It feels like it’s just a matter of time before Eric Kripke’s popular Prime Video show “The Boys” turns into a full-blown “Supernatural” cast reunion. Jensen Ackles, star of the latter long-running CW show (also created by Kripke), has already been featured on the cynical superhero drama, playing the season 3 character Soldier Boy. Now, Ackles’ co-star Jared Padalecki is officially on board for season 5. The news of the Sam Winchester actor’s casting came just a month after Kripke spoke about wanting him on the show, telling Variety in May that “I feel like I have to complete my game of ‘Supernatural’ Pokémon and I have my one big one — very big one — left to catch.”
Fortunately for fans, Padalecki was into the idea. He said as much in an interview with Collider a month earlier, but in the process, he also revealed that he had a certain request before he made his “The Boys” debut: he wanted some time to get buff. “He has reached out to me,” Padalecki told the outlet at the time, “And my response to him 90% of the time is, ‘Dude, I’m 41 now with three kids. I’m not 25 and working out three hours a day. I know you’re going to f**king make me get naked, so give me a heads-up.'” Padalecki is not wrong to assume there might be a nudity aspect to his role; the ultra-violent “Boys” is known for pushing the boundaries of the TV rating system in every way possible.
Padalecki wanted time to get buff before production
Hilariously, Padalecki said he’s still down to do the show if given time to prepare, so it sounds like he’s not looking for a last-minute walk-on role. (He later teased a season 5 role to Variety, but didn’t share details.) “‘I’m in, but let me get a nutritionist and a trainer and get in the hyperbaric chamber for eight months before you make me show up,'” he recalled telling Kripke. “But yeah, it would obviously be a lot of fun to see Kripke again and to work on that show, which is a great show that I’m a fan of.” With his casting, Padalecki won’t just join Ackles on the list of castmates who made the move from one Kripke show to another; “Supernatural” alumni Jim Beaver, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Rob Benedict have all appeared on “The Boys” at some point already. However, Misha Collins, who played the angel Castiel for most of “Supernatural” (albeit only one season headed up by Kripke), has yet to appear.
Morgan, of course, played Dean and Sam Winchester’s troubled, missing father in “Supernatural,” and hopped on board season 4 of “The Boys” as Kessler, a man from Billy Butcher’s (Karl Urban) past who acts as a sort of extreme devil on his shoulder as Butcher descends into Temp V dependence. Meanwhile, Benedict — who played prophet Chuck as well as God himself in “Supernatural” — recently stripped down for a wild performance as the clone-making Supe Splinter in “The Boys.” In one of the most memorable scenes from season 4, several nude Splinter clones fight the show’s heroes in a sequence that Kripke told CinemaBlend took eight days to shoot. Finally, Beaver, who played father figure Bobby Singer in “Supernatural,” popped up in “The Boys” as a politician named — you guessed it — Robert Singer.
The Supernatural cast reunion continues
Given the creativity and generally not safe for work nature of the parts “Supernatural” castmates have played in “The Boys” so far, Padalecki’s plan to get ripped before joining the cast makes sense. The actor’s schedule recently opened up, as his lead role in the CW reboot of “Walker” ended unceremoniously when the network decided to cancel it in favor of what Padalecki told Variety he saw as “really easy, cheap content that they could fill up time with.” Before the show’s cancelation, the actor had been working consistently with the network for decades, appearing on “Gilmore Girls” (back when the CW was The WB) and co-headlining 15 seasons of “Supernatural.”
Speaking to Variety, Kripke said, “Unfortunately, [‘Walker’] got canceled — but the good thing is he’s free.” Luckily, Padalecki says his role in “The Boys” likely won’t film until next January, so he’s got a bit of time to get in naked-fighting action star shape if he wants to.
“The Boys” season 5 has yet to receive an official premiere date.
