The final season of the mothership show includes various references to the next spinoff, led by Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash.

How The Boys season 5 tees up Vought Rising prequel

The final season of the mothership show includes various references to the next spinoff, led by Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in Vanity Fair, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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April 15, 2026 11:00 a.m. ET

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Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), Private Angel (Elizabeth Posey), and Torpedo (Will Hochman) on 'Vought Rising'. Credit:

- Here are all the *Vought Rising* references on *The Boys* season 5.

- The 1950s-set prequel stars Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy and Aya Cash as Stormfront (once known as Clara Vought/Liberty).

- Other main *Vought Rising* players Bombsight (Mason Dye), Torpedo (Will Hochman), and Private Angel (Elizabeth Posey) are all referenced.

**This article contains spoilers from *The Boys* season 5, episode 3, "Every One of You Sons of Bitches."**

*The Boys* may be ending, but season 5 signals where the VCU (Vought Cinematic Universe) goes from here.

Starting with episode 3, titled "Every One of You Sons of Bitches," the final season includes overt nods to the events of *Vought Rising*, the next spinoff series coming to Prime Video following the college-set *Gen V*. Set in 1950s New York City at the dawn of the superhero age, the prequel will chronicle the beginnings of the Vought Corporation and the early exploits of Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy and Aya Cash's Stormfront, previously known as Clara Vought.

Ackles maintains a steady presence on *The Boys* season 5, but the third episode references the new spinoff's other main characters, including Clara, Bombsight (Mason Dye), Torpedo (Will Hochman), and Private Angel (Elizabeth Posey).

As explained by Dr. Sameer Shah (Omid Abtahi) and Sister Sage (Susan Heyward), all five were the first successful test subjects (and survivors) of V1, the first iteration of Compound V. It's considered highly unstable, hence all the dead subjects, but it's also 10 times more potent than the superpower-granting serum of the present day. It's why the supes from this era never age.

Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy, Antony Starr as Homelander on 'The Boys' season 5.

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Stormfront/Clara, the wife of Nazi Vought founder Frederick Vought, was the very first V1 test subject. She later became the supe Liberty before she disappeared for decades and reemerged during the events of *The Boys* season 2 as the plasma-blasting Stormfront. Soldier Boy's reaction to Clara's name on "Every One of You Sons of Bitches" hints at their history.

The episode also reveals the existence of Fort Harmony, a now-abandoned army hospital where Frederick Vought worked. The government classified the site as top secret and decommissioned it after World War II. MM (Laz Alonso) theorizes it's where Vought tested V1.

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Other *Vought Rising* references are on the way as *The Boys* season 5 progresses. Dye is set to make an appearance as Bombsight at some point, ** previously reported.

Addressing all the prequel callouts on the mothership drama, *The Boys* showrunner Eric Kripke told EW, "We started with 'Homelander wants to be a god.' Well, there are immortal characters in the show. That's Soldier Boy, that's Stormfront, there's these characters who got these early doses of Compound V. So what was that? Let's go back to the very beginning of what Vought was starting, which was not a huge concern of the storylines in *Vought Rising*, but we just thought it was interesting. So it all happened organically."

Mason Dye as Bombsight on 'Vought Rising'.

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Kripke describes *Vought Rising*, spearheaded by Paul Grellong, as "*L.A. Confidential* with superheroes. Maybe grimier. Probably, definitely grimier."

"It's a murder-mystery," he said, "and it's got that noir-ish — not Black Noir, but actual noir — movin' through the streets and femme fatales and detectives, but also heroin dens and gay bars and pill-popping and famous people. So it's got a real learned, fun, pulpy vibe that gives it its own energy. It feels like a *Pulp Fiction*-y kind of mystery-story."

Filming on season 1 of *Vought Rising* already wrapped, though a premiere date has not been confirmed. If the show continues for multiple seasons, Kripke teased "we've discussed" bringing back Ethan Slater to play Thomas Godolkin, the founder of Godolkin University with the power of mind control, who first appeared on *Gen V*. "I think we'd be insane to not put Ethan Slater's character in that show," Kripke said.

New episodes of *The Boys* season 5 drop Tuesdays on Prime Video.

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Source: “EW Superhero”