How Soldier Boy Changed The Way We Look at Villains (The Boys)
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- čas přidán 19. 10. 2023
- Today we look into one of my favourite villains, the one and only Soldier Boy!
We look into how he changed the way we view villains and also look a little bit into how he affected The Boys universe as a whole by being the primary reason for Homelanders incredible arc in season 3...
Music =
/ @whitebataudio
Thumbnail art by @tylerwakefield4035 / Clickbaitcowboy - Zábava
Alright to all the new people watching this video confused why theres a jarring cut at 0:43.
the music I used in that segment got claimed and theres really no way that I could do anything about it, CZcams doesn't let me go in and edit again once a video is published so I had to just trim it out.
luckily it was only around 30 seconds of me talking about Homelander and I make the point that he's basically become a protagonist to the show like Walter White and Tony Soprano, were we see them do evil but stick with them.
you didn't miss much and I hope you enjoy the rest of the video.
What did you rhino of soldier boy in Gen V, I thought it was entertaining but jarring in many ways
@@michaelsmitha.k.a.mr.drago3656 I mean soldier boy in Gen V was literally a gag. He was someone's imagination.
No shit. You didn't say anything the entire video. You just said what happened.
Soldier boys values Principles, Which the whole Protagonist Lacks
😅😅 3:31 3:31 3:31 3:31
Homelander knows he's wrong but doesn't care.
Soldierboy thinks he's right, and cares a lot
And both are the reason why season 3 was so beautiful
is easy to see who is who soldier boy dont kill people for fun homelander kill people for fun we can see who is the bad guy here but the show try so hard to telll us that soldier boi is bad but never show us why he is bad
@@blacky8987We see why he is bad plenty. He is abusive to everyone around him. Are we saying that, someone isn't bad simply because they don't particularly like killing? Is that really the bar for morality being given?
@@nitrogenbubbles4555 EVERYONE is abusive in this show, especially all the women. Who is "we"? No, Soldier Boy is objectively morally superior to any of the protagonists because he is consistent, he doesn't derail on his own words and promises, he cares, he was never shown to kill anyone innocent after his revival from Russia unless by accident where he had 0 control due to mk ultra like experiments on him. + there is poster of Huey Newton in Mother's Milk room therefore one of these "good" guys is Definitely an unreliable narrator and this just happens to be the guy what *says* that Soldier Boy is bad entire 3rd season (funny how he had 0 recalls of their shared past in previous seasons)
@@AugmentedEdits666 except he is consistently great (after his return)
You can't name ANYONE who is morally superior to Soldier Boy and his *conscious* actions
No, I am supporting this dude beсause he is literally morally superior character in entire Season 3. You can argue by bringing up Season 1 and 2, but by Season 3 all of these "good" characters killеd innoсеnt people, endagered innосеnt pеоple, bасk pedаled which led to dеаth of innoсеnt people, etc. Unlike Solider Boy.
But anyways, you are 666 fan, you have inverted morals anyways. Unreliable narrator in the first place.
Soldier Boy honored the deal he made with Butcher, and was going to follow through with his part even when Butcher got cold feet cause of the kid.
Wait what happened
After they turned on him
@@Sub4AWillToLivebecause butcher betrayed him and they where trying to drug him. The last time he was in this situation he got tortured for 40 years obviously he’s getting to use his nuke lazar
@@Sub4AWillToLiveyes because butcher betrayed him and back out of the deal
@@chauncietyrell2204he made a deal with his wife first to look after Ryan no matter what. So butcher has to honor that deal before anything else
It’s funny how ppl say he likes older women…. When in reality he likes women his age. He’s probably older than the “older” women mentioned but he just doesn’t age.
Maybe, but how do we account for the trapped stasis time?
@prouddegenerates9056 I personally would go by birth year, (time someone was imprisoned or trapped in a block of ice lol or suspended animation is just tacked on)
@@prouddegenerates9056
Easy. You don't because he wasn't in stasis. Soldier was in a medically induced coma due to chemicals. They didn't do anything to slow his aging. If Soldier Boy could die from aging they wouldn't have even plotted to get rid of him.
@@Bladezeromus This. The Legend even made a comment about him being in his 60s but playing opposite someone in their teens. People don't get, he wasn't frozen, he was in a coma.
It does not count for much, he was captured in the 80's, so he was young way after he should be old as a WW2 vet
I'd rather Homelander lost all his powers instead of having him die. Death is simply too good for him at this point.
Yeah, like Ozai's fate in ATLA.
That would be a More fitting ending. Homelander Is not only monstrous but also a tragic character that never gets what he wants, not for long at least. So him being left powerless would be the final tragedy, His Powers are literally all he has, the only anchor of His personality, he literally does not have a real name homelander Is al there is to him. If homelander loses His Powers he would be left with nothing while also having the chance to be free but being way to insane to realize that
@@mitollea W reference
@@leonake4194 Homelander's real name is John Gillman
Homelander didn't ask to be made in a test tube and raised in a lab by evil scientists.
Soldier Boy literally appears in GEN V for a minute, makes the best cameo possible, mocks all the main supes, and then just gets smoked by a lightning, absolutely goated
"Knock knock"
"Go fuck your face"
That was the funniest scene in the entire series
"Knock knock. Who's there? Go fuck your face." That floored me. 😂
That was a popped blood vessel.😅
> Appears of nowhere
> Roasts everyone
> Dies
Soldier Boy.
I don't know if he's a villain in the traditional sense - wouldn't that require him to actively work toward achieving an evil goal? He's not entirely amoral either, he just has a twisted sense of right and wrong. I guess he's more a force of nature than anything.
I would say he's more of an anti-hero like the Punisher.
@kalzoa22 he's definitely way more of a villain than the punisher. Frank Castle has a real honor code that he follows and never harms civilians. Soldier boy molested his side kick and was out right abusive to his team members to the point they were happy to turn him over to the russians.
