The Amazon Prime hitThe Boyshas been releasing nostalgic callback videos that are designed like they’re from the 1980s through Vought International’s YouTube channel, the show’s version of Disney. In their most recent iteration, they showed one of their heroes, Jensen Ackles' Soldier Boy, on an actual show from the 1980s.
The show in this case isSolid Gold, a popular show that ran throughout most of the ’80s. In this segment, Soldier Boy, whose mysterious death onThe Boyshas now been proven to be a hoax, covers a popular ’80s song titled “Rapture” by Blondie.
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While covering the rap portion of the song, Soldier Boy tries to keep up with the instrumental music, but frequently gets offbeat. Considering rap started gaining momentum as a music genre during that era, that also came with growing pains with artists who clearly couldn’t rap, much like Soldier Boy can’t in this clip. For those who may not have been around then,Solid Goldwas a variety show that was on the air from 1980 to 1988. Various musicians were featured on the show. Usually, the ones that were popular at the time came on the show to capitalize on their popularity. What madeSolid Goldstand out compared to other variety shows at that time was that it had background dancers to go with the songs. In fact, the people who are brought up in this clip were actual artists from that time period.BecauseThe Boystook this route, it adds to the show’s depiction that the supes existed back then just as much as they do now.
It also continues the show’s brilliant choice to crossover superheroes with celebrity culture, in that they are so universally worshipped by the public that they’ll make appearances on shows that they have no business appearing in. Even though Soldier Boy is completely devoid of talent musically, people probably bought his songs because of his popularity as a superhero. That was a thing for celebrities, and not just for actors around that time. Remember whenShaquille O’Neal had both a video gameand a rap album shortly after entering the NBA?
This wasn’t the first ’80s-style promotional materialThe Boyshas released for Soldier Boy, and odds are, it won’t be the last. Anyone with two eyes can see that these video releases are completely intentional, knowing that viewers bit by bit are getting more info aboutSoldier Boy’s backstoryand what his impact will be on the show’s third season. Now that it’s been confirmed that he’s not only alive but hasn’t aged a day too, it breeds more mystery surrounding the former Vought icon.
Going this route has helpedThe Boysreturn to formin its third season. The second season of the show wasn’t bad overall, but it dragged its feet, unlike the first season, where it felt like every episode was building up to an epic conclusion, which is exactly what happened. The third season has managed to get that back while giving the viewers a compelling mystery to figure out. What happened to Soldier Boy, and how would he factor into the contingency plan against Homelander?
The Boyscan currently be streamed on Amazon Prime.
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