This week The Boys hosts something that Supernatural fans have been waiting for a long time – Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins onscreen, together again. It will be the first time the three have shared a screen since their many years together on Supernatural as Sam, Dean and Castiel. For Supernatural fans, this feels like a momentous occasion.
The three gave fans some rather tantalizing tidbits of information about the upcoming episode at a Supernatural convention in Rome this past weekend.
Eric Kripke is of course the common denominator between the two shows as the creator of Supernatural and the showrunner who adapted The Boys comics into a series. Jensen Ackles joined as Soldier Boy in Season 3 and has been making fans conflicted about loving and hating him ever since.
Fans figured out last month that Jared Padalecki will be playing Mr. Marathon from a photo on the wall when we caught a glimpse of the character in a promo, because nothing gets by motivated fans!
Jared confirmed it at a convention shortly after – which prompted Kripke to go out and confirm it too, saying that he had wanted a meaty part for Jared that was important to the story arc. Jensen Ackles has said that he was nervous about bringing his two friends onto The Boys – not because he worried about their performance, because he knew they’d be great, but in the way a dad worries about his son going up to bat. Picture him across the set going “come on guys, you can do it!”
Apparently they did.
Kripke recently confirmed that Padalecki had ‘crushed it’, unsurprisingly. We also know that Mr. Marathon is a far cry from Jared Padalecki, who has said the character says and does things that he would never do. He’s a douchebag and a cokehead, reminding many people of the fanfic Kripke read many years ago featuring a cokehead Jared and an assertive Kripke and let’s just say it wasn’t rated G and that I may or may not know more about how that all happened…
That was a long long time ago, as Supernatural was in its earliest seasons. This was Kripke back then, the first time we met him – baby Kripke!
Anyway… Collins’ role hasn’t been officially announced, but there are plenty of rumors that he might be Mr. Marathon’s partner and perhaps a supe named Synergy.
Looks like Soldier Boy is not a fan.
That would be an awesome (though probably tragic) twist for all the Mishalecki fans out there.
Jared and Misha have been having a great time teasing the possibilities.
Soldier Boy still not a fan.
Padalecki joked at the Supernatural convention in Rome this weekend in response to a prompt about getting naked – “next Wednesday on The Boys!”
Now that might just be a joke, but on the other hand, Ackles has already been sans clothes for Soldier Boy’s debut and the show is famous for Herogasm, so who knows?!
Padalecki and Collins also resurrected their long-running joke about “influence” on each other from an earlier convention in Rome, with influence being a bodily fluid that’s also not G rated, when answering a question about The Boys episode.
Jared: There’s quite a bit of influence going on… I mean, not as much because we’re older, but…
Misha: I think quite a bit of influence on each other… in each other? In this episode there’s more bodily fluid than…it’s a lot…
Ackles rolled his eyes at his two friends’ antics while fans cheered.
If all those teases aren’t enough to whet your appetite for this week’s episode, I don’t know what would – as someone whose favorite shows are Supernatural and The Boys, I can’t wait!
I’ve had some great conversations with Eric Kripke over the years about both shows and the similarities between them (the resistance in both comes in the form of plain old humans who are willing to go against the odds and keep fighting). So on the eve of this momentous occasion, I thought I’d share some excerpts from my interview chats with Eric over the years about the two shows and how they intersect. It’s a history of the Supernatural-The Boys connection as we get ready to make that connection a lot more direct!
I first asked Kripke about the similarities between his brand new show The Boys and his long-time show Supernatural at San Diego Comic Con way back in 2019, before Supernatural had ended.
Eric: This show is also about family. It’s about the boys, who are the good guys in this show. They’re the heroes because they stick together and show each other loyalty and have each other’s backs and they’re willing to admit vulnerability and weakness. They’re scared and they’re outmatched and they’re outgunned but they’re taking on these powerful forces. Not dissimilar to the way Sam and Dean would take on monsters and demons. What I love is that the heroes of the show are the ones who express vulnerability and weakness and can be imperfect, but we spend a lot of time building the iceberg under the water with the emotion and the satire.
