‘Supernatural’ Fans Rejoice, the Jensen Ackles Renaissance Is Upon Us!

It’s never not a good time to be a Jensen Ackles fan (except maybe that Supernatural series finale). But San Diego Comic-Con this year was a particularly exciting weekend for us. Not only did it confirm Soldier Boy’s return as a regular in The Boys season 5, but also we found out he’s leading a new supe spin-off!

It was quite the moment at The Boys’ SDCC Hall H panel, in which the Dean Winchester actor made a surprise entry on stage. Ackles informed a euphoric audience that he would be co-lead with Stormfront actor Aya Cash in a spin-off titled Vought Rising, noting that the show is still being written so not many details are available as yet.

After being revealed to Homelander in the season 4 finale mid-credits scene, Soldier Boy was also confirmed to be returning as a series regular for the fifth and final season of the superhero series. The character has been one of the most loved by fans on the show, and the season he starred in, Season 3, is touted as one of The Boys‘ best seasons. Soldier Boy was in high demand to return with major fan speculation before the season 4 finale.

It was a nice moment on the Hall H stage with Jensen’s on-screen father from Supernatural and off-screen close friend Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays Butcher’s alter ego Joe Kessler on The Boys season 4, present there, and them joking that we’d see a mini Supernatural reunion in the next season. With multiple actors from The CW show already on The Boys, and Sam Winchester actor Jared Padalecki also in talks to join season 5, it’s almost certain that Eric Kripke is going to give us a Winchester boys reunion in the final season!

But here’s what’s even more exciting: With all the recent announcements of Jensen’s new and returning projects, we can truly say, the Jensen Ackles renaissance is upon us! And boy, does it feel good to see this brilliant actor booked and busy, and hitting our screens a lot more often than since the end of Big Sky and the Supernatural spin-off, The Winchesters.

Here’s every upcoming project featuring Jensen Ackles that we’re going to get over the next couple of years:

1. The Boys season 5

The Boys season 4 finale ended with Homelander finding out that the CIA was keeping Soldier Boy on ice. What he’s going to do with his daddy’s body, amidst his own midlife crisis, the absolute anarchy in the country that he has caused, and Butcher on the loose with a supe-killing virus, will be interesting to watch. Most likely, Soldier Boy sides with his son, because he wants to save his supe ass. Or, knowing The Boys, something unexpected happens!

2. Vought Rising

After making a hilarious cameo in the spin-off Gen V, Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy is getting his own The Boys spin-off is going to be a murder mystery that will track the early days of Vought with Nazi supe Stormfront and Soldier Boy as leads.

By the way, Kripke has confirmed that they would “be crazy not to” explore the origins of Herogasm, the superhero orgy that was founded by these two supes. The season 3 episode ‘Herogasm’ was a massive hit, so yeah, they would indeed be crazy not to explore that again! 

3. Countdown

Vought Rising isn’t the only Prime Video series that Jensen will be headlining. In early June, Prime Video greenlit a 13-episode thriller drama series titled Countdown from Derek Haas, with Jensen Ackles set to lead. 

The series was developed keeping the actor in mind after his and his wife Daneel Ackles’ company Chaos Machine Productions entered into a first-look deal Amazon MGM Studios post his starring in Prime’s The Boys.

The show’s official logline states that Countdown “follows a suspicious murder in broad daylight, which leads to LAPD officer Mark Meachum (Ackles) being recruited to join a secret task force of undercover agents from all branches of law enforcement to investigate. But as the truth of a more sinister plot comes into focus, the team must overcome their conflicting personal agendas to unite and save a city of millions.” Watchmen actor Jessica Camacho has also been announced to star in the series as Amber Oliveras, a Special Agent with the task force.

4. Tracker season 2

Jensen Ackles joined his Smallville co-star and longtime friend Justin Hartley in the CBS show that the latter has been headlining, Tracker. After much fan speculation, it was finally confirmed that Jensen would be appearing on season 1 episode 12 “Off The Books” as Russell Shaw, the brother of Hartley’s Colter Shaw.

The Supernatural callbacks were too potent in the episode which revealed that the brothers shared a difficult relationship, and major daddy issues, and were trying to “track” an old friend of Russell’s. In one scene, Russell is about to get in his car, a truck, when he actually turns to a car packed right next to it for a moment, before turning back to his own. And that other car was a dead ringer for ‘Baby’, the 67 Chevy Impala that his character Dean Winchester treasures in Supernatural.

At SDCC this year, Hartley confirmed that we’d see Russell Shaw again in Tracker season 2. This was further confirmed after Jensen posted a selfie from Vancouver, Canada, thanking Hartley and the Tracker crew for everything, which looked like he had wrapped shooting for his part.

As a Dean Winchester girlie, I know this means the reboot we fans have been hoping for might not happen anytime soon. But I will always, always be excited for more Jensen Ackles on my screen.