In a cinematic universe, you can get some surprising cameos for a satisfying fan service moment. Michele Fazekas, the showrunner of Gen V and the creator of The Boys, Eric Kripke, dished out that surprising cameo from episode 6, Jumanji. Spoilers ahead as to who this person was who came from the mainline series to pop up in the college spinoff.
The episode saw Marie (Jaz Sinclair), Andre (Chance Perdomo), and the male version of Jordan (Derek Luh) get thrust inside Cate’s (Maddie Phillips) head. They have a dangerous psychedelic experience that takes them through events that they were unaware of, revealing that they each hold secrets from one another.
Behind That Hilarious and Jaw-Dropping Cameo from Episode 6 of Gen V (Spoiler)
As revealed in a Variety interview with Fazekas and Kripke, the initial plan for the group’s guide inside Cate’s head would be her childhood crush. They had written Twilight star Taylor Lautner. Over the process, it eventually led to Jensen Ackles returning as Soldier Boy, who was a central character in season 3 of The Boys.
Kripke did not recall why they could not get the Twilight star as it could have been either “we ever went to him, or he had the good sense to just pass immediately.” Regardless, the plan had to change. They always wanted to get Soldier Boy as a cameo for Gen V but could not because he was in a CIA basement at the end of season 3 of the mainline series. When the logistics were figured out, the creator called the actor to return.
I called Jensen and said, “You’re suiting up! We need you!” He was great, because he was shooting Big Sky at the time, so he moved his schedule around and flew out. His only request was, “I think it could be funnier.” I was like, absolutely.
Eric Kripke, the creator of The Boys and executive producer of Gen V
The joke was set to remain no matter what. A dream version of Cate’s childhood crush would come to give some guidance. Whether it would be Lautner or Soldier Boy as the Gen V cameo, they would talk about how she would masturbate to them, and then they would die in the traditional fashion of The Boys: by exploding into a pile of goopy gore.
Kripke, also the creator of Supernatural and has had plenty of stars come on board for The Boys, told the Supernatural star about the part. The one feedback was that “it could be funnier.” So, the two riffed to come up with various jokes about masturbation, even though only about “10%” made it to what audiences saw.
We just shot so much stuff that I would say only 10% of it is in the episode. You cannot believe how many euphemisms for masturbation we came up with. Countless, countless euphemisms. And then we put in our favorites and that was the scene.
Eric Kripke, the creator of The Boys and executive producer of Gen V
Gen V has shown that The Boys is a living, breathing world, so we have had other people from the main series make a cameo appearance here and there. With two episodes left for the series, we wonder who else could show up.