13 Supernatural Stars You Didn’t Realize Turned Up in The Boys

Eric Kripke loves a good reunion. Before turning superheroes into sociopaths on Prime Video, he ran Supernatural for its first five seasons. And while The Boys is very much its own beast, Kripke keeps pulling old friends back in front of the camera. Season 5 even serves up a mini Supernatural homecoming: Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, and Misha Collins all show up on-screen again. Also, yes, there are little winks sprinkled throughout, from character names to one very specific insult.

Spoilers ahead for The Boys Season 5, Episodes 1-5.

The Kripke crossover machine keeps humming

Fans sometimes say The Boys has had 12 Supernatural actors appear. That tally is outdated. The list is actually 13 now, and some of them are easy to miss if you blink. Beyond the bigger, bloody cameos, there are smaller nods too, like Jim Beaver playing a guy named Robert Singer, which is essentially his Supernatural character with a different job title. And yes, he even drops the word we were all waiting for:

"idjit"

Every Supernatural alum in The Boys (so far)

1. Rob Benedict - Splinter (The Boys) / Chuck aka God (Supernatural)
   In Supernatural, he literally plays God. In The Boys Season 4, he is a supe named Splinter, a friend of Firecracker and a loud political commentator. His power lets him duplicate himself. It still does not save him from Butcher, who ends his run with zero sentimentality. Short, sharp, and very not-God-like.

2. Christian Keyes - Nathan Franklin (The Boys) / Michael, a vessel (Supernatural)
   A-Train’s brother Nathan is huge for A-Train’s arc, right up until the very end of that storyline. Keyes once played a vessel for the archangel Michael in Supernatural Season 13, crossing over from an alternate universe and making life miserable for the Winchesters. In The Boys, he is more the moral compass type for his speedster sibling. Quite the pivot.

3. Lesley Nicol - Connie Butcher (The Boys) / Katja the witch (Supernatural)
   Butcher’s mum shows up in The Boys Season 2, Episode 7, trying to broker peace between Billy and his father. On Supernatural, Nicol did a one-off as Katja in Season 10, Episode 12 - a witch who kidnaps, manipulates, and, uh, eats people. Connie is considerably less nightmare-inducing.

4. Alvina August - Monique Milk (The Boys) / Tasha (Supernatural)
   Mother ’s Milk’s wife is played by August in Season 1 before the role is later recast with Frances Turner. On Supernatural, August pops in for Season 12, Episode 20 as a witch with a gentler streak. In The Boys, she is stuck navigating the fallout from M.M.’s extracurriculars with the team.

5. Adrian Holmes - Dr. Park (The Boys) / Demon (S3) & James Turner (S13) (Supernatural)
   Holmes does the character-actor thing across both shows. In Supernatural he first appears as a demon, then resurfaces years later as James Turner, Missouri Moseley’s son. In The Boys Season 2, he is Dr. Park, a Vought scientist quietly overseeing Becca and Ryan. Not much is said, which feels intentional.

6. Isaiah Adam - Lance Corporal Dan Miller (The Boys) / Forensic tech (Supernatural)
   Another blink-and-you-miss-it crossover. Adam shows up in The Boys Season 2’s premiere as a soldier in a promo clip with Homelander and Queen Maeve. In Supernatural Season 7, he’s a nameless forensic tech who crosses paths with Dean. Not a spotlight role either way, but the connective tissue is there.

7. Kai Bradbury - Young Kenji Miyashiro (The Boys) / Clerk (Supernatural)
   Bradbury plays the younger version of Kenji (Kimiko’s brother) in The Boys Season 1, Episode 6, while Abraham Lim plays Kenji as an adult. His Supernatural role is even smaller - an unnamed clerk in Season 13.

8. Nathan Mitchell - Black Noir 2 (The Boys) / Kelvin the angel (Supernatural)
   After Homelander kills the original Black Noir at the end of Season 3, a new guy in the suit takes over - and this time he talks, shows his face more, and has actual charisma. That is Mitchell, who once did a two-episode stint on Supernatural as Kelvin, an angel who briefly sides with Castiel. Bigger presence here, new mask, same problem: Homelander.

9. Jim Beaver - Robert "Dakota Bob" Singer (The Boys) / Bobby Singer (Supernatural)
   The name gag is the point, and it lands. In The Boys, Beaver is Robert Singer, a politician with an anti-supe agenda that rubs Homelander the wrong way. By the end of Season 4, he’s in a cell after video surfaces of him plotting Victoria Neuman’s assassination. Over on Supernatural, he’s the beloved Bobby Singer, a gruff father figure to Sam and Dean. And yes, in The Boys he gives a little verbal hat-tip:

   "idjit"

10. Jensen Ackles - Soldier Boy (The Boys) / Dean Winchester (Supernatural)
    Dean Winchester is sarcastic, heroic, and a pie guy. Soldier Boy is also sarcastic, but he is a supe from the original Compound V era whose DNA literally helped create Homelander. Ackles chews every scene either way. And he is not done: a spinoff called Vought Rising is on the way in 2027, with Soldier Boy front and center.

11. Jeffrey Dean Morgan - Joe Kessler (The Boys) / John Winchester (Supernatural)
    Morgan plays the Winchesters’ dad in Supernatural - complicated, capable, and morally gray. In The Boys Season 4, he arrives as Joe Kessler, an old war buddy of Butcher’s. The season-ending twist flips everything you think you know about Kessler. Different shows, same magnetism, same moral mess.

12. Misha Collins - Malchemical (The Boys) / Castiel (Supernatural)
    In Season 5, Collins finally turns up as Malchemical, a supe whose party trick is belching toxic gas. He actually drops Homelander to his knees with it - a flex that lasts right up until Soldier Boy kills him. On Supernatural, he’s the angel Castiel, devoted ally to Sam and Dean. Watching Ackles’s Soldier Boy vaporize him is a very funny reversal if you know their old dynamic.

13. Jared Padalecki - Mister Marathon (The Boys) / Sam Winchester (Supernatural)
    Padalecki debuts in Season 5, Episode 5 as Mister Marathon, a past member of The Seven who was booted once he stopped being the fastest man alive and got replaced by A-Train. Homelander and Soldier Boy track him down for intel on something called V1. It goes predictably, spectacularly bloody, and Mister Marathon does not walk away. Sam Winchester has died plenty, sure, but getting finished off with Ackles in the room hits different.

One last note on the headcount: you will see people say it is 12 Supernatural alums in The Boys. With Padalecki and Collins showing up in Season 5, plus the earlier deep cuts and cameos, the roster is 13. Math corrected.

Who’s been your favorite Supernatural face to pop up in The Boys? And which sly reference did you catch first - the nameplay, the cameos, or that wonderfully rude word?