You can be a villain by doing evil things for a "good" reason like Light Yagami even if his intentions are (at least at first) for a supposedly good reason. and a hero can do good things but ultimately do them to serve their own ego. so from that perspective you could argue that Homelander is a good guy because he typically does good things but purely for his ego but he's really a terrible person whereas someone like Frenchie is a criminal for sure and is viewed as a terrorist but is really deep down a good dude with a kind heart.
@@bohemianharpsicord4294Soldier boy didnt molest Gunpoweder as Jensen didnt want to film any of the SA and was confirmed to be false as none of the scenes were deleted or in the scenes since it wasnt filmed in the 1st place. And considering his place in abusive tendencies, it was rather physical and not sexual to Gunpowder. Although your point still stands
@@BlankestKnightidk, more like an anti villain. A bad guy who sometimes does good things.
Soldier boy has an extremely complicated story. He’s in a world of selfish superheroes who only care about fame but there’s a part of him that actually cares more. When butcher offered him a deal he took it without intention of betraying him and there even are a couple scenes with him reflecting on his past in a regretful manner. Soldier boy is not a good person by any means but in the world of vought he has a somewhat redeemable character in comparison to other characters
"you took a shortcut"
A child seeking approval from a father that never cared. Learned he didn't need anyone's approval to live, so he'd just do whatever he wanted no matter what. Opposite to Homelander that seeks approval desperately
@@iansantiago7545really interesting that he told Homelander he was a fucking disappointment, since Soldier Boy now feels how his father did
@@thekingofnothing8895 did he call homelander a disappointment because he was worse than soldier boy?
I dont think the "world of selfish superheroes" justify his actions since he was one of the first superheroes and also his whole team hated him for being a jerk
@@pickchickens5286 After he returned from Russia he seemed to regret some of his past actions. Sure he's not perfect, but he's more redeemed than most other characters in the show. It seems his torment had awakened some maturity in him, and changed him for the better, even if it was just a tiny bit. But yeah he was definitely bad before Russia 100%.
A soldier boy spin off would genuinely be one of the best things ever!
That’s what I wanted instead of a gen z show. Then a bunch of gen z snowflakes got really hurt. They started asking me. Why do you want a soldier boy show. That generation can’t deal with any ridicule. They’re pathetic
@@user-sd1ih9kr8v don’t get me wrong I really love gen z so far but I agree that would have been better to have a soldier boy show if only for jensons performance but gen z is still on par with the boys tbh
@@user-sd1ih9kr8vbro rly be monologing
@@user-sd1ih9kr8vGen z ain’t bad it’s actually good. The show makes fun constantly of society nowadays much like the boys. I like it as much as I like The Boys
@@user-sd1ih9kr8vno the fuck they didn't,but yeah people would hage for Solduer Boy to be the protag
The ending to season 3 was incredibly frustrating, because to me, the turning against soldier boy just came out of nowhere
Not to mention Homelander is a threat to the entire world, and Soldier Boy is just an unstable threat to a few buildings that could maybe be fixed. He doesn't *want* to keep exploding.
Homelander's not enemy #1 because he's a jerk, it's because he's a flying WMD with a screw loose.
Man basically made me punching air when my favourite and most level headed character (MM) doing and saying stupid shit. I understand why butcher and Maeve did what they did but everybody else especially Starlight, like where was that energy with Victoria and Homelander?
@@rojaerobinson8324 facts mm should know that soldier boi is not a hadcore racist mf is just a white man that was born in a time where white men and black men where enemys but not all the white men in that time hate black men. people need to stop that bullshlt
The betrayal makes no sense. Soldier Boy's power to de-supe is not instant. Butcher KNOWS this. The Female's injuries sustained during her first confrontation with Soldier Boy were sustained by being pelted by rebar. The seconds before that she got blasted by an explosion and thrown through a concrete wall yet none of that left any visible damage. The wound from the rebar is still there when her powers disappear however which is why those are the only ones that don't heal. Also after the two betrayals Maeve survives falling from Vought tower despite getting de-suped halfway through, confirming that SB's powers take a few seconds at least to take effect. That means that even if Ryan had been caught in SB's blast, the invincibility he inherited from his father would last long enough to protect him from the blast. Again, Butch KNEW this when he betrayed Soldier Boy.
Bro is so media iliterate that he couldn't see it since day 1
Prob you didn't foresaw that SOldier Boy himself would be the weapon
I never really considered Soldier Boy a villain. I'd say he is more "a lingering threat". But what have see seen him do? Follow orders (morally questionable or outright evil, sure, but he's a soldier), lie, be a narcissist, an asshole, and engage in debauchery like drugs, sex, booze, and rock and roll. We never see him actually have evil schemes. We never see him purposely injure, or kill people just for the sake of doing it or because he feels like it. The times he explodes and kills a lot of people are literally because of either PTSD or because he's triggered by a russian tune of sorts. Hell, the one time we actually see him injure someone on purpose because he wants to is when he pushes Ryan... who he already knows of has super powers by that time. And when he fights Butcher you could argue its either self-defense or because he's triggered over yet ANOTHER betrayal when he's just doing what he was asked to do.
Homelander is, by and far, still the second biggest villain in the show, with the nr1 spot belonging to the Vought coorporation.
Soldier Boy has lied to himself so much he sees himself as a hero. Of course, should he return for season 4 or after... the question is what remains of his mindset. Because while I dont consider him a villain, he's definitely walking around the darker gray area of "morally gray".
We saw Soldier Boy deliberately attempt to restrict his teammates careers and commit violent acts against them whenever he felt that they undermined him. He also has a history of excessive force and reckless behavior, such as throwing a stolen car into a civilian house.
We did see him do that. He bullied black Noir.
@@victornieves1794 he's irresponsible and narcissistic, as I said. And Id never claim he was a good guy. But this doesnt make him outright evil. Not in the way that Stormfront was, or Homelander, or Vought as a whole
He also brutally killed Mindstorm who was defenseless. Yes MS was involved in his capture, but they wouldn’t have betrayed him if he wasn’t such a terrible person towards them. It all circles back to him.
