The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has said that the recent nods to the Vought Rising spinoff show in Season 5 were not the result of “craven commercialism.”
Fans of the gory Prime Video superhero show seem to be split about where the story is heading ahead of next week’s series finale, but one of the prevailing talking points surrounding recent episodes involves how it’s handled side characters like Soldier Boy and Bombsight. While some viewers fear they only played a role in Season 5 to pique interest ahead of the upcoming Vought Rising prequel series, Kripke has said that this isn’t the case.
The Boys showrunner opened up about his team’s process during a recent interview with The Watch. While Vought Rising will turn back the clock to the 1950s to explore the origins of some of the show’s most evil characters, Kripke said he was more focused on giving the characters from the main series a fitting sendoff when developing Season 5.
Warning! Spoilers for The Boys Season 5 follow.
“How do you do enough that you can touch on it, but not so much that you feel like it’s homework or you feel like it’s just a commercial?” he said when asked about balancing The Boys with Vought Rising. “Where it really came from, honestly, was we had this notion of this V-One McGuffin, and we knew Soldier Boy was going to be a character this season.
“Why is he immortal? Why is Stormfront immortal? What is it about whatever they had, right? Once you come up with V-One… we didn’t start it like, ‘We gotta get Bombsight in there, guys! We gotta set up our thing!'”
Vought Rising was announced in 2024 as a prequel show that would feature Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy and Aya Cash’s Stormfront, two characters who have shown up for past seasons of the mainline series. Casting for additional supes, such as Mason Dye as Bombsight and Elizabeth Posey as Private Angel, was then revealed in August 2025. Some were happy to see Dye make his first on-screen appearance as his character in The Boys Season 5, Episode 6, but others felt Kripke and company were trying a little too hard to force Vought Rising into the conversation.
Kripke clarified that bringing in Bombsight, specifically, was a collaborative effort between The Boys team and Vought Rising showrunner Paul Grellong. When he heard what Grellong was doing with Bombsight, they found a way to bring both shows together in a way they felt made sense.
“So, when the question comes up in our room of like, ‘Who ultimately has the V-One? Is it just some rando old hero that you never will see again, or should it be one of those characters, because those characters are so bad ass?'” he added. “That’s how it kind of evolved. It was pretty organic.
“There wasn’t a lot of craven commercialism in there. It came from a spot of, it’s a full universe, and we have these pieces, so if we’re able to use them, why not?”
The Boys is currently in the midst of its fifth and final season and will come to an end with its finale next week, May 20. Vought Rising is expected to premiere in the first half of 2027.
While we wait for updates, you can read about the Marvel actor who snuck in for a quick cameo in Episode 7. You can also check out what Kripke had to say about some of the other recent criticisms the show has faced.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
