When The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime I remember being totally blown away by this nasty and outrageous black comedy about superheroes leading these twisted lives, and a group of non-super people trying to trap them and kill them. It was a breath of fresh air to the superhero genre, but the second and third seasons I feel quickly fell into the trap of being exactly what they were satirising all along. I still enjoy the show, but the sheen has definitely faded somewhat since it debuted. So, I wasn’t particularly excited when Amazon announced a spin-off show, Gen V. Honestly, I thought this was just going to be rejected storylines that were given to a cast of b-list characters that would become intrinsic to understanding the main show. That The Boys would succumb to the franchise system that they have actively lobbied against. Now after watching Gen V I can say that some of that is true, but what I didn’t expect was to like this more than the main show. So, here’s why I feel Gen V is kind of good actually.
Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) discovers that she has the ability to control blood when she gets her first period. Unable to control her powers, she accidentally kills both her parents and is placed into an orphanage for super-abled people. Fast forward a few years and she has been accepted into Godolkin University, an institution created specifically to train the superheroes of tomorrow. When the university’s top student, Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) suffers a psychotic episode, Marie is unwittingly thrust into the limelight. But as Golden Boy’s friends, Andre (Chance Perdomo), Cate (Maddie Phillips), and Jordan (London Thor & Derek Luh) begin to dig deeper into their friend’s breakdown they uncover the true purpose of Godolkin University.
Growing up I loved the X-Men. Whilst Spider-Man was arguably my favourite superhero, X-Men was always the more interesting concept to me because it was about lots of different heroes and villains who all had different powers, and the stories at the centre of it all were based around them being other from society, and that’s where Gen V really wins me over. Where The Boys was a satire of the Justice League and the Avengers, Gen V is the frat boy version of X-Men. Right at the core of this story is a group of supers who are struggling to come to terms with their superpowers and the worlds expectations for them. Some become heroes, some become villains, and others kind of just want to fade into obscurity away from the public eye. Following on from the events of The Boys Season Three, Gen V tackles the humans vs supers divide and it flourishes in the seasons later episodes in gnarly gory fashion typical of The Boys.
Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) discovers that she has the ability to control blood when she gets her first period. Unable to control her powers, she accidentally kills both her parents and is placed into an orphanage for super-abled people. Fast forward a few years and she has been accepted into Godolkin University, an institution created specifically to train the superheroes of tomorrow. When the university’s top student, Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) suffers a psychotic episode, Marie is unwittingly thrust into the limelight. But as Golden Boy’s friends, Andre (Chance Perdomo), Cate (Maddie Phillips), and Jordan (London Thor & Derek Luh) begin to dig deeper into their friend’s breakdown they uncover the true purpose of Godolkin University.
Growing up I loved the X-Men. Whilst Spider-Man was arguably my favourite superhero, X-Men was always the more interesting concept to me because it was about lots of different heroes and villains who all had different powers, and the stories at the centre of it all were based around them being other from society, and that’s where Gen V really wins me over. Where The Boys was a satire of the Justice League and the Avengers, Gen V is the frat boy version of X-Men. Right at the core of this story is a group of supers who are struggling to come to terms with their superpowers and the worlds expectations for them. Some become heroes, some become villains, and others kind of just want to fade into obscurity away from the public eye. Following on from the events of The Boys Season Three, Gen V tackles the humans vs supers divide and it flourishes in the seasons later episodes in gnarly gory fashion typical of The Boys.
The characters are really where the show wins me over though. Whilst The Boys might have Homelander, Starlight, and Butcher, most of the other characters I’m kind of indifferent about or actively dislike the way they’re written. Gen V doesn’t have this issue. Marie is an excellent leading lady, and from the very opening scene of her discovering her powers we feel for her, we see the world from her point of view, and we understand her fears and desires. Similarly, her roommate Emma (Lizzie Broadway) undergoes a really great transformation over the series. She starts out at this girl that makes quirky social media videos but then has to deal with so much personal trauma related to her powers and the way people perceive her.
Cate and Andre are also great characters, and whilst Andre definite gets the spotlight to start with, Cate really comes into her own in the last few episodes and her story is arguably one of the most heartbreaking of all of the main characters.
The only character I struggled to ever really get on with was Jordan. I loved the idea of a person who can physically transform between a male or female at will, and all the identity problems that creates for them and the people around them. But the way Jordan was written often made it difficult for me to get on board with them. They were irrationally hostile and often given cheap get out of jail free redemption moments that I feel got in the way of them ever really exploring the wider issues of being trans in that kind of environment in greater depth.
The long and short of it is that if you liked The Boys then you’ll definitely like Gen V. I’d also recommend checking it out if you’re not the biggest fan of the boys because I personally feel that the characters and conflict are so much better than what The Boys currently offers. It is just as outrageously gory and violent though, and we do unfortunately see the return of random exploding heads which I found to be very tedious from The Boys Season Two. But on the whole, Gen V manages to expand on The Boys universe whilst also carving out an identity for itself, one I’m more eager to return to than the mainline show.
Cate and Andre are also great characters, and whilst Andre definite gets the spotlight to start with, Cate really comes into her own in the last few episodes and her story is arguably one of the most heartbreaking of all of the main characters.
The only character I struggled to ever really get on with was Jordan. I loved the idea of a person who can physically transform between a male or female at will, and all the identity problems that creates for them and the people around them. But the way Jordan was written often made it difficult for me to get on board with them. They were irrationally hostile and often given cheap get out of jail free redemption moments that I feel got in the way of them ever really exploring the wider issues of being trans in that kind of environment in greater depth.
The long and short of it is that if you liked The Boys then you’ll definitely like Gen V. I’d also recommend checking it out if you’re not the biggest fan of the boys because I personally feel that the characters and conflict are so much better than what The Boys currently offers. It is just as outrageously gory and violent though, and we do unfortunately see the return of random exploding heads which I found to be very tedious from The Boys Season Two. But on the whole, Gen V manages to expand on The Boys universe whilst also carving out an identity for itself, one I’m more eager to return to than the mainline show.