The Boys showrunner says new spin-off Vought Rising was originally rejected four years ago and now it's the comic book creator's "favorite" project from the TV team

Aya Cash as Stormfront in The Boys season 2
(Image credit: Prime Video)

In case you missed the news, The Boys has a new spin-off on the way. Titled Vought Rising, the Prime Video series will be set in the 1950s and focusing on the origins of Vought. It will also feature the return of Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and Stormfront (Aya Cash).

But this isn’t the first bite of the cherry for The Boys creator Eric Kripke, who told GamesRadar+ that his initial pitch for the series four years ago wasn’t exactly met with a thumbs up.

"In 2020, I went to Amazon to pitch them two spin-offs." Kripke said. "One was Gen V, and one was Vought Rising. They bought Gen V and said, depending on how it goes, we’ll do Vought Rising too."

Kripke continued, "It just makes so much sense to me because The Boys, at its heart, is a film noir cops-and-robbers story. If you ask [comic co-creator] Garth Ennis what inspired The Boys, he says James Ellroy novels. To go back to the source and do L.A. Confidential with superheroes with fedoras and trenchcoats makes so much sense to me. It’s so visual and cool."

It even got the seal of approval from Ennis, with Kripke revealing that he currently rates it above The Boys and Gen V in terms of the projects delivered by the TV team.

"For the record, I sent the pilot script… to Garth. He said, 'Out of everything you guys have done, this one’s my favorite.'"

Elsewhere, The Boys season 5 is set to bring the mainline series to a close. Gen V season 2 is currently in production and will arrive next year. If you believe Karl Urban, The Boys final season won't air until 2026. Bollocks - as he might say.

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Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.

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