The first trailer for The Boys‘ spin-off, Vought Rising, is already out. Although the trailer seems to intentionally obscure many details surrounding the show’s story, it hints at how it will be similar to The Boys in more ways than one. In the trailer itself, there are many gory sequences that establish how Vought Rising will be as violent and shock-inducing as The Boys, if not more.
A few sequences from Vought Rising‘s trailer also give a glimpse of the early version of the blue Compound V and Vought’s experiments to refine its formula. With so many similarities between the upcoming spin-off and The Boys, it is hard not to wonder how the new show will be different from its parent series. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two will be the overarching tone of the story.
Another major difference seems to be in how the show will treat Soldier Boy and Clara as characters. Vought Rising serves more as an origin story for the two, and, as hinted in The Boys season 5, it will also walk through their early romantic developments. Interestingly, even Clara Vought’s voice seems significantly different in Vought Rising, and there is a solid reason behind this change.
Clara Isn’t Hiding Her Past In Vought Rising
Clara Vought shows up in Vought Rising‘s trailer for only a few seconds. Despite her limited screen time in the trailer, though, it becomes hard not to notice how she does not hide her German accent. When she first showed up in The Boys‘ season 2, she carries herself with a modern, Portland-hipster girl persona. Her accent in the show was far from sounding German.
However, as the show progressed and her true identity started to emerge, it was revealed that she was a Nazi who hoped to use her position as a member of the Seven to promote her white supremacist agenda. This established that, in The Boys, her American accent was a mere cover for her true origins and ideology.
Since Vought Rising is set much earlier in the franchise’s timeline and primarily focuses on the ‘1950s, Clara Vought appears to have no reason to conceal who she really is. This explains why the trailer allows her authentic German accent to come through. As seen in the trailer, she will also likely use her original German accent throughout the spin-off series.
However, the show might still give a glimpse of her ability to cleverly pick accents and disguise herself as someone else to manipulate public perception and gradually shape Vought’s early image.
It Looks Like Clara/Liberty/Stormfront Is The Main Villain In Vought Rising
Early story details from Vought Rising sell it more as a mystery thriller, with Soldier Boy and Clara involved in the investigation of a murder. However, it seems likely that there is more to Clara’s role than meets the eye. The whole framing surrounding her characterization in the trailer alone seems to set her up as the mastermind who operates from behind the scenes.
Even when one considers her role in The Boys and how much she influenced Soldier Boy’s final decisions despite being absent from season 5, it is hard not to see her as one of the biggest looming villains in the entire franchise. As viewers, we already know that Vought Rising‘s story ends with Soldier Boy getting locked up in a Russian lab after being betrayed by Payback in 1984.
Meanwhile, Clara, too, will be forced to shed her identity as “Liberty” and go underground before emerging again as Stormfront in The Boys‘ timeline. To ensure that it does not completely retcon The Boys‘ lore, Vought Rising will have to accurately portray how Clara was never on the right path. The prequel spin-off might make her romance with Soldier Boy seem plausible, but she will likely be among the more morally skewed characters in the upcoming series.