Almost all supes use excessive force and reckless behavior. @@victornieves1794
Soldier Boy is the "Negan" style anti-hero/anti-villain. There are many characters that are written this way, like Stannis from ASOIAF with his strict view of justice. Neither of them likes killing people, but it's their duty to do things "right" or bring justice in their own worlds.
I can actually see the similarities he has with Negan and I’ve never even thought of how similar the characters actually are when it comes to morals.
That's a fitting comparison
@@burdenofbestThey both disfigure/burn their “comrades”(Dwight,Black Noir)😮💨
Exactly what I was thinking as well. Darth Vader would also fit the trope as he becomes the hero in Return of the Jedi in protection of his son despite being the onscreen villain for most of Star Wars. It became Darth Vader vs Darth Sidious (Vader's master and true villain of the story).
However, @burdenofbest brought up some great points that are specific to Soldier Boy. It's like the more fleshed out Soldier Boy became, the more we understood about characters who were seen as villains/anti-heroes throughout the story, namely Black Noir (who I ended up LOVING due to Soldier Boy being more fleshed out), Homelander, and even Billy Butcher.
That aspect of Soldier Boy does lend credit to him being the Big Bad Wolf or Big Bad Eagle in his sense yet he felt so much more human than his villainous/Anti Hero counterparts.
Like @burdenofbest said, I agree that we can credit this to the brilliance of Jensen Ackles as an actor, as well as Eric Kripke as a director! They made Soldier Boy not only come to life but made the otherwise "dead" characters come to life too through Soldier Boy's persona. I loved season 3 of The Boys the most for that reason!
If you're talking about the comics especially, saying that Negan doesn't like killing people is a huge reach. He clearly takes pleasure in beating peoples' skulls to a pulp, and even seems gratified when he cuts off Alpha's head. Negan is absolutely a violent sadist.
"*Buddy, you're wearing a cape..."* had me dying for days🤣
Soldier Boy - The only one who did his job.
Homelander is the absolute antithesis of a hero. Nothing he does is heroic in anything more than a surface level, and he barely even manages that the vast majority of the time. The idea that anyone could think that Homelander is anything Less than a GLARINGLY OBVIOUS VILLAIN is depressing beyond words.
100%. He’s one of the most evil characters in TV history.
Exactly I dunno know what this guy is saying
Exactly, he’s probably one of the most pure evil characters I have seen.
No he's definitely a villain
Yeah sadly those people do exist. Saw people trying to claim he's an anti hero because despite being an asshole he's A TRUE AMERICAN.
Ackles’ ability to make Soldier Boy likeable and make it seem like he genuinely believes in what he’s doing is what makes me wish we could get a live action adaptation of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker with him as Big Boss.
It's been mentioned but, Soldier Boy actually felt remorse for the people that got killed when he freaked and blew up that building.
Homelander seems to be almost incapable of remorse.
He never said he felt remorse, he just didn't want to be the "bad guy"
He never shows remorses for the ppl he killed willing when obeying orders, such as civil rights supporters, or when MM faces him his first reaction is simply to mock MM's grieve
To these supes, people must seem like ants.
The thing that makes the boys great is that most people are the “bad guy” very few people are good. We view butcher as one of the good guys but he is a bad guy
I agree the only ones I would say are actually good is Hughie and Starlight but even they have done questionable things.
I think only Homelander and Neuman are evil, the rest are just bad you can say. Stormfront was evil too but she's deceased.
That's what makes these characters more 'human'. Because, let's be honest, we all have done questionable shit for our own benefits. And Monsieur Charcutier just want to kill Homelander for revenge.
@@wisepalaz what about stormfront?
People really should read the comics as well. The tv series is completely different to the books, which isn’t a bad thing, but it lessens the impact of certain characters. In the book Homelander is the main antagonist but by the end we realise he’s just a malignant narcissist with the emotional maturity of a teenager. What makes him dangerous is he also has the power to destroy cities. But Butcher is the true villain. Butcher is a complete psychopath, and while it was something of an open secret in the book you secretly hoped that he wasn’t the thing he clearly was.
In my opinion, the main difference between Soldier Boy and Homelander, is that Homelander is, at the worse scenario, a psychopath who enjoys hurting people and at best a guy suffering from multiple personalities disorder (based on the mirror scene), one of them being a sadistic killer.
On the other side, Soldier boy even as douchy as he is, is more of a deeply traumatized person with an anger problem, he does not get off of hurting someone. They're both pretty bad, but Homelander seems a bit worse to me.
Maybe Ryan is the key to all of this... by making Homelander feel truly loved and cared by someone, his psychopathic personality ends up suppressed. Idk maybe I'm just really naive believing a redemption arc is actually possible lol.
His mirror scene reminded me of smeagle talking to the Lake in 2 towers lotr. Would be interesting to see a redemption arc.
I think Homelander is too far gone for a redemption arc. I guess the closest he could come is maybe dying while saving Ryan from something or someone.
A redemption arc would really feel underwhelming imo given all the shit they went through because of him
No homelander has to die, a redemption arc would be a letdown and kill the show.. (negan all over again)
@@victornieves1794what if he eviscerates himself to stop a genocide?
Like hypothetically
I enjoyed that you said “Soldier Boy is likable and you root for him, but he is definitely not a good guy.” That basically describes every character in The Boys. Everyone gets their hands dirty at some point and it’s simply the way of this world.
As a veteran and knowing many fellow veterans, I did love his character. I used to think turning neurotic as a veteran was something that was exaggerated but after enough time out of the military and seeing people still in, I feel such a path usually happens with a slow decline, when one is trained to destroy and suddenly you are asked to find peace instead, well.. That can be a profound journey or it can be an absolutely unhinged joyride. Because I like that they could show how messed up he was. Picks up a grenade and huffs it, then remarking what kind of lethal gas it is? Sheesh. 👀
It also helps that the boys has in my opinion the best casting in TV history it’s like every actor /actress can slip into their role in this show effortlessly like the characters where tailer made for each of them it’s downright impressive
Between Soldier Boy and Homelander, the question is completely clear. If not for the emotional thing with Ryan, Butcher understood this too.
