Rant about Vought Rising and how it kills the final season of the show

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Look, I get it, The Boys is a very successful universe and the spinoffs (Gen V, Diabolical) have had some decent success as well, so it makes sense for Amazon to want to go for a prequel. Everything else, however, doesn't.

First of all, their attempts to shoehorn references and nods to the prequel that *we haven't even seen* yet has ruined the final season of their show, as well as a ton of established character development. We've spent so much time introducing new characters whose screentime will presumably only be used for sentimental TikTok edits once Vought Rising is out, and so little time with the \\\*actual protagonists\\\*, like that's crazy. It's the final season, and Mr. Marathon has more screentime than BUTCHER. What the hell?? And yes, Bombsight was well-written, but did we really need to spend this whole episode with a brand-new name, and his brand-new story?

Then, we spend even more time following Soldier Boy, his reminiscing of Stormfront and the good old days, and in the process the show seems to have forgotten that Crimson Countess is "the only woman he's ever loved" the one he was planning a future, a family and a kid with, and the one who genuinely broke his heart when she betrayed him. We watched all that, the show spent three episodes setting up this connection in S3, and we saw how heartbroken SB was listening to her admitting her true feelings. Now, suddenly, SB was in love with a Nazi. The ones he supposedly fought against and whose whole character is being against. And because of his "love" of Stormfront, SB forgets how pathetic he thinks Homelander is, how much he resents him and that he actually tried to kill him, and actually willingly makes him pretty much a God. Soldier Boy, whose whole thing is that he believes himself to be the best at everything, chooses to make a manchild the literal strongest being on the planet. OK.

And I'd maybe be okay with all that, if Vought Rising seemed exciting or interesting. But it seems to be a show about the love between a narcissistic, racist, sexist asshole, and his actual, OG Nazi girlfriend...both of which are terrible people and I really don't give a shit about. I care about whether Hughie will be happy with Annie (they have zero chemistry but whatever) because I like him and want him to be happy. On the other hand, I actively don't want Stormfront to be happy, and I was very pleased when she did the Fuhrer special. So whether or not SB cheats on her with Crimson Countess, or if they have a forbidden child, or whatever the hell Vought Rising tries to do with their relationship, I really couldn't care less.

I think that the showrunners rely a lot on Jenses Ackles' charm, which is undeniable, and mistake the fans adoring him with us liking his character. Soldier Boy is a terrible person, and I might cheer every time he comes on screen, but ultimately I hope he'll get his comeuppance. Which is the very point of this kind of a likable villain; they have charm and aura and dominate the scene, but ultimately they fall so the hero can rise. A spinoff about how the villain rose into power is irrelevant and frankly unnecessary. \\\*ESPECIALLY\\\* when it kills the final season of this giant show in the process.