It may be hard to believe, but Garth Ennis most well-known comic books, but a bit of digging reveals how all three are actually connected.
And no, it's not just because Kripke went from working on Supernatural to developing The Boys' adaptation for Amazon. Nor does it have anything to do with Dean Winchester actor Jensen Ackles portraying Billy Butcher, and Preacher’s Proinsias Cassidy. Though it seems like an Easter egg, it’s something that looks a lot more odd when one discovers Preacher and The Boys share a universe.
Sam Winchester Has Billy Butcher and Cassidy's Info
And Yes, Cassidy Does Exist in The Boys' Universe
The idea of these three franchises seems complex. After all, The Boys and Preacher were comics co-created by Garth Ennis, but Supernatural is a live-action series separate from the two. Preacher and Supernatural both deal with vampires, demons, and the like, but The Boys’ prime focus is the powerful Supes that Butcher and his crew take care of. So what are the ties that bind all three together? The first element comes from the third episode of Supernatural’s fifth season, “Free to Be You and Me”.
The episode in question follows shows the iconic pair of brothers after they decide to take a break from their usual team dynamic. However, Sam can’t avoid the life for long and when he gets wind of some Apocalypse-level events, he es on his information to his confidante, Bobby Singer. A brief shot shows Sam’s phone s, and just a few names below Bobby’s are Butcher and Cassidy’s info, one after another. Not suspicious in and of itself, but this little Easter egg becomes more entertaining when one realizes how Preacher and The Boys are connected.
...the bartender s Butcher for the drink, and Butcher calls the bartender ‘Proinsias’, Cassidy’s first name.
In The Boys #27, Butcher has a drink in a bar in New York City where the bartender ejects a rowdy group celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. After taking care of the crowd, the bartender s Butcher for the drink, and Butcher calls the bartender ‘Proinsias’, Cassidy’s first name. While the bartender is older and has a few more pounds than the Cassidy fans , Preacher ended with Cassidy becoming human. Not to mention, Cassidy always dreamed about opening a bar, which he finally did by the time The Boys began.
The bar is also called The Grassy Knoll, which was Cassidy's dream name for a bar.
Bridging The Boys, Preacher, and Supernatural's Easter Eggs Together Make a Bigger (and Wilder) Universe
The Boys is Stranger Than Most Fans Realize
It's easy to look at Supernatural’s brief shot of Sam’s s as a nod to Garth Ennis (Kripke is obviously a huge fan given his work on The Boys). And as far as The Boys’ Cassidy cameo goes, that could just be Ennis giving a fan-favorite character a happy epilogue. But it’s fun to consider the idea that The Boys, Supernatural and Preacher, each of them a beast unto themselves, are all just one small part of a much wilder universe.
While the logistics might be rough (Supernatural never makes mention of Supes while The Boys largely stays away from magic), it’s a fun thought exercise. Just imagine how cool it would have been to see the Winchesters take on a low-level Supe, or the Boys encountering some honest-to-goodness paranormal activity. While nothing is done with the shared connections between Supernatural, The Boys, and Preacher, it’s still quite cool to see the loose connections shared between these three amazing stories.
The Boys
- Created by
- Eric Kripke, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson
- First TV Show
- The Boys
- Latest TV Show
- Gen V
- TV Shows
- Gen V
- First Episode Air Date
- July 26, 2019
- Cast
- Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Jensen Ackles