Homelander: The power and will to wipe city after city off the map intentionally if he gets angry enough.
Soldier Boy: While he has an unstable power, it's not nearly on the same scale or intentional (and could be brought under control). He also just wants to bang grandmas, not level the US.
This is why Homelander isn't all bad, he could easily destroy the whole Earth, but he allows most people to exist, probably because he wants their adoration and to serve him, but at least he lets them live.
Part of the reason is also that hes controlled by people like Stan@@clottadams5028
He’s an anti villain
That’s what makes him so good
He’s a cherictor type that is near impossible to do but when you get it you got gold
He is no where close to an anti villain that would require him to do some good besides killing and putting others around him down
@@nukal4338 he said anti villain not anti hero
@@nukal4338read bro😂
@@timevalentime1806 it was a type I meant he isn’t a anti villain either look up what anti villain means
@@millionshadesofdarkness2165 typo on my end try reading about what a anti villain is
Homelander is implied to have killed plenty of children before. I never stopped rooting for Solider Boy
Implied? Did you forget the plane scene?
@@Fugged_Up He kills 2 kids litterally in the first episode.
But, he hasn't killed all the children, which he could do, so he's not all bad.
@@clottadams5028 Found the Israeli
@@GalCon99😂
Bro Soldier Boy is the absolute goat of the show. His deal with Butcher is dishonored for little to no reason. The writers had to make up a reason for The Boys to hate him. He got jumped by a V Amped Billy, The Boys and Homelander and was dishing out smoke like a dude that smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day.
Make up a reason? He killed on of the main charectors dad, he beat the shit out of his old crew and is a cruel horrible person. The only differnce between him and home lander is home lander knows what hes doing is "wrong"
@@Jenna-in4br
And yet homelander takes a guilty pleasure on doing what he considers is "wrong"
Your point?
@@segismundosaulalex3065 i put it in brackets because he takes pleasure in it, hes a manipulative violent asshole too but in a differnt way. Im not sure what youre trying to argue against
Best season, so far. I hope they do a spin off prequel focused 100% on Soldier Boy.
@@Jenna-in4br No. The difference is Homelander is far FAR worse
I think it’s cool how he tells the story about how he was a disappointment to his father no matter what he does. Also describes how it hurt him, and when he’s given the chance to be better than his dad, he continues by the cycle of trauma by calling homelander a disappointment.
and he sees himself in homelander too so it's really just projecting that shame he feels onto him
Well considering the fact that he was hopeful that homelander was better than him and instead his son, the son he wanted to be proud of, is a complete insecure narcissist that murders innocents while fearing challenges.
Soldier Boy is the main protagonist in his own story, he isn't exactly a bad guy, he didn't lie when he said he didn't kill innocents by choice, and i even argue that Soldier Boy is EXACTLY the hero the world needs at that point, he does understand that not every one his powerful like him, but what he values isn't power, he values moral fiber, you could even tell this that he didn't say anything when he was fighting Butcher, he fought him as an equal, just fought Billy because he was in his path.
In other words Soldier Boy cares about principle, he doesn't care about fame and power, different than Homelander who's the only principle he cares is about who lie to him.
Soldier Boy is def NOT a good guy. But he isn't a "villain" in a traditional sense either. He totally honered the deal he made with Butcher, and was fully commited to killing Homelander even after finding out he was his son. It was Butcher who betrayed him and went mad dog after Soldier Boy defended himself from Ryan.
It was prob the most frustrating part of the whole series for me. Watching Butcher and the rest of the gang throw away the entire plan, just cause Ryan got knocked back a little. (Ryan, who is also a supe, and can heal instantly from his injuries mind you.) And seeing Butcher team up with the guy who assaulted his wife and caused all this just put a pit in my stomach. It felt so gross. This isn't a "dad team up moment," but it feels like they tried to sell it that way. And Soldier Boy just gets betrayed once again.
Soldier Boy is ridding the world of what he perceives to be "another him", it's pretty heroic when you look at it that way
He's the most heroic person in the show. He was willing to kill his only relatives because he understands how dangerous they really are. He clearly doesn't want to do it, he will do it because he is the only one capable of it and because he is the father of Homlander and grandfather of Ryan he sees it as his responsibility.
It's nothing personal. But this is now war. It's do or die.
I liked soldier boy more than MM. it’s messed up but I really didn’t care about his sad backstory.
I liked MM up until S03, where his IQ dropped by at least 60% suddenly.
@@alexman378tbf his friends are using his dads murderer, I’d fuck me up too
@@alexman378 Him and Starlight probably smoked some good shit cuz they seemed to have suffered that drop together :/
Huey was an insufferable jackass in season three as well
Ok, here's the thing, outside of not wanting Ryan to get hurt, I was never on Homelander's side even in that fight.
Yes. Hey should i care for homelander? Because he wants to raise Ryan to become as f up as he is?
@@lololllo3079 Literally moments before he went back to Ryan, he was lamenting on the dream of having a new batch of genetically superior kids with Maeve, and how they'd be more sublime and "twice as strong as Ryan".
It's so see through how easily he throws Ryan under the bus, and that he doesn't really care about him.
Ngl wouldn't mind if Ryan dies either. He feels like just as much a threat as Homelander
The only problem with using soldier boy more is that he is too strong. He absolutely has no weaknesses and he has a weapon that can kill any supe. Even the laser from Ryan which obliterated stormfront barely even scratched soldier boy.
