Considering his long line of upcoming TV shows, Jensen Ackles is starting to become the king of Prime Video, and I am not complaining because nearly everything he stars in is worth watching. Although Jensen Ackles has been active as an actor since 1996, he did not taste mainstream success until he starred as one of the two leads of the WB series Supernatural. In recent years, he has garnered more recognition for voicing and also playing superhero characters on the small screen, with his most prominent role in Prime Video’s The Boys.
Despite having a relatively small role in only one season of The Boys, Jensen Ackles made every Soldier Boy scene and dialogue memorable with his brilliant screen presence and comic timing. Owing to this, I, like many viewers, was disappointed when The Boys season 4 did not mark his return. Fortunately, despite being absent from the hit superhero satire’s fourth installment, he will soon be seen in more than one Prime Video show.
Jensen Ackles Now Has 3 Major Amazon Prime Video TV Shows Upcoming
The Boys Season 5, Vought Rising, & Countdown
As The Boys season 4’s ending montage reveals, Jensen Ackles will finally return as Soldier Boy in the fifth installment of the Prime Video series. Erik Kripke, too, has confirmed Soldier Boy’s The Boys season 5 return by revealing how he and the team behind the show’s creation would love to explore the character’s relationship with his son, Homelander. He added that Soldier Boy would be an excellent antagonist in The Boys season 5 because he would be “driven to kill Butcher after Butcher betrayed him in season 3.“
Apart from playing Soldier Boy in The Boys franchise’s future installments, the actor will also star in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller series, Countdown .
Interestingly, The Boys season 5 is not the only Prime Video show Jensen Ackles will be a part of. As Erik Kripke announced at The Boys‘ San Diego Comic-Con panel, Ackles will also be the leading man for an upcoming spin-off prequel to The Boys, titled Vought Rising, which will unfold in the 1950s. This announcement confirmed that even though audiences will miss many beloved The Boys characters after the show ends its run with season 5, they will get to see more of Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy in the prequel series.
Apart from playing Soldier Boy in The Boys franchise’s future installments, the actor will also star in Prime Video’s upcoming thriller series, Countdown. With Derek Haas of the Chicago Fire and FBI: International fame at its helm, Countdown will feature Jensen Ackles as LAPD officer Mark Meachum, who ends up on a secret task force that includes agents and experts from myriad law enforcement agencies. The show will walk through how the task force agents resolve their differences while attempting to save their city from a massive threat.
Countdown’s Confirmed Cast Members
Actor
Role
Jensen Ackles
Mark Meachum
Eric Dane
Nathan Blythe
Jessica Camacho
Amber Oliveras
Violet Beane
Evan Shepherd
Elliot Knight
Keyonte Bell
Uli Latukefu
Lucas Finau
Jensen Ackles’ Prime Video Dominance Is Great After Soldier Boy Disappointment
The Streamer Is Making Up For His The Boys Season 4 Absence
After making Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy one of its primary selling points, Prime Video left me disappointed by only giving him a cameo in Gen V and not featuring him until The Boys season 4’s ending moments. However, I am glad that the streamer is finally making up for Jensen Ackles’ absence from The Boys season 4 by not only marking his return in the show’s season 5 but also by giving him his own The Boys spin-off and a standalone series. While only time will tell how these upcoming shows will perform, it is hard not to expect Vought Rising to be as good as The Boys (if not better).
Even the upcoming thriller series Countdown has a talented showrunner at its helm and includes some great actors in its roster. Jensen Ackles’ established history of playing diverse roles in several other mystery thrillers, like My Bloody Valentine and Dark Angel, also adds to the anticipation for Countdown. In hindsight, I can see how Soldier Boy’s absence from The Boys season 4 has been the perfect build-up for Ackles’ Prime Video domination. It may not have been an intentional strategic move from the streamer’s end, but it still raises a lot of hype for his future projects.
Jensen Ackles’ Streaming Roles Come After He Conquered Network TV
Days of Our Lives, Smallville, & Supernatural Have All Been Long-Running Network TV Hits
Long before Jensen Ackles donned Soldier Boy’s superhero costume, he took over network television by playing prominent roles in several long-running shows like Days of Our Lives, Smallville, and Supernatural. While his portrayal of Eric Brady in Days of Our Lives put his acting prowess on full display, his roles in Smallville and Supernatural highlighted his potential as a leading man in compelling superhero shows and mystery dramas like The Boys, Vought Rising, and Countdown. His network TV experience has perfectly paved the way for his streaming success, and I’m all here for it.
