The Boys Finally Explains Its Best Supernatural Easter Egg

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 3, episode 1.

Amazon Prime Video's The Boys brings the violent superhero bonanza into live-action. The man desperately trying to channel that madness into something vaguely resembling television is showrunner Eric Kripke. Outside of his Vought commitments, Kripke is perhaps best known as the creator and initial showrunner of Supernatural and, predictably, there are plenty of connections between shows - not least the casting of Jensen Ackles as Soldier Boy.

Easily the best Supernatural Easter egg The Boys has produced thus far is Jim Beaver's character. Beaver portrayed Bobby Singer - a mentor and father figure to Sam and Dean - between Supernatural seasons 1-7 (plus a few guest spots later on), and his name derives from the Supernatural producer Robert Singer. Then, in The Boys season 1, Beaver appears as the US Secretary of Defense... also called Robert Singer. Somewhat ingenuously, that means we've got a Robert Singer named after a Bobby Singer, named after a real Robert Singer.

Until now, casting Jim Beaver as a character called "Bobby Singer" seemed like a smart, meta Easter egg but nothing more. The Boys season 3 not only weaves the joke into comic book canon, it draws yet another parallel to Supernatural. During the season 3 premiere ("Payback"), Singer holds a meeting with Stan Edgar about the new V-24 drug, and the Vought boss explicitly refers to his politician pal as "Dakota Bob." While there's no "Bobby Singer" in Garth Ennis' original comics, there is a Robert "Dakota Bob" Shaefer. Some viewers might've already guessed Jim Beaver's character was Dakota Bob based on first names alone, but The Boys season 3 finally confirms it. Singer is also revealed to be campaigning for presidency, pushing him even closer to his comic counterpart who is the US president when Ennis' story begins. Suddenly, the whole "Bobby Singer" gag actually makes sense.

Bobby gets angry at Dean for giving up on Sam in Supernatural.

The Boys has made a habit of subtle name changes for comic characters - Victor Neuman becomes Victoria Neuman, James Stillwell becomes Madelyn Stillwell, etc. Even though Jim Beaver's character name was intended as a Supernatural Easter egg, changing "Robert Shaefer" to "Robert Singer" fits the other character name tweaks made elsewhere in the live-action series. And making the original reference even better, Supernatural's Bobby Singer was largely based in South Dakota during his time saving people and hunting things. His "Dakota Bob" connection feels even more appropriate and clever than it already did.

Anchoring Jim Beaver's character to The Boys comic canon may give away a major season 3 plot point. Dakota Bob is already the US President when the comics begin, which points toward Robert Singer winning the White House race in The Boys season 3... unless misdirection is at play. Singer is a Vought-skeptic Democrat who shoots straight with Stan Edgar, so it's hard to imagine Giancarlo Esposito's villain being content with Dakota Bob occupying the Oval Office. Could Vought secretly swing the vote in favor of a more sympathetic POTUS, and prevent Robert Singer ever receiving the presidential perks his namesake enjoyed?