About weaknesses His may very well be a very simple yet ingenious one. You see there's a reasson he cant fly, he also must be heavy as shitt since he Is indestructible and seems to have a lot of poise, and finally he can absolutely be knocked unconsciouss, thats how he stayed for decades wich implies he needs to have oxygen flowing to brain. So you drown him. Thats probably It. Offcourse you wouldnt stand a chance trying in a bathtub or something like that, but drop him in the ocean, make him falla overboard from a ship or something sowewehre he cant swimm back from. He would pass out eventually but unlike in a controlled safe lab he would beggin to decay till he just cant be revived. If they wanted to make His death More "pathetic" possibly a very deep pool wich he cant punch His way out would be enough, thats if hes really that heavy off course, It would be like those mafia executions when they tie blocks of cement to the feet of the victim but with soldier boys biology alone
@@leonake4194i don't know, didn't the russians tried everything to kill him? i don't think Water can kill him
@@leonake4194there is no guarantee that he even needs to breathe at this point. I don't believe his body breaks down ATP to produce energy seeing as he has been described as a nuclear reactor. Plus the Russians had to have tried that. They tried everything.
I feel like what really hits me with him is how we the audience kind of believe in around the first 6 episodes of season 3 that Ben is actually one of the good supes now in present time and every bad thing we hear might have been misguided
Like even though it's mentioned that he accidently killed Marvins family it's also stated that he didn't intend to hit them so we ignore that, even though it was stated that he used to beat his sidekicl gunpowder we sort of forget that abd the way he treats Hughie and Butcher like partners unlike the other supes makes us think he's different
We hear that he might have fought in different battles like world war 2 and also stated to have genuinely wanted to have a team and genuinely ''loved" Crimson Countess
Then come ep 7, and we learn that all those battles he "fought''were just post recorded documentaries or staged photos, we learn and are reminded from Noir that he actually physically abused him and Gunpowder in "training" and even had cancelled Earvings movie deal
Then to top it off the way he dealt with the mindstorm situation was even more brutal then how he delt with the other members that you don't even know if he was gonna keep his end of the deal when they're done at all
All that! I thibk is what makes him the goat, its because you start to believe that Soldier boy might actually be good until your hit in the face to see that he's not
That’s why I love soldier boy. He’s also an eddy Murphy fan 😊
i gotta say with the final battle, they really dropped the ball with consistency when it comes to Billy's character, i understand him stopping solider boy, cuz he made a promise to Becca, ok fine, but to then side with homelander and to try and fight soldier boy is so out of character, Billy should've IMMEDIATLY lasered homelander next, not this almost marvel level bit where they both look at eachother awkwardly, cuz taking on both of em, just cuz he can is wayyy more in line for Butcher, and his character, if anything it'd make way more sense for soldier boy to simply say "what the hell are you doing" and for Butcher to just respond "the boys not part of the deal" and for the two to continue with killing homelander, makes no sense for soldier boy to then proceed to get ganged up on just cuz of ryan being in the way, they've known each other long enough to understand one another's behaviors, Billy should understand that soldier boy is a soldier through and through and simply trying to follow through with the mission THEY agree'd on, they treat it as if Soldier boy gunned for Ryan and they had no choice but to work together, when Ryan was just in the wrong place at the wrong time
even weirder why's Billy even care about ryan, he's a "supe freak" in his own words, and could become just as bad as homelander, i get he made a promise, but it still feels so far fetched with who he is to set aside the vendetta he's held for YEARS, all for a kid that aint even his
Billy's character arc probably involves becoming a better father than the one he had (we can see his dad is the reason Billy became this aggressive, reckless and insensitive person)
in relation to Ryan, he started off hating him for being a supe, to tolerating him because he promised Becca, to then protecting him at the end of s3. I believe his arc will be complete once he starts seeing Ryan as his own son and caring for him because he's the last piece of Becca there's left and as Becca said "he is a good kid" (we'll see about that next season cuz homelander is not the best influence)
so in the end, Billy and Homelander have something in common, which is both genuinely want the best for Ryan, that might explain why their relationship is getting confusing now
@@manuba_ nah man, you dont just forgive the guy who single handedly ruined your life by forcefully impregnating the love of your life, having a child with her, and forcing her to be hidden away while you suffer for years on end thinking she's dead
Protecting ryan, understandable, he made a promise (would be too easy having the show end like that, tho tbf homelander totally could've just turned around himself idk why it had to be billy)
Siding with homelander just cuz he has his own selfish fucked up reasons to protect ryan? doesn't even slightly make sense, maybe for a different character, but not billy, they should've spent wayyyy more time building up his character into a forgiving compassion one if they wanted to have him "forgive" homelander (which i dont think would've been good, billy's best as an asshole, im just saying what they would've had to do for that scene to make sense) if anything they did the opposite having him be at his most destructive and single mindedly focused on getting soldier boy and homelander in the same room, sacrificing his relationship with pretty much all the boys and creating as many enemies as possible to do so, and nowhere did he flinch or second guess himself
Billy was prioritizing Ryan in that moment, he put aside the grudge for a bit because of Becca's memory.
Also it's not the first time Billy talks or interacts with Homelander in a less hostile manner.
Soldier Boy is not as evil as Homelander because Soldier Boy believes he is doing what is right.
Homelander doesn't give a shite....Homelander is simply doing whatever he wants at any given moment and doesn't care or consider it in terms of right or wrong.
As a matter of practicality it's between Homelander who is more powerful and more unstable, is very narcissistic and a touch of megalomania or Soldier Boy who is less powerful but more experienced, is very narcissistic and has explosive PTSD.
While an experienced enemy is very dangerous SB is still a fish out of water with no allies, (as far as I know) and he's somewhat reasonable. If not for MM's revenge and Butcher's genocidal tendency SB might have been a useful ally/weapon. Homelander is the bigger threat, kill him first
Soldier Boy bodies Homelander at full power
Soldier boy doesn't have shell shock, fuck off
It’s funny that Soldier boy was based on an old school hyper chauvinistic male and every one loves him
People saying soldier boy doesnt "like" hurting people, but from how everyone in payback talks about him and from what we saw in yhe black noir flashback, i think its safe to presume that soldier boy is (in the most charitable light) just a bully plain and simple. He enjoys putting others down, whether it be physical abuse or verbally. Though that doesnt make him much better than say butcher or homelander.
