While the wait for Season 4 of The Boys grows longer and more excruciating with each passing week, Prime Video is about to provide some relief with the release of Gen V. A spinoff set within the world of The Boys, Gen V is every bit as sardonic, over-the-top, violent and brilliant as its elder sibling.
Set at Godolkin University, or God U, a superhero-only college, Gen V follows a group of super students on a Scooby-Doo mission to uncover the horrifying truth of their school. Set after Season 3 of The Boys and in the wake of people learning about Compound V, Gen V covers similar ground as The Boys but through a younger lens.
Gen V is a more tightly focused show than The Boys and sticks to the few main characters, the school campus and the secrets within. Where The Boys has a great big world to explore, Vought and all its nastiness are mostly sidelined in Gen V as we’re given a coming-of-age story, twisted in ways only the world of The Boys can manage.
Gen V
The viewer’s portal into this world is through the eyes of main character Marie Moreau. Marie is an outcast and, despite having some of the grimmest powers we’ve seen in this universe, feels as though she doesn’t belong and doesn’t fit in. Her arrival at God U, sets her on a collision course with fate, Vought and other superpowered students. Joining Marie is Emma Meyer, Little Cricket, a shrinking supe who is also Marie’s roommate, Andre, the son of a famous hero, Cate, a powerful psychic and girlfriend of Golden Boy, London Thor & Derek Luh as Jordan, a superhero who can switch gender at will and Patrick Schwarzenegger as Golden Boy, the number ranked student in the school.
Cleverly, these characters essentially fall into the standard teen movie archetypes, though with the added bonus and difference of having their superpowers. Having these powers allows for a greater exploration of the ideas and themes that come with the growing pains of transitioning from teenager to adult and the issues facing those in their early 20s. Not everyone is going to know what it’s like to literally be on fire or control blood with their mind, but plenty of people will understand the awkwardness that comes from being new in a strange place.
It’s tremendously difficult to talk about Gen V in any kind of detail without spoiling the show, so I’ll just say that the gang of main characters is forced to take a closer look at their school and the people running it when they realise not everything is as it seems. There are conspiracies and secrets and not everyone is as they appear. Thankfully, the mystery unfolds with great care in order to ensure maximum shock value and surprise. Numerous times while watching the first six episodes (given to media during the review period) my mouth dropped to the floor. Gen V isn’t afraid to take big swings with its story (not to mention its visuals and direction) and more often than not they pay off.
Not long into the season, I started to compare Gen V to Scooby-Doo and I was delighted when one character sarcastically suggested they need a green van and a talking dog. Where The Boys is a blood-soaked, action-packed revenge story, Gen V is a mystery through and through. It’s still blood-soaked and action-packed but its core is the mystery of Godolkin.
Visually, Gen V is stunning and includes all the hallmarks of The Boys. Action sequences are kinetic and brutal, not to mention gory and violent and there are quiet moments of contemplation and conversation that give Gen V room to breathe and the story to grow. Again, I can’t say much about Gen V without spoiling things but there are plenty of insane, out there moments to wow you. One particular fight scene with goons descending from helicopter is an absolute standout and is going to be talked about for weeks.
Speaking of standouts, not to be outdone by The Boys, Gen V includes one of the funniest, most ridiculous and most fucked up scenes including an erect penis seen on TV. It was during this scene that I knew Gen V wasn’t here to play and was more than a worthy inclusion within The Boys universe. I’d say keep an eye out for it, but it’s hard to miss.
Even though Gen V is a spinoff of The Boys, setting it on a college campus runs the risk of it being melodramatic and too “teenage”, but thankfully that’s not the case. The cast is uniformly excellent with Lizze Broadway as Emma being a particular standout. Her performance is nuanced and layered and her character has some of the strongest material which could have fallen apart with a lesser actor. Similarly, London Thor & Derek Luh bring Jordan to life so well and with such humanity that they will certainly be a fan favourite.
In season one, Gen V tackles murder, conspiracy, eating disorders, gender identity, growing pains, mental illness, sex and self-expression, all with the trademark wit and snark we know and love from The Boys. It could quite easily have been a shallow reproduction of the main show and it could have just as easily paled in comparison and been stuck in The Boys’ shadow but Gen V is neither. It stands on its own and alongside The Boys as a brilliant addition to the canon and to the show’s legacy.
Fans for The Boys are going to lap this up and not just because we’re still waiting for season 4. Gen V is more than good enough to hold its own and well worth watching for its own merits. If you’re not a fan of the over-the-top nature of The Boys, then Gen V isn’t going to win you over but it’s brilliant anyway.
Gen V starts streaming on Prime Video on Friday 29 September, 2023.
The first six episodes of Gen V were provided for this review.
