Soldier Boy is Racist he knows that him killing his family was due to him being reckless with his powers as opposed to him intentionally deciding to kill a random family because they were black.
it just kinda seems like MM is throwing an insult at someone with no real basis for it given the information he knows it'd make more sense if he said this to Butcher given his prejudice against supes has been a defining part of his character for 3 seasons.
I see it less as racism and more outright douchebaggery. Doesn't make it better, but the whole situation with Noir shows that Ben refuses to shares glory even if Irving's casting attempt was a side gig. Dude was that vain.
The thing is, I don't think he is a villain. His motives aren't exactly evil anymore and they don't exactly oppose our heroes. He's a bad person, but his goals aline with our heroes and each are about the same culpability for his action in modern day. I still say that they didn't need to stop soldier boy to save Ryan because his goal wasn't to kill the kid, just uphold his deal and think he'd understand if butcher said he has his own deal to uphold. I think this is why I still see him as anti-hero/occasional antagonist, not really a villain and probably adds to his likeability
I feel like soldier boy was just misunderstood and when he saids to to Homeland your disappointment I think it’s him looking at himself and see what he become
@@griffeltheestarvlogsmckee8327 I feel like people who love and root for soldier boy have never been verbally abused, bullied (physically and verbally), and/or were never put down and told by insecure jerks that they weren’t good enough, especially if any of that became continuous
His father wasn't wrong when he said he’d taken the easy way out and cheated, SB literally took a performance enhancing substance to become how powerful he is. That's cheating, clean and clear even by today’s rules. Putting twin-turbos V6 doesn't make it a V8, take them away and you're left with what actually is. Stark had it mostly right when he told Cap, “Everything special about you came from a bottle” in Cap’s case his heart and humanity made him special, the bottle just made him powerful too. It’s why Dr. Erskine chose him, he'd fled a country that had a wicked and powerful man instead of a good and powerful man.
Long story short. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. He’s garbage but at least a HINT of sympathy, NOT EMPATHY, just sympathy. Homelander is gonna peak and be crazy and no can stop him. Why not fire a glass canon? At least they know how to stop Soldier Boy if need be. But he also listens to “reason” can be persuaded and even better…looks a good drink. That’s an easy enemy to keep down and out of politics and offing more people with his recklessness
I think you forgot to mention, Soldier Boy was technically Right.
Many people would still be alive if Butcher didn’t turn on him. Homelander would be dead and yes Ryan too but with what is happening to Ryan now it may have been better that way.
Another reason for liking him that a lot of people don't give him enough credit for is that he seemingly gets shit done. A lot of superhero shows, and TV shows in general for that matter these days, have characters constantly fretting over whether or not they're doing the right thing. Equally, main characters get in dire straits because they won't kill the villain/have to make some grand social commentary gesture.
In a show that is ostensibly a satire of superheroes, The Boys has their characters do that superhero cliche constantly. So when a character, even if they're the bad guy, skips that crap and just does "the thing," it becomes a relief. After all, someone has to advance the plot.
Originally. They were going to make him just as bad/much worse than Homelander. They were going to make the 'hazing' of Gunpowder and the rest of Payback much worse. But Jensen Ackles had the showrunners change the script because he refused to play a child abuser, being a parent himself.
People don't like Soldier Boy because he is a good person. It's that compared to Homelander he's a much nicer and less evil guy. Homelander is just *that* bad.
random blink and you miss nudity at 2:46
Soldier boy is basically dean Winchester dialed to 11 and that's alright because it worked
The thing that drove me nuts is how multiple times they called him a 'racist pos' when he didn't do a single thing the entire series that was remotely racist.
But this was also the season where they butchered the Blue Hawk storyline to jump on current events even though it makes no sense in the context of the universe.
Soldier boy was likable tragic and a product of his time. Jensen's portrayal was perfect.
The fact that soldier boy ended up being the bad guy by the end was so annoying and frustrating, he wasnt going to kill ryan, he was just getting him out of the way
The more they tried to make him seem bad the cooler he became
Soldier Boy ❌
Sigma Boy ✅
The single and only reason I love Soldier Boy: Jensen Ackles.
Jokes aside, this was my first introduction to this actor and my first thought was “that is the manliest looking and sounding man I’ve ever seen”. It’s like impossible not to get jealous as a guy when you see him lol
6:23 wait what? You just said soldier boy is closeted? What makes you say that?