Atleast thats just my read on the character
Everyone in Payback is also shown to be a complete asshat who cares for nothing but themselves
Jenson as Soldier boy reminds me quite a bit of Jon Bernthal as Shane/ the Punisher. You know that they are there to cause tension and conflict in the plot but you love to watch their loose cannon tactics
The show really wants to paint him as the villain, but he's honestly not that bad. All of his evil acts occurred at least 30 years ago, during which he was being constantly tortured. I think he's earned his room for redemption in that time.
I don't know if he can be redeemed, but I do believe that he is not half as bad as he was back in Payback days. After being tortured for 40 years he is just done with everything, he just wants to get back at the people that betrayed him and to be left alone.
He wasn't tortured while he was doing the evil acts. He was tortured after he got caught in his teammates scheme. He was so unbearable to be with, his own team conspired against him.
And how can you be redeemed if you were in a coma until recently?
I think he's pretty bad. He's not as much of a psychotic narcissist as Homelander, but he's also a violent sociopath who hurts people at the drop of a hat and will think nothing of killing people
Bro, every american is a psycopath fr,it seems
@@i10i60 I think that while he was being tortured, he learned that actions have consequences, and he matured a bit. Still not completely redeemable, but definitely more so than most other supes.
I wouldn’t call him a villain but it’s one of those weird scenarios where our main character has to side with the villain that he’s desperately hunted down because of something he holds dear and his ally becomes his enemy by proxy. I was intimidated by Soldier Boy throughout this season, and I didn’t trust him, but I enjoyed that he stuck to his guns and still sought to kill Homelander, but I enjoyed even more that Billy wouldn’t sacrifice Ryan to get Homelander killed. It frustrated me because I want to see Homelander get his comeuppance once and for all, but it stuck true to Billy’s character and what he holds dear. It was nice to see him do what Soldier Boy was doing and stick to a deal he had made.
I’m seeing a lot of comments saying how despite Soldier an asshole he never hurt or belittled anyone for his own enjoyment. Has everyone forgot how he restricted the careers of the rest of Payback, and when they confronted him he’d beat them like we see with Noir. We also see him physically assaulting and belittling gunpowder, something which he likely did regularly. The show even hints that he may have sexually abused gunpowder. In fact the actor for soldier boy claims there was a particular scene which he refused to do due to ethical concerns, and while the scene isn’t specified it was likely it was something to do with this sexual abuse. He also killed and oppressed anti war and civil rights protesters and killed Milk’s grandfather, who likely wasn’t the first or last civilian to be killed due to his recklessness. I admit that soldier boy can be easy to sympathise with, but he is no less evil than his son.
The biggest reason for everyone's love for Soldier Boy is definitely how charismatic Jensen is. I'm not sure we would love him as much if Jensen hadn't played the part.
Not sure if I'd call Soldier Boy a Villian. Morally speaking he's barely any worse than our protagonists (especially Butcher and honestly maybe even Hughie in Season 3) and he's not even an antagonist he's an ally to them for most of the season. He's helping our protagonists kill Homelander and it's butcher not him that detracts from that goal.
That said even if you do consider him a Villian the idea of having multiple villians in the story that are antagonistic to eachother or even a protagonist for a villian is nothing new
Soldier Boy is an active racist lmao
@@xPogiify ok and? He was born in the 40s what did you expect?
@@OK-yy6qz you can't say "morally he's barely worse than the protagonists" when none of the protagonists are bigots, and MM specifically wants to kill him because of how racist he is. how does that not click for you or influence how you see him as a character? being a racist in the 40's or now doesn't make a difference. he's still a horrendously awful person
@@xPogiify Butcher and the Gang are horrendously awful persons. They kill people,they extort them, they steal,they run from the law. All kinds of things. Now being a racist isn't good by any means but when compared to say murdering a random man to get his car (Butcher and Starlight), capturing a man and torturing him before killing him,murdering/allowing dozens of people to be killed etc. It's really not even bad enough to be relevant
@@xPogiifywhat did he do that was racist???
I prefer Jensen as Dean Winchester but I do like Soldier Boy
He is great as Dean.
@@burdenofbest agreed, I grew up with supernatural honestly it's still my favorite show but man I love The Boys as well
You summed up that last fight and thar season pretty well. Throughout the whole season all character have been pretty much acting on convenience and common objectives.
4:04 It’s funny because he doesn’t like women who are older than him, those women are around his actual age, he just looks mid-late 30s.
He's not a villain, he's chaotic neutral and a dick. You can't expect someone with those levels of powers to never hurt anybody in collateral damage while they do stuff the same way militaries always end up with collateral damage, but he's not giving 0 fucks about it like Homelander did. Homelander is shown to care about nothing but himself, Soldier boy cares about getting the mission done and that mission is never inherently evil if at all.
Soldier Boy for example would never tell somebody to jump off the side of a building.
Soldier boy is a hero. Can't change my mind
Homelander is not a protagonist, he’s just the antagonist, definitely nothing close to Walter white or Tony soprano
Yeah it like thanos in infinity war he was the main focus but not the hero
Good narration man, keep it up
Preemptively calling it: We already know the show has diverged quite a bit from the comics (Black Noir being one example), since we now know that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father - I'm 98% certain the next big reveal is that Stormfront is Homelander's actual mother.
Why?
Well the fake story from Vaught is that he's basically superman and was raised the way Clark Kent was. The story they tell Homelander is that he was grown in a tube (which being raised in a lab that'd be easy to believe), but they tell him that for a reason. Because his actual mother is a ex-Nazi, bad PR for "America's Hero".
Why I think this..
-The show and comics have huge differences.
-Homelander has the combination of soldier boys super strength and endurance PLUS stormfronts ability to fly (without electricity at least).
