‘The Boys’ Reveals Concept Art for Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy Super Suit (Exclusive)

You’ve seen the “After,” here’s the “Before”

Soldier Boy Jensen Ackles
Amazon

Amazon Prime Video’s “The Boys” unveiled the first look at Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy super suit last week. Now, TheWrap can exclusively reveal the concept art that birthed the badass look.

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see both the original image created by concept artist Greg Hopwood in all its glory, as well as a side-by-side shot of the concept pic and Ackles wearing the final product, which was designed by Laura Jean Shannon.

For those who don’t know, Soldier Boy is a fan-favorite character from “The Boys” graphic novels written by Garth Ennis and co-​created, designed and illustrated by Darick Robertson. Soldier Boy is known as “the original superhero,” who fought in World War II and became “the first super celebrity, and a mainstay of American culture for decades.”

Ackles was cast in the role by “The Boys” showrunner Eric Kripke, who created “Supernatural” and called next dibs on Ackles last August before production had even wrapped on The CW series.

“Soldier Boy is the original badass,” Shannon said when the suit was first revealed last week. “Our goal was to highlight a bygone era of overt masculinity and grit. With that pedigree we dove headfirst into baking in an all-American quality grounded in a military soldier’s practicality with a heavy dose of old school cowboy swagger. We knew that the actor had to have Steve McQueen looks and chops with a John Wayne attitude. Luckily Jensen Ackles embodies all of that.”

Kripke added in his own statement at the time: “When I cast Jensen as Soldier Boy, the first thing I said was, ‘I’m most excited for you, because of the amazing process you’ll go through with LJ, our super suit designer.’ It took six months but the experience surpassed Jensen’s expectations. LJ has made a work of art that tips its hat to the WWII Soldier Boy from the comics, while taking it in a sleek new direction. And if you think the photos are cool, just wait till you see Jensen in action. It’s one of my very favorite suits. Also, now you can quit clogging my Twitter notifications with demands to see it.”

Along with newcomer Ackles joining for the third season, which is currently in production in Toronto, “The Boys” stars Karl Urban, Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Erin Moriarty, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Chace Crawford and Nathan Mitchell.

Here’s TheWrap’s exclusive look at “The Boys” concept art for Soldier Boy, courtesy of Amazon Prime Video:

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video/Illustration by Greg Hopwood

And here’s that side-by-side shot we promised you:

Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video/Illustration by Greg Hopwood

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