That ‘Gen V’ Soldier Boy Cameo Almost Ended Up Going In A Completely Different Direction

(Spoilers for Gen V and The Boys will be found below.)

Anyone who’s been paying attention to Gen V‘s social media accounts and sneak-peak clips knows that Jensen Ackles was due to make an appearance, and that happened this week. Keeping this a surprise would have been almost cruel because Soldier Boy was so much fun, even if he is now essentially on ice with Vought International following that climactic battle that finally allowed Queen Maeve to secretly pursue Supe retirement.

The cameo, as well, was a true WTF moment born from within Cate’s mind, and Soldier Boy showed up and promised advice and a survival revelation before dropping a string of profanity and then evaporating. No, he did not drop trou, probably because it would take too long to remove the Supe suit, but this was the next best thing. Yet as co-showrunner Michele Fazekas and creator Eric Kripke told Variety, this monologue nearly came from…. Taylor Lautner Yes, and here’s what Kripke clarified:

“In one of the early drafts of the script, it was meant to be a guide in Cate’s mind that shows up, lays out a couple of rules, and then explodes. If I remember correctly, in the earliest drafts it was Taylor Lautner. And the characters were wandering through the woods, and then they’re like, ‘Taylor Lautner!’ And he’s like, ‘Ya, I’m Cate’s crush! Cate used to masturbate to me. Anyway, here’s the rules.’ And then he blows.”

The right call was ultimately made. Nothing against Taylor Lautner, but Soldier Boy needed to make an appearance to further spur on these students to get to the bottom of Gen U’s shenanigans. Also, there’s always room for the Twilight werewolf to arrive in the future, since Gen V received a Season 2 greenlight. As Kripke put it, “My secret hope is he’s going to realize his managers never brought this to him, and then make a change.” Yes, do not rule out the possibility of a super-profane Lautner, who could very well defy expectations after his recent Taylor Swift concert cameo.