That was enough to get me excited about the show and I’ve been watching ever since. I had the chance to chat with Eric in depth about The Boys shortly after that Comic Con. I pointed out that both Supernatural and The Boys begin with an everyman inspired to get revenge after the love of his life is violently killed (Mary burning on the ceiling and Robin mowed down by A Train). In the case of The Boys, that comes from the comics, but the show captured it.
Eric: Now that you’ve pointed it out, there are similarities to that. Robin dying in The Boys is taken almost frame for frame from the comic book so it’s funny, that hadn’t really occurred to me about that connection, because in The Boys the instigating incident is so infamous for anyone who’s a fan of the books. It was my job to capture it as faithfully as possible and that’s mostly where my head was, but yeah. Also, I think where they’re similar is there are a lot of tonal and thematic similarities. In a lot of ways, The Boys is a hard R Supernatural.
(Something many Supernatural fans would not mind at all!)
Eric: And it’s funny because you don’t even realize these things until it’s hindsight. I don’t set out to say oh I’m gonna make something for Supernatural fans, I just make stuff – the only person I really try to please is me. But because I love Supernatural and those are the kind of things that I love, I guess it stands to reason that if left to my own devices to make another show that I put all my love into, it will have some similarities. What The Boys is really ultimately about is these kind of very down to earth middle class blue collar people taking on these arrogant ultra powerful forces that are overwhelming and all powerful. In Supernatural it’s angels and demons and (laughing) God…
(Little did we know at the time that Supernatural’s version aka Rob Benedict would join the fun on The Boys with a VERY memorable character)
Eric: And in The Boys, it’s the sort of pantheon of superheroes. The incredibly big guy with magical powers basically is something that I’m clearly interested in. I think I really like the idea of blue collar no bullshit guys taking on and puncturing these huge myths and kind of having to bring them down to earth just through their own wits, because they’re outmatched…And that says something to me, I think, about the world. Like we’re always up against these seemingly insurmountable forces, but there are things we can do to get some equality. You just have to – it’s not easy and it’s not fair – but you just have to keep banging away at it.
Lynn: I think that “Always Keep Fighting” mantra is one of the things that made Supernatural really strike a chord with people. When it premiered, the world was changing. The internet, social media, the ability to manipulate in frightening ways through technology – that was all happening. So I think that everyman theme resonated with people. But maybe even more now. And I think this show really tackles all of that. I mean, I’ve only watched one episode and it’s already taken on capitalism, Hollywood, fame, social media manipulation, sexism, misogyny, homophobia – and that’s only the first episode!
E: Right. Yeah, and it only gets worse from there (laughing). When I started Supernatural, I was a kid, I was 30 years old – I mean that seems like a kid now. And I didn’t spend an incredible amount of time thinking about politics or the world that my children will grow up in, because I didn’t have any yet. I was just trying to make a scary show and put into it stuff that I emotionally felt was right. And I think now I spend a lot more time worrying about the world we’re in and how – look, whether you’re left or right wing or conservative or liberal – we’re in a world in which we’re completely inundated by social media and corporations, massive frankly God-like corporations, using those mediums to manipulate us to work against our own best interests instead of coming together. So to me, what Supernatural kind of ended up being about and what The Boys is really about is real people taking on that machinery because that machinery is manipulating us and turning us against each other and making us scared and angry. Instead of what we should be, which is a community of people trying to help each other muddle through all this bullshit.
L: Exactly. I think you’re finding the right balance, the message comes through but not like you’re being hit over the head with it.
E: I wish I could take credit for that. I think the comic tees up the metaphor in a way that made it easy for us to look smart. Just the core notion of superheroes as celebrities and as highly profitable commodities, you know, and the timing of all that with everything that’s going on in the world. Not just in superhero culture or pop culture, but in the world, it really lines up. The best episodes of Supernatural, the monsters and the creatures they’re up against were always metaphors for something. We started with, what are Sam and Dean going through, and now how can we come up with a creature that personifies that?
L: YES. So much yes.