-Vogelbaum is totally unethical like the rest of Vaught, and talks about cross breeding dogs (supes) to express certain traits.
-This twist would play perfectly into Homelander's mommy complex, it's horrifically disgusting and ironic that he would be in a relationship with his own mother.
-This will be the thing that finally causes Homelander to TRULY snap like he does in the comics, minus Black Noir.
Bonus points if Stormfront knew the whole time and did it anyways, lol.
Soldier boy it’s a villain??? I thought he was the only sane one , the vought Corp are villains , the boys are villains, the 7 seven are villains , soldier boy a true American hero
If you ignore all the nasty shit he did to his team members, the fact that he was ok with killing a kid and that most of his heroic acts were fake, then yeah. He’s a charismatic character, but he’s not a good person at all.
Jensen is so underrated as an actor, he's one of the main reasons I kept watching Supernatural after so many seasons haha hopefully we do get to see more of this character!
i am baffled how people side with soldierboy in the comment section, especially that he honored his deal with Butcher. What reverse moral compass is that, killing your own son, because you made a deal? Also hating on Butcher, because he broke the deal to save the son of his wife, is crazy. I mean even if Ryan was just some kid, attacking kids is wrong in it of it self and saving a kid pretty much always the ethical choice to go. What f'ed up morals do you have? There is no honor, in staying to your word, if it means watching a child get beaten. Oh so SB didn't like punching and killing people, well it never really stopped him from doing it anyway, when he felt its a viable option. Also not liking something, doesn't make you less evil, if you doing it anyway, especially if you don't consider other ways of dealing with the problem other than just murdering people.
I think Soldier Boy's biggest flaw is that he struggles with being honest with himself. Like Homelander, he's a product. Vought used SB to create a narrative and push an agenda and because of that, he has a bit of a crisis with identity. The main difference is that (prior to S3) Homelander is constantly putting up a front to preserve his own self image, whereas Soldier Boy's front is that of being a tough guy and a hardened warrior.
I didn't see Soldier Boy as a villain. He was no better or worse than anyone else
That’s fair, my main point was that you kinda have to pick a character to root for with The Boys. As much as I like Soldier Boy I like Butcher just a little more.
Even when he rapes a 13 yrs old?
amazing video ty
Im rewatching season one and man what a great show i forgot how the tone was in the beginning way less crazy and you can feel the shift as the curtain gets lifted on heros and vought. Especially coupled with generation v, happy to see good writing still exist.
The problem is Soldier Boy is too likable and we kinda on his side. but in SS3 climax, they suddenly turn against him and i don't know who should i side with.
Call me evil but I was rooting for soldier boy to walk through Ryan to get to homelander
i like the subtle music change to the daredevil OST when you talk about the daredevil show.
oh man the daredevil score at 4:56 gave me goosebumps
Literally me
If daredevil is the best season of TV you've ever watched, you really need to watch the first season of true detective.
Check my channel, there you will find the answer you are looking for. 😉
finally a channel that doesnt need to trash talk to point out the good stuff about a series. great video in fact.
Perfect video analysis of Soldier Boy
Soldier boy is the anti villain, you dont see those types portrayed well cause hollywood sucks, as the anti villain both the antagonist to the main villain but also is a villain with clear heroic traits
i like the fact that you're using the hotline miami's 24/7 music as the background soundtrack for the video
Soldier boy is reckless and brutal. Homelander is too. But Homelander is also sadistic. He enjoys the power trip
I thought Soldier Boy was fucking awesome. Not just because he was played by Jensen Ackles who I love but because he was so funny, resilient, tough and relatable. Yes, honestly the most relatable person personality wise of course than anyone I’ve seen on the boys
The boys is like if someone made the mona lisa with a kid in kindergarten's family drawing for reference
Very interesting video man
I root for Soldier Boy, simply because I'm Gen x and closer to the Boomer generation than the Gen Z generation (Homelander). Both are narcissists, but Soldier Boy is simply more relatable. He reminds me of an evil version of my dad and grandpa (both of which were also grunts and served in WW2 and Vietnam, respectively). Plus, capes are fucking cringe. I'll take that shield over a cape any day.
Homelander is not a gen z. That's Starlight. Homelander is a gen X. Clearly he is in his early to mid 40s.
Please do the best character in every season of breaking bad and better call saul
I shall, someday…
Who do you feel like the best characters are
Here's a few bits about Soldier Boy that I've personally noticed from watching Season 3:
1, Soldier Boy is different from Homelander in that Soldier Boy, whilst many of the things he does are evil and whilst he has put innocent people in danger, he believes that the evil things he does are justified because his motivations and his intent is in his point of view "good". That said, you could argue that Soldier Boy has a bit of a distorted sense of good and evil.
Homelander on the other hand, knows what he is doing is evil, he knowingly causes harm to innocent people, is unapologetic and he doesn't care that he's evil.
2, Soldier Boy honoured his deal with Butcher even though you could argue that he had good enough reason to back out of that deal.
It was Homelander who killed Black Noir for his father Soldier Boy and Soldier Boy clearly wanted a relationship with his son Homelander and his grandson Ryan but opted to remain focused on the mission and opted to finish his part of the deal.
Butcher on the other hand had no reason to backout of the deal, let alone essentially save Homelander from Soldier Boy considering what Homelander did to his wife, yet Butcher backstabbed Soldier Boy in the deal Butcher himself made in part due to his concern for ryan.
Note: It's understandable why Butcher wanted to protect Ryan but here's the thing, Vought Tower was already largely evacuated of civilians and non-Supes (yeah there were still Vought PMCs in the buiding but do you really care about them) and had Soldier Boy exploded, the other Supes in the building such as Ryan, Homelander, Starlight, Kimiko and Maev wouldn't have necessarily died. Likely they would have been injured but they would have still lived albeit, they would have lost their powers.
3, Soldier Boy was a necessary evil as Homelander was too dangerous to be left alive.
