Gen V Review: The Boys spinoff hits the right tones

Time will tell whether Gen V can maintain the crazy heights of The Boys. However, the confident storytelling, strong performances from an unknown cast and brutal violence lead to a show brimming with more promise than the original series.

Gen V is akin to X-Men in college. Godolkin University is a college for students with superpowers. Gen V plays off of the reveal in The Boys where superpowers manifest through a drug called Compound V. Parents dosing children is one of many traumas inflicted on the student at Godolkin.

Since Godolkin is a college with a sprawling cast of characters, Gen V eases the audience into the higher education setting through freshman Marie Mareau (Jaz Sinclair). Her tragic origin and desire to be a true hero make her a more appealing protagonist to root for than Hughie in The Boys.

Marie’s power involves moving blood with her mind. Since this is college, Marie has a roommate with Ant-Man-like shrinking abilities in Emma played in scene-stealing fashion by Lizze Broadway.

The other standout characters in the series are Jordan Li, Andre Anderson, and Cate Dunlap. Jordan Li is a gender-fluid shapeshifter who has different powers. Derek Luh plays the Masc form and is invulnerable. London Thor plays the femme form and can generate invisible energy blasts. Andre (Chance Perdomo) is the son of a hero. He struggles to live up to his dad’s expectations. Andre has similar powers as his father and can control metal objects with his mind. Finally, there’s Cate (Maddie Phillips). She is an empath who can make people do anything she wants through touch similar to Rouge for X-Men. There’s a lot of similarities to X-Men.

The first three episodes spend most of the airtime with Marie and Emma. A subplot involving The Woods is starting to pick up speed by the end of episode three. The Woods is an underground facility where dangerous supers are being held captive.

Justine is one member of the ensemble that doesn’t work for me. She’s a streamer who records private conversations and uploads them to the internet. Recording someone without consent is a recognizable college trope. However, unlike every other character in the series, there’s nothing below the surface. The major reveal she draws out of Emma would have been better served by Emma telling her roommate Marie.

Overall, Showrunners Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg and Eric Kripke are off to an incredible start with Gen V.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the three standout elements of The Boys spinoff. There will be some spoilers. Gen V is streaming on Prime.

Welcome to Godolkin University

Godolkin offers two education tracks for budding superheroes. Students can enroll in one of two programs. The Lamplighter School of Crime Fighting School is where students work to become budding heroes. Only the best, most marketable hero prospects are able to join the program. The other option is Crimson Countess School of Performing Arts, which focuses on becoming a celebrity through using your powers.

Marie wants to enroll in the crime-fighting school. Unfortunately, she doesn’t even have a cell phone or even a social media presence. Plus, her bloody powers aren’t exactly a fit for the lamp light. Richard “Rich Brink” Brinkerhoff (Clancy Brown) reveals to Marie in the pilot.

Later in the pilot, after Marie saves a woman following an accident, Brinkerhoff expells Marie and lays the blame on her. In reality, Andre tries to impress a woman by moving a metal coin with his mind. However, a stranger bumps into him and the coin slits another woman’s throat. Marie puts the woman’s blood back into her body. Brinkerhoff can risk Andre’s hero prospect so uses Marie as a scapegoat.

While Marie battles disappointment, Emma is happy to be in the performing arts school. After all, the ability to shrink isn’t exactly the same as shouting fireball or super strength.

As a setting, Godolkin is perfect for The Boys Universe. Behind every professor’s smile and offer to help is secretly a means to extort something out of these young, impressionable people.

Gen V pairs trauma with powers

Gen V is fantastic at marrying the powers of the cast with real, teenage trauma.

Marie’s origin occurs during her first period and causes the death of her parents. In addition to the bloody origin, she cuts herself to bend her blood to her will.

Emma can only get small by intentionally vomiting. In order to get big again, she has to consume a large quantity of food. Adding to Emma’s trauma is a private recording by Justine. The social influencer uses Emma’s trauma to attack body perception issues.

Meanwhile, Andre’s ability to control metal is the same as his father, Polarity. The fact he shares the same power as his father is an intriguing way to tackle the toll of high expectations. Likewise, Jordan and Emma have issues with their parents that tie into their respective issues. Jordan’s father views gender-fluidity as a choice. Therefore, Jordan could identify as male all of the time. Emma’s mother wants to use her daughter’s fame to further her own aspirations.

Tieing everything into a nasty powder keg is a storyline from The Boys. All the Godolkin students know their parents injected them with Compound V. Add in hormones and powers of gods, the potential for disaster is around every corner.

The Woods

The Woods is the one subplot on Gen V that doesn’t actively involve Marie up to this point.

Luke Riordon is essentially the human torch and the No. 1 prospect at the university. He and Cate are a couple. Luke’s best friend is Andre. Together, this threesome is kinda of the Justice League or Avengers of the university. Luke’s brother Sam has super strength but his schizophrenia is a bad mix. He is secretly being kept at this underground facility under the eye of Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn).

Luke’s shocking suicide in the pilot forces Andre and Cate to investigate their friend’s death in the 2nd episode. Then, in the 3rd episode, Andre asks for Emma’s help. Since she can shrink to a small size, she can slip past any guards. Emma is sick of being used by her mother and agrees to help. The episode ends with Emma and Sam together in The Woods facility after Emma kills a guard in a gruesome fashion.

While The Woods subplot is only getting started in Gen V, it does appear like this storyline could have massive implications for the overall universe of The Boys.

Gen V final thoughts

Overall, The Boys spinoff is off to a fantastic start. If Gen V can keep up the momentum, it will join the ranks of The Bear, The Last of Us and Warrior as one of 2023’s best tv shows.

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