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Set in a world filled with superheroes, Gen V brings a new storyline that focuses on the opponent that most Supes have to take on before being able to rise into noteriety, tertiary education.
Gen V is a spinoff to the satirical superhero television series The Boys based on the “We Gotta Go Now” arc from the comic books.
The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29th, 2023, and has already received confirmation for a second season less than a month after its initial release.
Tied To The Boys But Sets Itself Apart
Gen V takes place in between the events of Season 3 and 4 of The Boys, with both series being directly connected to one another.
The premise of the story is set in the Vought-run Godolkin University, a prestigious supe-only university where students train to be the next generation of heroes — preferably with lucrative endorsements. Like with any other university, the students vie for popularity and good grades, with the addition of superpowers further increasing the stakes.
I found the combination of ridiculous superhero antics and mayhem of university life to make for a chaotic cocktail that feels familiar and refreshing at the same time, and I’m sure fans of The Boys would agree.
Starts Off With A Bang
We’re introduced to Marie Moreau, an 18-year old girl who has the ability to control blood, eerily similar to one of the antagonists of main series. Not knowing she had superpowers until she was 10, she mistakenly killed her parents when her powers awakened, which led to her being transported to the Red River Institute, an orphanage for Supes. She eventually leaves the orphanage to purse further education at Godolkin University, hoping to start a new chapter in her life as a freshman.
Marie meets people that would eventually become mainstays of the cast, such as her roommate Emma Meyer, who has an ability to alter her physical size based on the amount of calories she consumes, and Andre Anderson, a Supe with magnetism abilities.
However, things go awry as early as the first day, as a student attempt to escape the campus, but Marie and Andre helped stop him, which leads to the student being sent to “The Woods”, an area with a purpose that’s heavily implied to be performing experiments on Supes.
It’s just like The Boys in the sense that it thrusts head first into action, wasting no time on boring exposition or unnecessary scenes, which made my experience watching it much more enjoyable.
We’re then introduced to more new faces on the second day including Cate Dunlap, who has mind control abilities, Luke Riordan, aka Golden Boy, named after his ability to light his entire body on fire, and Jordan Li, who possess the ability to change between male and female forms, with each form having their own powers.
Marie is taken to a club by Golden Boy and his friends, where she saves the life of a woman who was at the tragic backhand of one of Andre’s accidents. The following day, she is met by Professor Brink just to discover she had been expelled from Godolkin University for her deed. Unsatisfied with the outcome, she returns and is promptly attacked by Golden Boy, who just murdered Brink, and then got chased by Golden Boy forcing a nearby Jordan Li to intervene in Marie’s defense.
The first episode ends with Golden Boy snapping back into reality and taking his own life by blowing himself up, showering blood onto our protagonists, changing their lives forever. It was also revealed that before Luke’s death, he told Andre about “The Woods”, setting the course for the rest of the story as the cast goes on to find out the secrets of Godolkin.
Episode 1 did an excellent job at setting the tone for the rest of series, giving the audience a taste of what they can expect from this diabolical world. I really enjoyed how they executed the first episode, the world and character building were on point. Golden Boy’s death also came as a shock, as it seemed he would be a part of the main cast since his introduction, being a plot twist that had me in awe.
Same World, Same Themes
It wouldn’t be a part of The Boys’ universe without sex, violence, and gore, and Gen V certainly isn’t lacking in that department, having retained many of the same themes from the main series.
However, Gen V does attempt to switch things up a little by placing a heavier focus on the characters and story, and even tries to include reasoning to certain scenes instead of being unnecessarily violent and sexual like in the main series (although some of that is still present).
With the main character’s superpower being blood manipulation, you can expect blood and violence to be present throughout the whole series. Some of the moments depicting violence just mirrors scenes from the main series, especially when the characters are shown being showered in blood. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with this, as it would make sense that the same physics would apply to both worlds, I would’ve enjoyed if it was a little more creative with its gore.
Although much more toned down, that wicked sense of humor from the main series is very much present in Gen V, with one of my examples being Marie accidentally blowing up a dude’s junk.
The political themes from The Boys also translate to Gen V, such as when Vought tried to push Marie and Andre into The Seven because of their race, and Jordan’s parents treat him like a diplomatic tool to help his father’s business. Personally, I didn’t have an issue with the subjects that were discussed within the show, but it may not be for some people.
Being a part a spin-off of The Boys, we can also expect an abundant of sex scenes. However, unlike The Boys who does sex scenes mainly for shock factor (with the most notable example being Herogasm), Gen V does it to show character growth and characteristics. For example, we find out that Cate was actually cheating on Luke after his death when it is revealed that she has a relationship with Andre.
Though fans of The Boys can come to expect similar themes from a spin-off that’s based in the same world, I thought they did a good job of freshening things up whilst maintaining the same appeal by differentiating itself from the main series by being more character and story focused, but still retaining some of the charm the main series had.
Students Of God U
Initially appearing to be nothing more than spoiled kids with rich parents, we find out after a few episodes that the characters are deeper than we initially thought, each having their own struggles and issues, along with how they cope with them.
One scene in particular that stood out to me was Sam complaining about his parents giving him superpowers, which gave him super-strength, but caused him to grow mentally unstable as a result. The overall narrative of the series were about the kids being forced into becoming Supes by their parents, but slowly overcoming their issues and fighting for their own rights.
The characters from The Boys also make an appearance in Gen V. They usually only ever appear in posters or videos, not affecting the storyline. However, we begin to see more and more characters from The Boys making their appearances as the story progresses, like Grace Mallory and Victoria Neuman. In the final episode, we even get see Homelander and Billy Butcher making their appearances to connect Gen V to The Boys, which means we may get to see the Gen V team in the main continuity of The Boys some day.
In terms of characters, Gen V takes a complete 180 from The Boys, whereas the latter’s cast mainly consists of regular humans, the former’s is filled of Supes with an array of abilities. I really enjoyed the change in scenery, instead of being an uphill battle like the main series, I no longer need to feel the frustration of the characters being held back by their lack of superpowers, instead being able to enjoy the series with characters at a somewhat equal footing.
Verdict
Overall, I really enjoyed Gen V’s storytelling, action scenes, and characters. As a fan of The Boys, I went into the series with my expectations set high, and Gen V did not disappoint, as they managed to capture the same flame with a new and refreshing setting.
A far cry from the underdog revenge story of The Boys, Gen V brings a refreshing new story centered around the characters and mysteries of Godolkin rather attempting to ride on the success of The Boys.
I highly recommend Gen V to fans of The Boys, as both series share many of the same themes and humor, with the finale of Gen V directly connecting to Season 4, giving an incentive to watch it for continuity purposes as well.
Gen V Season 1 is exclusively available on Amazon Prime Video.
The Review
Gen V Season 1
PROS
- Great storytelling
- Straightforward fight scenes
- Rich character development
CONS
- Can feel rushed at times
- Won't be as enjoyable if you haven't seen The Boys