The danger Homelander posed was not so much his super strength and laser vision but rather his intelligence, his mobs of fanatic supporters and his overall toxic public influence, in which his very name could cause violence (case in point, Homelander being mentioned at Victoria Neuman's event at Godolkin University caused fighting between pro and anti Homelander students in the auditorium).
Soldier Boy was their best bet at doing away with Homelander, yet Butcher sabotaged this.
The only redeeming quality Homelander has is that he is a genuinely loving father who does genuinely care for his son Ryan and has shown that he could care for others namely Klara (Stormfront). Other than that, there is no reason why anyone should hesitate in getting rid of Homelander if given the chance.
Definitely would be cool for soldier boy to get a spin off show, somewhat in the manner peacemaker did. Not sure who’d he work for but definitely a good use of his character
Now that soldier boy has made his cameo in gen v i’m curious as to what you thought of it
I actually liked it and I like how it didn’t detract from the episode.
Solider Boy is definitely interesting and I view him as not a villain but more of the anti-hero, willing to do whatever it takes to complete the mission no matter how many people die in the wake of his war path. Yet, he's also human, flawed and messed up on some levels, but you gotta remember too, he's a soldier too. It's in the name but at the end of the final episode i couldn't help but root for him as well in the fight.
awesome vid! i cant even lie hahaha i clicked just because i recognized the thumbnail artstyle
The thing about Homelander is what if keeping Ryan around ends up brining him to the good side nearly completely. Would Butcher STILL be just in killing him? Ever since Homelander learned about Ryan he has changed completely in terms of what he cares about.
What do you mean he would still be just??!! 😂😂😂 Homelander killed countless innocents without batting an eye. He deserves prison for life son or no son and I don’t see him coming to the conclusion that he deserves to get prison for killing “lesser humans”. So death it is for sure.
Just to mention one of his many deeds. Did you forget he forced a girl to jump off a building in s3 just because he decided he wanted her to jump 😂😂 not to mention he killed someone in full view of a crowd of people for screaming or throwing something at him that I can’t even remember.
What is wrong with people wanting remorseless killers in fiction to become “good” after doing shit like that 😂😂
Did you miss basically the last scene of S3? Homelander lasered a dude in front of a crowd just because Ryan happened to get hit with the object he threw, even though it didn't even hurt Ryan. It shows that he's starting to care less about his image and that he's now more reckless, making him more dangerous. Plus it looks like Ryan's starting to turn evil too.
"women way older than him" ... those women are his age, he just looks young
Soldier Boys own backstory with HIS father really paints a picture on why he is the way his is. Like he's still looking for approval. The words he said to Homelander are the very same words HIS father said to HIM. I think the major theme of the series is about parenting. Mainly fatherhood. All the characters pretty much come from broken abusive upbringings. And it shows in their behaviors.
Great video, brooo
Soldier boy is definitely lesser of two evils. Butcher is even evil, but lesser of two evils with Soldier boy. When he told Homelander how he was "a fucking disappointment" I love the projecting he's doing in that scene. We'll definitely get a scene of Homelander killing him If I had to say by the next season. I'm wondering how Ryan will react to his grandfather being killed... will he still side with Homelander.
Soldier boy never did anything wrong.
good video man
Butcher and soldier boy have actors that we just love. They look cool and its always cool to see them in action
Counter point to the bad characters are bad and we shouldn't feel bad for them Compound V exaggerates the personality of the super on top of the power trip of having powers
And how this is all a parallel to the dark corners of Hollywood
And power that comes with fame done in a way to draw those parallels like the deep being recruited by a cult operating in Hollywood which can be seen as a jab at scientology
In every hero there's a real life version of the fame they have
A train being a sports athlete who does performance enhancing drugs and drug addiction
Starlight a female actress being subjected to sexual harassment and coercion by her boss and coworkers in order to achieve her dreams
Back tracking to the deep he probably would be a tool sure who happens to care for sea life Compound V exaggerates his love to physical attraction
Most our villans wouldn't be villans if they were tempered properly in the right environment and if the V didn't exaggerate what was already inside
Homelander especially
The reason we like soldier boy in universe wise is because he's taken the drug as an adult so his personality is less affected by the god complex it creates but it doesn't help that he is giving the freedom to walk around without consequences the core of the villans in the show if they were normal people without V living normal lives they'd be the heroes they were meant to be it becomes ironic
I don't think you've quite got it right saying Soldier Boy is a villain, he's got a moral sense of right and wrong, its just warped and painfully out of touch with reality. He would have killed Homelander had Buther not gotten in the way. He's the enemy of the protagonists enemy, but in that context he would only be a villain if the protagonists were heroes, which they most certainly are not.
Soldier Boy is a great example of an anti-villain, it doesn’t help that he’s ridiculously charismatic, he says and does disgusting and offensive things, and yet Ackles makes him a blast to watch. I think unlike a lot of Supes in The Boys there’s a good man buried deep in Soldier Boy or at least he’s aware of what he’s doing.
"Nobody ever thinks that they're the evil ones." - Negan, The Walking Dead, conversation with Michonne
Wait was soldier boy actually a villain?😱
No, he wasn't a pleasant dude; but not a villain. More of a hero than batman would be in that universe; since the guy actually wanted to kill Homelander and followed his word. People In The Boys universe and in ours consider heroes for what they look like; not for their results. But those are idiots anyways, the results make the hero not the means.
I like this video, but i think i disagree on the front of having to pick one villain over the other. You forget the third option of you can root for neither
3:37 the way you decide to say "word" like soldier boy kinda cracked me up man
I always liked how in the final battle Soldierboy was like, "I'm not going back in that box!" because it contrasts Jensen as Dean Winchester when his only plan to stop Michael was to get locked in a box.
Soldier Boy isn't into women who are older than him. That's what's hilarious about it. Those women were young for a man of his actual age.
i like how they made soldier boy a GILF🤣 it's realistic too. He's like 107 years old give or take.
Tbh I didn't really feel bad for soldier boy cause what he did to black noir is exactly why his team betrayed him.