Castiel's introduction on creating the 2005 series Supernatural. Supernatural came to an end after 15 seasons in November of 2020, while the first season The Boys premiered in July of 2019. The Boys is currently in its third season.
From hidden Easter eggs to actor cameos, The Boys has often referenced Supernatural over the past three seasons. One of the most notable instances came when Jim Beaver, who played Bobby Singer on Supernatural, appeared in The Boys season 1 as the US Secretary of Defence - also named Robert Singer. Recently, however, there has been an even bigger crossover between the two series. Starring in Supernatural as one of the show's main characters, Dean Winchester, actor Jensen Ackles recently made his debut in the third season of The Boys as Soldier Boy.
Talking to the angel Castiel (portrayed by Misha Collins) first appears on the show in dramatic fashion, walking into a barn through flying open doors with a shower of sparks raining down around him. The introduction made a strong impression on viewers, and Kripke wanted to achieve that same sort of 'wow' factor when introducing Soldier Boy. Read Kripke's full comment on Soldier Boy's entrance below:
“We needed a huge reveal for him. Funny enough, I thought a little bit of Supernatural. I still think probably the best entrance I’ve ever done is Misha Collins’ entrance [as Castiel]. That’s an entrance! That is how you f–king walk into a show! And so we thought a lot about we need something really grand [and] big, and this idea of like this massive thing, door, that opens, and he emerges through the steam, and he has this huge blast.”
Considering that it was Supernatural's incredible success that made Kripke a big name, it makes sense for Kripke to look back on the most successful elements from the show to bring to his newest project. While Supernatural had its ups and downs over its 15-year run, moments like Castiel's first appearance had a big impact on viewers, and that was exactly the type of reaction that Kripke sought to inspire when introducing Soldier Boy for the first time. Kripke says that, given the "incredible amount of buildup" leading to Soldier Boy's debut, his entrance needed to be memorable: and the end result was exactly that.
While The Boys has seen incredible popularity and success, with fans eagerly awaiting its third season, Ackles' debut was more highly anticipated than any other character the show had seen before. It was important that Soldier Boy's first appearance on the show not be disappointing for expectant fans - so, Kripke looked other successful character debuts in the past for inspiration. It seems that basing Soldier Boy's entrance on Castiel's was a smart move, given that Ackles' nude introduction is now one of The Boys' most memorable scenes of all time.
Source: TVLine