Chapter 188: The Shocking Appearance of Soldier Boy (REWRITE))

"Are you all ready?!"

In the Super Seven meeting hall, Starlight, Black Noir, Shockwave, Maeve, and Phoenix Warrior were all seated, their eyes fixed forward.

Before them stood a middle-aged man wearing glasses, flipping through a series of comic panels that he was presenting to them.

Seeing that none of the heroes objected, the man with glasses animatedly continued his pitch:

"Alright, picture this: the camera pans upward, and we see Homelander flying towards Martinez's mansion in Miami. Martinez tries to escape, Octavius accelerates, but Homelander uses his laser vision to blow out his tires. Martinez stumbles out of the car, disoriented, and when he looks up—bam! There's Homelander, saying, 'You're under arrest!' He slaps the handcuffs on Martinez, and the police haul him away. Homelander turns to the other heroes, 'We should be working together more,' and Queen Maeve says, 'You mean as a team?' Homelander nods, 'Exactly, all seven of us!' Oh my God, that's the moment—the birth of the Super Seven!"

The glasses-wearing man turned to the final comic panel, which depicted the Super Seven gathered together for a group shot.

"And finally, the rousing music swells—Hans Zimmer! The title appears: Super Seven: A New Era on a black screen!"

As soon as he finished, Ashley began clapping enthusiastically.

"That's exciting!" Ashley said in admiration.

"Thank you!" the man with glasses replied.

"I'm impressed!" Ashley continued.

"Thank you so much!" the man said. "Guys, that was just the preview. Listen, this isn't just another superhero movie. It's a grand reboot to restore the Super Seven's image. I want to shoot it with handheld cameras—no stabilizers, a Paul Greengrass vibe—gritty, grounded. I want the audience to feel like they're living the heroes' stories firsthand!"

"Uh, sorry to interrupt your passionate speech," Phoenix Warrior, dressed in his uniform, suddenly interjected with a smirk.

"No problem," the man with glasses replied.

"I just want to chime in with some very, very small questions," Jon said, smiling.

"Of course."

"Let me start by saying you've done a great job here. It's almost perfect!" Jon smiled warmly. "The structure of the script is fantastic. The beginning, the climax, the ending—all handled masterfully. Especially the final scene where the Super Seven come together—it's simply thrilling. I assume it's paying homage to the first Super Seven movie, right? It's loaded with nostalgia!"

"However, I still have a few significant issues," Jon added.

The man with glasses nodded slightly, though his face was visibly tense. "Alright, uh... What suggestions do you have?"

"Of course, I feel like you've written this script in a way that really emphasizes Homelander, almost at the expense of the other members. After all, the movie is called Super Seven: A New Era, not Homelander, right? In one of the scenes, you have Homelander getting controlled by the villain, going berserk, and taking down all the other members—even me. Do you really think I could take down Stormfront only to be overpowered like that by Homelander?"

"And about the final chase scene where the Super Seven are pursuing Martinez—it's essentially just Homelander's solo chase. The other members barely have any screen time, not even as much as that minor villain. Besides, we shouldn't need all of us to chase down a normal human. I could easily set his car tires ablaze with a snap of my fingers—way more efficient than Homelander. So, I think the critical scene at the end should feature me, not Homelander."

Jon laid out his thoughts bluntly, while Ashley and Maeve exchanged knowing glances, sighing in frustration. Since joining the Super Seven, Phoenix Warrior had constantly been butting heads with Homelander, provoking him every chance he got. Both of them knew it was just a matter of time before one of them ended up dead.

The man with glasses, visibly flustered, tried to explain, "I understand your concerns, but unfortunately, Homelander likes this version."

Jon smiled coldly. "So, Homelander likes being the solo show-off, right? All that stuff about working together—it's all nonsense? Since we're talking about Homelander, where is he now?"

Ashley raised her hand, about to say something, but then her phone rang. She looked at the screen, and her expression immediately froze.

"This... This can't be real!" Ashley shouted.

Everyone turned to Ashley, bewildered by her reaction. Without saying another word, Ashley switched on the television.

It was breaking news. She turned on the TV just as the broadcast began.

The footage showed an ordinary street with crowds of people. Then, a man wearing a red and white jacket, with scruffy facial hair, walked into the frame. A moment later, he seemed to feel a pain in his chest. He doubled over, clutching at his chest, his face twisted in agony.

A bystander noticed something was wrong and approached to check on him.

But in the next instant, a horrifying scene unfolded. The man's chest suddenly began to glow with a blinding light. He straightened up, and a fierce beam of energy blasted from his chest, obliterating everything in front of him. It was as if disaster had struck without warning.

The members of the Super Seven stared at the screen, all wearing expressions of shock and fear. Only Jon remained calm, his gaze fixed intently on the man in the footage.

If Jon wasn't mistaken, that man was Soldier Boy.

But according to the timeline, Soldier Boy should have been locked up in a Russian lab. So why was he here now?

In the original storyline, Soldier Boy was accidentally released from the Russian lab by the protagonists during the events of the third season. It was discovered that he had gained the power to nullify superpowers. But now, it seemed that events had been accelerated.

It seemed that by Jon taking care of things the Boys were supposed to handle—like killing Stormfront, exposing her true nature, and taking down rogue heroes—he had left them with nothing to do. So, they released Soldier Boy ahead of time.