For 15 long years, Jensen Ackles played one of the protagonists, Dean Winchester, in Eric Kripke’s fantasy drama series Supernatural. In August 2020, it was announced that Ackles and Kripke were joining forces once again in the third season of the latter’s satirical superhero series, The Boys. Ackles, who played Ben / B.C.L. RED / Soldier Boy joked in an interview that Supernatural might be the reason why his arc in The Boys was made so dark and NSFW.
Kripke served as a showrunner on Supernatural during its first five seasons and developed a great friendship with Ackles. The series was intended for a TV audience and couldn’t explore much into violence or other mature content. However, Kripke’s superhero series created for Amazon Prime Video had no such restrictions.
Jensen Ackles Explains His Violent and NSFW Arc In Eric Kripke’s The Boys
Robin’s death in The Boys Season One, which served as a catalyst for Hughie’s decision, introduced the audience to the vicious world where nothing would be held back. Eric Kripke, who was at the helm of the series, had some wild ideas, and audiences were all game for it, evident from the positive reception of all three seasons.
In the third season, Kripke brought in an old friend as another scarier supe in the series. The star of Kripke’s Supernatural, Jensen Ackles, was cast as Soldier Boy in 2020. Appearing on Around The Table with The Boys hosted by EW, Ackles and Kripke detailed how Supernatural paved the way for Ackles’ entry into The Boys. Ackles joked that Kripke hired him for the new series because he could make him act in violent and NSFW scenes, something the creator couldn’t do earlier. He told EW:
“Eric didn’t take a lot of his time to just think, ‘Hmm… What could I make him do that I could never make him do on Supernatural?’ And [he] put it in the script and said, ‘Here you go, [censored]!'”
Eric Kripke was hilarious with his response as he shared that Ackles was absolutely right in his analysis. Kripke revealed that they could never swear on Supernatural or show the real horror in this horror drama. The creator humorously shared that it was a pleasure to put Jensen Ackles through all those paces. Kripke shared with EW:
“I know that I’m supposed to say right now, ‘No no no… It was really true to the character and the tone.’ But he’s right. I mean it was pretty much like [that] to a certain extent. We could never swear on Supernatural. Like there’s so many things that we wanted to do on Supernatural. Because Supernatural is a horror movie but we couldn’t really show the horror that much or we couldn’t swear or have the giant ten-foot high [censored]. So it was like a pleasure to be able to put him through all those paces.”
In The Boys, Jensen Ackles’s character Soldier Boy was an original premier superhero, thought to have been killed in the Cold War. The character was intended as an extreme parody of the MCU’s Captain America. Kripke further detailed how Ackles would come up to him and point out that some of the scenes were too dark for him.
Eric Kripke Revealed One Downside To His Friendship With Jensen Ackles
In the interview, Eric Kripke jokingly revealed one downside of his long-time friendship with Jensen Ackles. Kripke shared that when the other actors approached him with discomfort while filming any scenes, he would show compassion and tell them that it was a safe space. However, when Ackles calls him with any discomfort, he would simply dismiss it. The Boys creator shared with EW:
“But that’s also one of the downsides of us being friends for so long and having such a comfort with each other. Because like any of the other actors call me with some [issues], I’m like, ‘Okay. We’re going to stop down. We’re going to figure this out. This is a safe space. You need to be comfortable.’ He calls me with it, I go, ‘Haha! That’s hilarious. No. But real, get the f**k out there and do it.'”
However, Kripke’s revelation is clearly a joke as Ackles earlier revealed that he didn’t film a scene in The Boys that he was very uncomfortable with. While he didn’t reveal the details of the film, he told EW:
“As a father of three, and a son and a husband and a self-respecting human being, I can’t do this. I didn’t know where my line was, but you found it.”
Ackles will probably return for the fourth season of the series after the grim finale of Season 3. The teaser for the series was dropped in December, hinting at a release date in the first half of 2024. Ackles unknowingly revealed his possible return when he was seen wearing a cap that read “The Boys Season 4” on the side. Supernatural is now available for streaming on Netflix.
