Gen V Brings In A Surprise Cameo From The Boys This Week

The Boys' spin-off Gen V likes to take us into its characters' heads to get a better idea of how they tick. Sometimes, it's a flashback, other times it's Cricket crawling into a soldier's ear. This week, though, Marie and her friends are learning about what made the mind-controlling Cate who she is. In the process, we run into one of the most powerful members of The Seven.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Gen V Season 1, Episode 6.

The kids end up trapped inside the unconscious mind of their friend Cate, experiencing her memories from her point of view, seeing her grief over accidentally causing her brother to disappear and making her parents afraid of her.

As the kids explore Cate's mind, they come across an unexpected figure: Soldier Boy. Jensen Ackles appears as his character from The Boys Season 3 here to warn the kids that they need to get out quickly or risk being trapped there.

This version of Soldier Boy isn't the one we know from the show, and is somewhat divorced from that reality. One of the kids accuses him of being a Russian agent, and he has no idea what that means because for Cate he's just a memory--her first "imaginary boyfriend," as Soldier Boy explains in much less savory terms. This scene makes sure we know that this guy is Cate's fantasy, a figment of her own mind, and not the real Soldier Boy.

This is a fun way to do a cameo with a main character from The Boys without overshadowing the kids' own quest. The accomplished supes of The Boys, good or bad, would tear through the challenges that the young heroes of Gen V are facing. This keeps Soldier Boy safely contained while giving Ackles a chance to drop some truly crude lines as his character.

New episodes of Gen V air Thursdays on Prime Video.