EXCLUSIVE: The world of The Boys is expanding in a major way with the first spinoff featuring actors from the hit Prime Video superhero series. Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash are set to star and produce Vought Rising, a prequel to the Mothership series, reprising their characters of The Boys, Soldier Boy and Stormfront, respectively.
The news will be announced by Jensen (in person) and Cash (via video) during The Boys Comic-Con panel, and is sure to be one of the biggest televised announcements of the convention.
The Boys series executive producer Paul Grelong serves as executive producer and showrunner on Vought Rising. Vought Rising is brought to you by the primary creative sponsor behind The Boys franchise, led by series creator, executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke.
“We’re excited to bring you the next crazy series from the world of The Boys,” Kripke and Grelon said, revealing the prequel’s time period and premise.
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“This is a twisty murder mystery that explores the origins of Vought in the 1950s, the early exploits of Soldier Boy and the nefarious machinations of Superman, known to fans as Stormfront (who then went by the name Clara Vought),” they said, adding, “We can’t wait to shake your heart and tremble your soul with this salacious, gory tale of blood and Compound V.”
UPDATE: You can watch Ackles talk about the prequel below after colliding with The Boys panel.
Ackles’ Soldier Boy and Aya Cash’s Stormfront have similar origin stories: Soldier Boy is America’s first ageless superhero, created by Frederick Vought during World War II, while Stormfront was Frederick Vought’s first successful Compound V test subject and married him before immigrating to America.
Grelon and Kripke serve as executive producers on Vought Rising alongside Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Oli Murmer, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson and Michaela Starr. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television and Amazon-MGM Studios in association with Kripke Enterprises, Point Grey Pictures and Original Film.
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This marks the latest development for The Boys franchise, whose flagship series recently released its penultimate season 4, which has garnered more than 1 billion minutes of viewing time each week in the U.S. alone. Other spinoffs include the animated “The Boys Presents: Diabolical,” college-set spinoff “Gen V” (which is filming season 2) and the upcoming “The Boys: Mexico,” which is executive produced by Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal.
With Vought Rising, Ackles has the rare honor of starring in two major series at once. He also stars in Countdown, an upcoming thriller drama for Prime Video from One Chicago veteran Derek Haas and Amazon-MGM Studios, which received a 13-episode order last month.
“Countdown” was produced for Ackles, who signed a first-look deal with Amazon-MGM Studios last year for Chaos Machine Productions, the company he co-runs with his wife, Danneel Ackles, after he joined the cast of “The Boys.” We’ve heard the possibility of producing a “Soldier Boy” spinoff from “The Boys” was factored into his “Countdown” deal, meaning Ackles could do both.
The spinoff will expand on Ackles’ relationship with Kripke, which dates back to the pilot for Supernatural, which Kripke created and in which Ackles co-starred alongside Jared Padalecki. Shortly after that show wrapped after 15 seasons, Kripke brought Ackles on board for The Boys for season three.
Based on the best-selling comic books by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is a delightfully irreverent portrayal of what happens when superheroes – as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians and as revered as gods – use their superpowers for evil rather than for good.
The show just finished airing its fourth season, with Ackles’ Soldier Boy reappearing in the final episode in a post-credits scene in which, after Senator Calhoun is sworn in as the new president, he takes Homelander to a room where Ackles’ Soldier Boy (Homelander’s biological father) is found after being put into a drugged sleep by Grace Mallory in the season three finale.
During The Boys Comic-Con panel today, Kripke announced that Jensen will be returning to the cast as a series series series regular in the upcoming fifth and final season.
Meanwhile, Cash’s Stormfront, who was introduced in season two and had a relationship with Homelander, committed suicide early in season three.
Ackles is no stranger to prequels to hit genre series. He is best known for starring in the long-running WB/CW drama “Supernatural,” where he served as executive producer and was a series regular on the prequel series “The Winchester Brothers.” In addition to his role on “The Boys,” Ackles was a series regular on ABC’s “Big Sky.” He recently guest-starred on CBS’ “Trackers” as Colter’s (Justin Hartley) brother, a role he will reprise next season. Ackles is repped by Gersh & Johnson Shapiro Threwett & Cole.
Cash stars in the FX comedy series You’re the Worst. She also has lead roles in Fox’s Welcome to Flach and Hulu’s The Girl from Plainville. She is signed with UTA, Industry Entertainment and Paul Hastings.
Grelong, a television screenwriter and writer, has worked on series such as NBC’s “Revolution” and “Law & Order: SVU,” and CBS’s “Scorpion” and “Hawaii Five-0.” He is signed with CAA, The Schuman Company and Schreck Rose Dapello.