E: Similarly, in this show, the superhero metaphor really works for this kind of really glib slick surface appearance-oriented world we live in. Everything is just about how you project to the crowds versus what’s really happening behind the scenes. When you’re a superhero show, you can say oh, that’s a story about masks…At first, I just took on The Boys because I thought it would be fun to take on the superhero genre, but the more we dug into it, the more we realized it was just a perfect metaphor to describe the world we’re living in right now. The other thing is, I think what Supernatural fans will really recognize is that the theme is the same. The theme of Supernatural and the theme of The Boys is the thing that I most value, which is family and loyalty to your friends and pulling together in tough situations and showing your humanity and vulnerability and just sticking together. That’s the closest thing I’ve got to a world view.
L: Yes, that comes through in all your shows.
E: We were very careful to balance the universe of the show so that it’s not just a completely nihilistic universe, but it’s one that’s guided by moral law so that it doesn’t just feel like a grim death trip. I wanted it to feel like there’s hope in there if you make the right choice, and the right choice in the show is always whoever chooses loyalty to the group and the family, however you define your family. Those are the ones who tend to be on the right path in the show, and those who turn against that or betray that tend to get punished. So I think people will see that theme, and the balance of the tone, even though it’s a much more R rated version. There’s a lot of laughs, and there’s a lot of horror (laughing). And there’s a lot of emotion. It’s funny reading online how dark everyone thinks the show is. And I think Supernatural fans will see this, because I see this — I’m like huh, I actually think it’s a really sweet show…
L: (laughing) I mean, people say that about Supernatural too. The book I wrote with the actors, Family Don’t End With Blood, about how inspiring the show is to both the fans and the actors on the show, and if you don’t know what the show is really about underneath, it’s like, “inspiring? Touching? It’s a horror show!” But it’s so much more. And it’s that combination that makes it compelling.
E: Yeah, there’s no question that The Boys is ultra violent, but to me the violence reads on the same level of like a Sam Raimi movie. I don’t look at violence as horrific, I look at it like a guy who’s a horror fan, like’s that’s cool or funny. So my take, when I watch the episodes, is sometimes oh that’s so sweet, like I really love the relationships between those characters. Hughie and Annie are so sweet, they really care about each other. What I tend to take away is, this is a hopeful show with a lot of heart. And I think Supernatural fans will see that, whereas I think the sort of non-Supernatural civilians (both laughing) in the world see more the darkness and the violence, we see the family and the heart of it.
L: Will there be any little Supernatural Easter eggs or shout outs in The Boys? I noticed in the pilot, there’s a moment when one of the characters who’s like a brother to the other yanks him into an open doorway backwards by his collar, and I immediately thought of that scene where Sam yanks Dean into the open hotel room door the exact same way. Is that a shout out?
E: (laughing). Right – Yeah yeah yeah. And you’ll see, there’s a shot in the beginning of episode two that Supernatural fans will really notice — which is, it’ll be down through a trunk shot and Butcher and Hughie are at the trunk and they shut the trunk.
E: I mean, look, I’m on the show, Phil Sgriccia (long time Supernatural producer/director) is a producer and director and there the whole time, so it’s kind of inevitable that stuff works its way in there. I don’t think we sit down to say like hey let’s for sure make sure there are these nods in the show, because we’re stressed and it’s late and we’re working 17 hours and just trying to get our day shot. But when there’s a moment when we know that Butcher needs to pull Hughie into this club and the blocking’s there and it has to be in that world anyway, we kinda wink at each other and do these things. The best Supernatural reference for me – and I think there are a bunch in there — I have to admit probably half of them are just kind of on the verge of being subconscious because it’s just things I like!
L: That makes sense and I guess at this point, those are just things I like too.
E: A lot of it is just because of my taste, so when people are recognizing things from Supernatural they’re probably recognizing like oh that’s just Eric – but I will say, you’ll see in Episode 8, the one I was directing, it was kinda important to me that we needed this kind of high powered government official to go toe to toe with Elisabeth Shue, so we brought in Jim Beaver to play the secretary of defense… Robert Singer.