I was looking for this comment 😂😂 He literally said "..his homosexuality" and I went WAIT WHAT
I think it's refering to the alledged abuse of gunpowder? Butcher suggested it was sexual but Gunpowder denied it
Gays love to do this to with literally any fictional character idk why
it's a thing in the comics but there are 2 completely different person
@@Crim-kun okay so it was just a damn stupid thing to say.
Ik him and homelander fucked in the comics.
I regret clicking this video
Everyone loves Dean winchester : saving people hunting thing's the family business
People know Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy😱
Legends know him as Dean Winchester💀
How you gon get away with those herogasm scenes 😭
The answer is because its Jensen Ackles
i think we all love soldier boy because yeah we hate homelander but also because he has the most potential to be good, like a train or lamp lighter. (but judging on how the show is i dont expect them to be redeemed expect homelander tbh. which lowkey sucks but i guess that is what keeps me interested is seeing what they do)
edit: also how can you hate a man who is hunting down his "friends" who threw him in a RUSSIAN experimental prison
I think people like Soldier Boy because he contrasts Homelander directly. Homelander is an ill-intented guy who poses as if he's perfect, and Soldier Boy is a somewhat well meaning guy who's too stubborn and self-centered to accept that he isn't.
It’s mostly because Jensen Ackles is such a great actor and his charm is just too damn good. Plus having a villain that makes you love him and hate him is hard to do and great in the long run.
you know about bluetooth? gps?
…..you made those words up 😂
Keep it up man 🙌🏿🙌🏿
I wish we got a Soulja Boy "He copied my whole fucking flow" references in some shape or form
Jenson as soldier boy portrays a compelling layered antagonist in a similar fashion to Jon Bernthal as Shane from the walking dead or the Punisher in his debut from Dare Devil season 2
I like solider boy cause when they introduced him you could instantly tell the type of person he was and that never changed
The damage Soldier Boy did 2 him was transferred 2 him talkin 2 Homelander & a family is what he needs
I will point this out. Soldier Boy only hit Ryan because the kid blasted him with heat vision. When he was about to use his beam weapon on Homelander, Ryan just happened to be in the way. If Butcher had bothered to answer his phone, he would have known that Ryan was there at Vought. They could have made a plan around that. While I don't condone killing kids, this was their best chance to kill Homelander.
The thing i disliked about season 3 is that it felt like none of the new plotlines did anything. Soldier Boy didnt beat Homelander, the Boys getting V didnt change anything, Victoria is still popping heads, like, nothing built on in Season 2 was really addressed. And the Herogasm episode wasnt even that "shocking" as to be banned from various places. I've seen worse on Rick and Morty.
Did they imply Bill Cosby tried to drug Soldier Boy 😂
sure sure soldier boy steals the show but i think we can agree that stan edgar ( gus firing with a sense of humor ) is the best character! I'm glad he's a mere mortal but i almost wish he was a super in hiding foreshadowed by vic hiding in pain sight adding new weight to " power isn't * raises hand* real power is the ability to bend people to your will" i low-key wish he was speaking from experience plus how's a black man in from that time/climate raise in ranks to controlling the most powerful pharmaceutical company in the world? sure nowadays its very much possible but he's from a time where black noir couldn't show his face
Yeah, I've started calling it the Bobby B effect. It's when you cast a likeable and charismatic actor in the role of a complete scumbag.
He didn’t receive any enhancements by the Russians, he was tortured by them for years. He always had that power, he just never had reason to use it
I think it's because while he as a character adores some of the worst, his comments on them are hilarious because they're truthful and he is naive.
Cosby making some strong drinks as an example...🤣🤣🤣ffs.
The problem is Jensen Ackles is excellent. It’s basically impossible to make him unlike able
I never thought about Termite being permanently small, since the blast removes your powers.
When you compare him to his comic book counterpartthey are VERY different
I believe that he is liked because although he is what we with our modern social mores would consider a villain (and I believe that overall, he does qualify as maladjusted), he is also actually what the ancients would consider a hero.
Consider: the Greek tales of Achilles had our 'heroes' trying to sack a city and quarrelling over women like they were literal trophies/spoils of war. The Greek gods themselves were considered 'just' and 'good' even though they did things like bedding married women, forcing themselves on mortals they deemed attractive, and (ab)using their magic on mortals for slights to their egos (Athena turned Arachne into a spider for besting her at a weaving contest, and Hera constantly tormented Hercules and gave him a troubled life just because Zeus happened to father him).
