It’s safe to say The Boys is quite a hit. Four seasons in, and it’s still telling poignant stories about politics, using the vehicle of superheroes to drive the satire. Interestingly, as much as it melds action, fantasy and sci-fi, the showrunner, Erick Kripke, cracked the big time due to a horror series years before.
Kripke directed CW’s Supernatural, so it should come as no surprise that Kripke has brought over a few Supernatural connections with him. He cast Jensen Ackles (Supernatural’s Dean Winchester) to play Soldier Boy and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler — one of Billy Butcher’s former military allies. Coincidentally, The Boys features another connection to Supernatural in the form of Rob Benedict, who is only the latest actor to join the cast after previously starring in the hit CW show.
Who Did Rob Benedict Play on Supernatural?
Benedict played God on Supernatural. Or as he was also known, Chuck. God was a big part of the show from Season 4 onward. The Winchesters learned they were pawns in his game between angels and demons. Sam and Dean didn’t like that at all. As the show continued towards its 15th and final season in 2020, God oscillated between being a hero and a villain.
He led a few apocalypses in order to balance the scales of life and death. He even had a feud with his twin sister, Amara. He didn’t want her to end all creation, so he became a hero for a bit. However, God kept riffing on concepts such as free will and loyalty, and betrayed the Winchesters later in the show. No matter what, he needed to control everyone’s destinies, which was linked to why some angels rebelled.
Benedict brought a dark comedic edge to the role. No matter what, God hated being held accountable for his sins. He kept cracking jokes when his egotistical nature was pointed out. Of course, Chuck had a god complex. There were moments he felt benevolent, though. He studied mankind, working as a writer and such to get closer to humanity. In the end, the Winchesters found him to be untrustworthy, unpredictable and nothing more than a petulant child who was obsessed with power.
Who Is Rob Benedict’s Splinter on The Boys?
Benedict plays Splinter in Episode 2, “Life Among the Septics.” He’s not in the comics. He has been created just for the show. Splinter is essentially a pastiche of Marvel’s Jamie Madrox, aka the Multiple Man. Splinter can create clones of himself, but he doesn’t use his powers for good. Splinter is Firecracker’s spokesperson, and he wants to increase her far-right cult at a Homelander support convention, TruthCon.
He uses his replicates to assist. In time, Frenchie and Kimiko follow him to find information on Firecracker. They learn he is obsessed with her. He’s found in a sauna pleasuring himself to a picture of Firecracker, all while his duplicates form a ‘human centipede.’ It’s a very graphic scene meant for mature audiences. It’s quite lewd and compounds that The Boys is for adults.
Ironically, some markets didn’t take nicely to these X-rated scenes. India edited this sequence out. The “Herogasm” content in the past was also heavily censored. Splinter eventually uses his replicates to attack the Boys after Sister Sage sets a trap. As they hold The Boys at gun-point, Frenchie points out that the clones have pink eye. It’s quite hilarious, although the humor shifts when a gory fight breaks out.
Splinter holds his own, although some of the copies are naked and once more push the envelope. Thankfully, Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher arrives to murder some of the copies and impale the Prime Splinter. The other duplicates die instantaneously. The last one, in Benedict’s timid, signature voice, professes his love before he dies. It’s very funny, and feels like Kripke wanted Benedict to really shock fans, full-frontal nudity and all.
What Effect Has Splinter’s Death Had on The Boys’ Firecracker?
Now, Firecracker never cared about Splinter crushing on her. He was just a tool to add to her popularity online. She kept it professional rather than personal. Thus, she doesn’t like that an asset was taken. She’s all into brand building and whatnot. This is why she plays Sage’s game, even if it dehumanizes her. Sage constantly demeans her intelligence and Southern upbringing. But Firecracker assuages her rage by accepting that her new show, Truthbomb, on Vought’s TV station is turning her into a cult of personality.
She’s gaining more followers and expanding Homelander’s fanbase. She has value and worth. However, she resents Sage; someone she sees as a media manager. Splinter was that to her. He worshiped her, though. Now, she doesn’t have someone to boss around and show she is in charge. The power lies with Sage.
Splinter’s death has further pushed Firecracker hard into wanting the Boys dead. Firecracker exposes Starlight’s abortion and other secrets on air. She wants Starlight to pay for her crew murdering Splinter. This passion drives her to slander Starlight’s social justice movement, too. Admittedly, Firecracker hated Starlight since their days in pageants, but with Splinter gone, well, that’s just extra fuel for the fire.
What Does The Boys’ Splinter Mean to Firecracker’s New Career?
Splinter is a symbol of the past that Firecracker clings to in order to remember her hunger and ambition. Firecracker doesn’t ever want to feel small and unimportant. She was desperate back then. She needed to use thirst traps and manipulate “incels” like Splinter to make her brand popular. As she told Sage when they first met, she wanted a more meaningful purpose. She didn’t want to go back to web shows in the basement. Firecracker wanted credibility on TV. Little did she know Sage would view her as a minion and not a partner.
As such, Splinter’s memory keeps Firecracker hungry. It also reminds her not to trust Sage. She has to use Sage the way she is being used. It’s what Splinter would want. Firecracker does have that puppet master in her still. She just needs to understand the landscape better. She cannot be underestimated, which coincidentally is what Sage is doing. It’s very much like Game of Thrones at Vought. Firecracker wants to take Sage’s place at Homelander’s side. Splinter would be jealous, but he would back her and instill confidence to get the job done.
This culminates in a diabolical play in The Boys Episode 6, “Dirty Business.” Firecracker has been using a regimen of drugs to generate breast milk for Homelander. Splinter’s cell knew how much this was a fetish of his. Firecracker is using that to her benefit. She has entrapped Homelander, going as far as to breastfeed him. She’ll do anything to be his main love interest.
That’s the cutthroat attitude that led to Splinter loving her. Wherever his soul may be, he’d be proud. Firecracker has come a long way from begging for views and likes online. Firecracker is now a woman who is gaining more influence by the day, and she’ll keep using Splinter’s memory to motivate her to scale the Vought corporate ladder.
Source: cbr.com