The Boys Creator Responds To One Huge Concern About Spin-Off Series Vought Rising

This article contains spoilers for "The Boys" Season 5 through Episode 6, "Though the Heavens Fall."

That's how you multitask. "The Boys" is currently focused on ending this ongoing fifth and final season on a high note, but series creator Eric Kripke already has his eyes set on the next big thing coming up the pipeline. The "Vought Rising" spin-off/prequel will attempt to take advantage of the hype surrounding Jensen Ackles' scene-stealing turn as Soldier Boy, the psychotic father of Homelander (Antony Starr) and a seminal Supe figure in the history of Vought. Even as "The Boys" builds to its epic conclusion, the Prime Video show has already begun laying the track for its next major franchise expansion.

Not that there aren't any potential pitfalls along the way, mind you. Kripke helped oversee the college-set "Gen V" (which was recently canceled after its second season), but that involved a bunch of characters that fans grew to know and love. This one, by contrast, centers on a past super-team led by outright villains like Soldier Boy and Aya Cash's Clara/Stormfront — a violent and fascist Supe with ties going all the way back to Nazi Germany. That's bound to pose a bit of an obstacle for audiences tuning in and hoping to have a hero or two to root for, and it's one that Kripke is well aware of. In an interview with Screen Rant, the showrunner explained:

"In no way will I ever ask the audience to sympathize with Stormfront. She's a Nazi, and she sucks. Soldier Boy? I think, if it's teasing anything, it's teasing that he really had feelings for Clara more than he had originally let on, and that you'll see a lot of that play out in 'Vought Rising.'"

It's always a tricky balancing act telling one story while setting others up at the same time (the Marvel Cinematic Universe still hasn't fully cracked the code on this), but "The Boys" is clearly hoping its final season will bring renewed interest to "Vought Rising" and its murder-mystery plot. That's partly thanks to Soldier Boy's continued presence in the story, but the last few episodes have also incorporated at least one more member of the group that will play a larger role in the prequel series.

The addition of Mason Dye as Bombsight (aka Robbie) has added a new dynamic to Soldier Boy and their implied rivalry dating back decades, but Eric Kripke promises there are more answers where that came from ... but, importantly, it's hardly a case of requiring viewers to do their homework. The showrunner clarifies that fans will perfectly able to enjoy watching either show without needing context from the other. As he told Screen Rant: 

"You'll understand a little bit more of what Soldier Boy and Bombsight's relationship is, and why they resent each other, in 'Vought Rising.' But we always try to hit the right balance, where it provides a little bit of context and some good Easter eggs. But by no means do you have to watch 'The Boys' to enjoy 'Vought Rising.' In fact, we just had some audience testing with some people who had never seen 'The Boys,' and they liked 'Vought Rising' on its own. So, that is for sure the goal."

Of course, audiences will have the final word on whether they want more from "The Boys" universe. "Vought Rising" is expected to arrive sometime next year.