In the East, we have tales of divine caprice creating celestial features (the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl are victims of Heavenly micro-management) and nearly destroying the universe (Kali went on a rampage, nearly destroyed the universe, and her husband let her step on him so she could calm down).
However, to the Ancients, these were actually flaws that were very understandable. What they emphasized was that the gods always kept their promises, made fair judgements (even if there was some collateral damage involved), and were valiant in war.
Soldier boy made a promise, and kept it, even though it was his own son who was the target (and his grandson who was the collateral damage - but that happened because Ryan refused to move out of the way).
Though his teammates despised him and deserved to be rid of him, selling him out to the Soviets (their mortal enemy at that time) was a step too far. Him hunting them down and killing them was not the right thing to do, but also not totally unfair. He might be destructive, but there are also rules to the destruction he inflicts.
He was a bully (which everyone loathes), but there is an element of restraint with him: He wouldn't have gone after Ryan if Ryan hadn't gotten in the way, and despite being rough to Hughie and a huge bully to his own teammates, you notice that he only picks on those he thinks can take it (his teammates are super-powered and more durable than humans).
And finally, his prowess in battle is evident to all.
Based on all this, I would submit that Soldier Boy qualifies as a modern villain, but also as an ancient hero/god. In D&D terms, he would be deemed as being a Lawful Evil character that happens to be on the side of the United States.
It's the 'unleashed id of Haisenberg' that makes people gravitate towards bad guys like Walter White and Soldier Boy. They are intrusive thoughts beneath us that wants us to give into them.
..and yes, Jensen Ackles is an amazing in his role. To be fair.. I would have love to seen more of him on the screen. Funny how it's almost similar to Julian Richings as Horseman Death in Supernatural.
Soilder boy is hiding his homosexualitly? How
Great video
Had to get a tv when I seen him back in that box😢
Soldier Boy is the only super who can beat Homelander
6:23 homosexuality??? Have your fantasies carried you away here 😂
Solider Boys is what Gilmore Hodge would've been as Captain America instead of Steve Rogers.
I hope Soldier Boy is in this upcoming season 🤞
The best antihero
goddamnit you sir just earned my subscription
Bring him back this Season (4). He was hilarious but had more depth than some may have missed with his over the top behavior and dialogue. You can't NOT bring him back on now.
Single handedly undermined every Avenger
Not me over here being a massive supernatural Stan and just seeing Jensen and going okay whatever he does he’s right
“But he made a promise to Becca”😂😂
I bet solider boy was creeped out when he saw black setting in front of the bus lmao.
Solider boy was the most modern definition of a character your supposed to hate but you root for
The actor is too charming. Soothing voice and pretty face. He is a singer too, did you know that?
It's a bit like Spartacus: Blood and Sand. All the main characters - OK, perhaps with a couple of exceptions - are so steeped in savagery at this point that morality has become something of an afterthought. The show's creators and the actors involved clearly have not intended this, but nonetheless, the fact stands that people don't mind their heroes villainous. Perhaps it was ever thus.
4:01 I don’t know how it doesn’t come close to forgive him on your end but to me I would say that at least he’s trying to be a better person than homelander or homelander tries to be a better person for five minutes when things don’t go his way and then immediately the moment he starts getting some validation and pat on the back to some extent by his fans more than people he was supposed to be so-called friends with every time he lays his heart Bare
"If you want to be hapee"
Soldier boy is so strong he takes the hits of 2 supers
Brother you forgot the video where he takes bullets in the mouth LOL
Plus the laser of Butcher is the same power of him exploting
6:24 SOLDIER BOY IS NOT HOMOSEXUAL WTF?!?!
I think this RUclipsr just wants soldiers not to be gay
A major part of it is that he was played by Jenson Ackles. He's just got this charisma that he just brings to every role he plays. Highly underutilized actor.
the only reason i even gave the boys a chance was because i saw jensen ackles would be playing a role in the 3rd season. his performance was incredible, this show overall is very good and has splendid world building
If you want more of this gorgeous man watch supernatural trust me, it’s worth it.
6:27 you do realize that not every character who’s a masculine male that appears in media Hass to be a closeted homosexual right they could just be a very overly masculine character who has their demons and given how he treated gunpowder I would say that it was more like how his dad probably would’ve treated him trying to beat the weakness out of him but also making him stronger for it
Jenson Ackles playing him had a lot to do with it
We wish we could be free as him