The bastards did it: Jeffrey Dean Morgan joins The Boys season 4 in mystery role

After two years of scheduling woes, when signs seemed to suggest it wouldn't happen, The Boys actually pulled it off: Jeffrey Dean Morgan has officially joined the cast of season 4.

Morgan, a self-proclaimed fan of the R-rated superhero drama, will reunite with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke, now showrunner on The Boys, in an undisclosed role. Amazon, however, confirmed the actor will be appearing as a recurring guest star.

This also may or may not end up being a reunion between Morgan and his Supernatural cast mate Jensen Ackles, who wrote something on Karl Urban's Instagram recently that suggested he just might be making a return appearance as Soldier Boy in The Boys season 4. ("Pour me a double... I'm on my way.") Although, he might not have meant it literally. Reps for Ackles said they didn't have any information to share at the time, and Amazon did not respond to EW for comment. So we'll see.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic; Jasper Savage/Prime Video Self-proclaimed 'The Boys' fan Jeffrey Dean Morgan is officially joining season 4

Kripke shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the set of The Boys season 4, showing stars Urban, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonso, and Tomer Capone flipping the bird to the camera.

"Welcome to the fam, @JDMorgan. We're all SO PSYCHED to have you!!" the producer joked.

Kripke has been trying to get his old friend to join The Boys since back in January 2020 when the actor tweeted after the season 1 finale "I'll go play with that gang anytime." Kripke replied, "I'll make you a deal. Season 3. I'll write it, and if you're avail, come shoot it!" Morgan responded, "In a heartbeat."

The problem was scheduling. Ackles, who's consistently chatting with Morgan, had told EW ahead of season 3, "I know that there were some preliminary conversations of how and what and when and why that just didn't work out with Jeff's schedule. He's a busy man, and everybody wants him to come on their show."

Ackles further admitted that Morgan would pester him for intel on the show while he was acting on set as Soldier Boy in season 3: "He was like, 'Give me spoilers.' And I was like, 'No, stop it.' He's very convincing."

Catching up with Kripke this year for season 3, the showrunner mentioned to EW that an offer was extended to Morgan to join season 4, but he wasn't confident it would happen. Morgan had just been announced to star opposite Lauren Cohan on The Walking Dead spin-off The Walking Dead: Dead City (Isle of the Dead was its working title), which shoots in New York, while The Boys films up in Toronto.

"Schedule-wise, I don't know," Kripke said. "We might still remain star-crossed, unfortunately, because I did ask. We had a role come up, and my first question was, 'Well, is Jeffrey available?' "

Morgan then actually responded to EW's interview with Kripke on Twitter. "I'll make it work," he wrote in May. And guess what? He did!

The Boys season 4 will now focus on the fallout from the season 3 finale, which saw Homelander's (Antony Starr) supe son Ryan (Cameron Crovetti) choosing his dad over Urban's Butcher. An unsettling final scene in that episode suggested Ryan could turn bad just like his dad, but Kripke told EW the jury's still out.

"I don't think the game's over yet. I think [Ryan] saw this one thing and I think we should all be afraid because if he becomes another Homelander, that's obviously really bad for the planet," he said. "But he's still Becca's kid and there's still a shot that Butcher can pull him into the light."

Morgan joins fellow newcomers to The Boys Valorie Curry and Susan Heyward, who will play supes Firecracker and Sister Sage, respectively.

The Boys season 4 is currently filming.

This article was updated with a set photo from Eric Kripke.

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• It looks like a Jeffrey Dean Morgan cameo on The Boys might not happen — not for lack of trying