How Soldier Boy Changed The Way We Look at Villains
The Boys is a show that has always had interesting characters: Billy Butcher, Homelander, Hughie, Starlight, so many to name. But the most interesting one, to me, came from season three of the show, and that’s the villain of said season, Soldier Boy. And yes, Soldier Boy is a villain. He sides with our protagonists, but ultimately becomes the primary antagonist to everyone by the end.
Season 3 was all about fathers and sons; that’s the vibe of this season, and Soldier Boy’s main conflict comes from his relationship with his own biological son, Homelander. Homelander is another fantastic character, probably one of the best and most consistently written characters on television. And I kinda need to talk about him for the context of today’s post to make sense, so here we go. Begs the question, who do we root for? Homelander, who we know has done terrible things and has been the main antagonist for Butcher since the show started. Or Soldier Boy, who is another not great person, who’s abusive and mean to people. It creates this interesting examination on who’s the real villain. And that’s why I believe Soldier Boy changed the way we look at villains, and that’s because who do you root for when everyone is just as bad as each other, but we follow every character in the story? You could argue Soldier Boy and Homelander are both the villains, and Butcher and the boys are the heroes. But Butcher is using Soldier Boy to try and kill Homelander, and Butcher himself has done questionable acts, so it becomes a lot more complicated than just having two antagonists. Plus, yes, Soldier Boy is a bad guy, although like Homelander, every scene with him is entertaining, and I would even say Soldier Boy is likable, despite all the bad he’s done, and this is in large part to Jensen Ackles amazing performance. He seriously adds a level of humanity to the performance that I think only he could bring, and you kinda understand where he’s coming from in some cases. The show does a really great job at making you understand the characters’ points of view, rather than them just being mustache-twirling villains. Take, for example, the scene where he blows up a bunch of innocent civilians.
Humanizing Villains
In a later scene with Hughie, he tells him that it was an accident and that he’s not a bad guy. And yes, it was an accident, but he is definitely a bad guy as we learn more about his past. But the way he says the line makes the audience believe that he believes he’s not a bad guy, like the way we believe that Thanos believes in his goal in Infinity War. Just because what a character is doing is wrong or evil, that character might not believe so; therefore, they have to play the part as if they’re doing nothing wrong. Jensen Ackles plays into that, and he gives the performance as if he truly believes he’s in the right. Another great scene is where he’s having internal conflict with what to do with Homelander, who he’s just found out is his son. He goes back and forth with himself, debating whether to stick to the mission or not, and you can see how it’s taking a toll on him. But he does stick with the original plan, and this adds so much to his character’s morals about sticking to his word. This character could have easily just been evil or a crappy Captain America, like he is in the comics. But the show gives him an actual personality and reasoning for doing everything he does. He also has a lot of interesting traits. Like, he really seems to like singing, and in fact, has a voice of an angel, or how he reflects on the good old days all the time. The way he talks, and what he says makes him stand out, the fact that he likes women way older than him. All these traits are interesting and bring this character to life. Everything Soldier Boy does has a reason to it, which further makes his character realistic. And this ties back to why he changed how we look at villains, because yeah, he’s a bad guy. But you do believe where he’s coming from, and that is so interesting to me. And I would say he’s not as bad as Homelander. they’re very close, but Homelander is just on another level of evil. But the show frames it as Soldier Boy being the main villain of the series, so it does change the way we look at things. There is another great show that does a similar thing as what The Boys does when it comes to its villain, and I would quickly like to bring it up, and that’s Daredevil Season 1. Daredevil Season 1 is probably the second-best piece of television I’ve ever watched, and it is very underappreciated. Go watch it. And the villain in that show, Wilson Fisk, is a villain you understand deeply because of how the show makes you understand where he’s coming from. We constantly cut to scenes of Fisk, and we understand why he is the way he is. We get an origin story, and enough content to see where he’s coming from, and even sympathize with him. You will root for Daredevil to take him down, but because the show humanizes Fisk, Fisk and we spend enough time with him. He becomes a main character of the series, making it harder to dislike him, and depending on what perspective you look at it, you might even root for him.
Redefining Villainy
So yeah, he’s a great villain or hero if you’re a psychopath. The same thing happens in the Boys with Soldier, boy and Homeland. I personally think Homeland needs to die by the time the show comes to an end, but because the show does a great job at humanizing him, it will have to be a satisfying death to pay off for his characterization. I also love how Soldier Boy’s arc directly ties into Homelander’s. Homelander is starting to snap in Season 3, but when Soldier Boy is introduced and he finds out he’s his biological father, he thinks he can have a family and keep it all together. But of course, that doesn’t happen, and Homelander has to learn to be more independent again, and that’s why we get a great cliffhanger at the end of the season.
So, Season 3 made Soldier Boy the villain to the villain, but where does Butcher fit into this? Billy Butcher’s main goal has always been to kill Homelander, that’s like all he wants. So when he realizes that Soldier Boy could probably kill Homelander if he got the super blast on him, he of course takes that opportunity to team up with him.
the show originally framed Soldier Boy as a protagonist, but as the series goes on, Soldier Boy slips from side character to actual antagonist by the end. It makes you question Butcher’s methods, and like I said, he’s not as bad as Homelander, but he’s definitely done evil acts in the show to get what he wants. Obviously, Billy never goes too far and becomes the villain, but he gets pretty close sometimes, but in the end, saves his friends and does what’s right by them. I do like that Soldier Boy becomes the antagonist to everyone by the end.