L: (laughing)
E: Yeah so Jim came in for me and we had a little name plate that said ‘Robert Singer’, and we’re actually gonna bring him back in Season 2 — so Bobby Singer lives!
L: I love that. My daughter was watching The Boys with me and she said you know, that’s the way Sam and Dean would act and talk in real life, they really need to put them on that show so they can act like Sam and Dean would really talk and act.
E: Right, exactly. We have to do a rated R Supernatural for sure.
L: Pretty sure there’d be a lot of people standing in line for that! Or just bring them over to The Boys!
(I’d love to take credit for putting the idea in Kripke’s head seven years ago, but of course he had already beaten me to it)
E: I mean, we’ll see what they’re doing, but I’ve chatted with Jensen a little bit over the last couple months and he’s like, how’s The Boys doing? And I said it’s so cool, it’s so fun and so filthy and like when you get done with that other short term show you’re on, come on over and play with us…
L: (laughing) You know they would love it!
E: My guess is they’ll wanna sleep for a year, but I’d be happy – no, I’d be proud – to bring Jared and Jensen into The Boys if they wanted to do it.
(He’s been like a proud dad ever since bringing Jensen on, and this week’s episode is just gonna make him even prouder when Jared and Misha join the fun!)
At the time, Kripke was just hoping that Supernatural fans might watch his new show, and I was determined to try to convince them.
E: Don’t watch it with your kids, but I hope Supernatural fans give The Boys a shot, because I think they’ll see a lot there that’s familiar to them.
Fast forward, I talked to Eric again the following year as Season 2 was coming up, wondering if there would be more homage to Supernatural, especially now that it was ending?
Eric: Yeah for sure, there are Easter eggs. Part of it is just because me and Phil Sgriccia, the producer/director of the show, we’re both long timers not just on Supernatural but on Revolution, so we are just inherently putting in little jokes to amuse ourselves. There are little references, like you said, Robert Singer. In episode 8 of Season 2, pay attention to the name of his assistant. We even found a little internet cartoon – I won’t say when it happens – but the Impala makes a short fast cameo, blink if you miss it, but it’s there.
(If you missed it, go back and find Baby’s cameo!)
Eric: To me it’s like, when I find actors I love who are both talented and, just as importantly, good people, I go back to them over and over again….I love bringing back actors who I love to work with, and it makes it a lot more fun. So yes, there will be familiar faces this year.
Fast forward to the next time I chatted with Eric near the end of Season 3. Jensen Ackles had joined The Boys as Soldier Boy, and he was doing such a great job that I confessed to Kripke that many of us were having trouble hating the character as much as we should – which he completely understood, joking that Ackles was doing TOO good a job!
Way back then, Kripke had already talked to Jared Padalecki (on his birthday) about coming on the show too.
Eric: I told him, I’m like, you have an open door, man, so whenever you’re free from Walker, let’s talk about it!
Lynn: You will absolutely destroy the Supernatural fandom if that happens, but in a wonderful way.
(Photo Chris Schmelke)
Eric: Well, we have to pull it off with the schedule first, but ideally that would be great!
Lynn: I’m crossing my fingers, and if Jared and Jensen – Soldier Boy and whoever Jared plays – end up onscreen together, I don’t know what will happen.
Eric: (laughing delightedly) It’s true!
Fast forward to 2025 a year ago and Jared and Jensen – and Misha – were all in Toronto filming The Boys, and they will indeed be onscreen together this week.
After so many discussions with Kripke about this happening, it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for it to come to pass (at least since 2019 when I first asked him about it!)
After hearing all Jared and Misha’s jokes this weekend about what their characters get up to, I’m even more excited for the ‘Supernatural reunion’ (even if it does result in bodily fluids like blood and explosive character deaths…)
Don’t miss the new episode tomorrow night – and check back here for an in depth review!
–Lynn
You can read all about The Boys and all about
Supernatural in our books about the shows,
all featuring the actors’ thoughts about their
characters, including Jensen Ackles, Jared
Padalecki and Misha Collins – info at:
And at: https://smartpopbooks.com/book/supes-aint-always-heroes/
