Gen V

Gen V is basically The Boys but for the college crowd, and it's WILD. Think superheroes, but with all the messy, chaotic, and straight-up disturbing stuff you'd expect from this universe. The cast is lit, with Marie, the main girl, pulling no punches-literally. There's blood, superpowers, and drama like Euphoria on steroids. It's dark, funny, and lowkey disturbing in the best way. The way it dives into trauma, mental health, and power dynamics while still giving us epic fight scenes? Yeah, it hits different. If you're into twisted superhero shows where the characters are all kinds of messed up, Gen V is your new obsession.

Gen V is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. This is a spin-off of the incredible series The Boys and much like that series this is a show for adults. Gen V tells the story of a premier college for superheroes called Godolkin University. The students there are looking to join the elite superhero teams across America. We get to see these young supes as they learn to become both superheroes and adults. Obviously, not everyone there is a good guy, there are also villains and this show turns very bloody very quickly. There are also plenty of cameos from the The Boys that pop up in this too. I'm so glad that they are expanding this universe and hope they do even more spin-offs. If you like The Boys I promise that you'll like this too.

Plot

From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school's top ranking.

Cast

Mostly unknown to me, but several were memorable due to fantastic performances including Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway and London Thor. A few of the Boys cast momentarily jump over and veteran Sean Patrick Thomas was a welcome sight.

Verdict

I like The Boys, I think it's one of the better shows of the last few years partially due to the no holding back, hyper violence and it just being something different and that's really needed right now. I was skeptical about a spinoff as they tend to be mere shadows of what came before but Gen V actually managed to get and keep my attention throughout.

Is it laden with teen angst? Well yeah, but that was never in question and was always going to be a major factor here. But the teen drama crossed with the Boys adult material, it works fantastically.

Interestingly co-written by Seth Rogan and with a mostly unknown cast I have to say everyone did a great job, most of the cast are brilliant here and that's what more shows need! I want to see a character, not have that ruined by my seeing a familiar face all the time. Sinclair, Broadway and Thor were all great and thorough scene stealers.

The plot is uninspired but competently handled so you can get past that and it parallels The Boys perfectly and makes for a nice companion piece which if handled correctly could intertwine incredibly.

I love The Boys, I like Gen V, I'm very excited where this all could lead.

Rants

In a world that hates the young, inclusivity is the devil and diversity is "Woke" I'm surprised that Gen V has been met as well as it has. The Boys got hit with all those accusations and I'd argue Gen V is even more so, I'm resisting the urge for a change to jump to the 1/10 reviews as I know what I'll see. Closed mindedness, the W word on a loop, an ocean of misogyny and casual racism. What time to be alive, rampant tribalism at it's most primal.

The Good

Some great cast members Solid connections to The Boys Engaging stuff Some action packed and very funny moments

The Bad

A couple of weak links among the cast Plot could have been stronger.

Gen V

Gen V is basically season 3.5 of The Boys. We are introduced to teenagers that are in a school for supes, teaching skills to be able to interact with humans depending on their unique powers. The major themes of the show are acceptance of who you are and, fear and discrimination on all sides.

The challenge with self acceptance of being a minority in America is made worse due to the fact that they have special power that can be deadly, depending on the morality of the person. What makes this worse is the fact that these powers were given to the people as children by the parents, thus metaphorically giving the impression that they were born that way. The idea that a minority is stronger than the snobbish majority is a theme that has been shown a lot lately in fictionalized media. Dehumanization still remains which is also a more difficult issue for these people because any use of their power can be interpreted as threatening thus justifying the discrimination. It doesn't help that there are folks happy to be immoral because they believe themselves as unstoppable. This metaphor proves to be very interesting as self acceptance then becomes near impossible. Most of the characters do not like having their powers. Some use them accidentally causing harm or death to loved ones, increasing this self loathing. I definitely can relate as a gay man because self acceptance took many decades, even though my power to cause harm was emotional or mental.

Fear and discrimination plays out in abusing the supes' lack of self acceptance because we learn that the school is more than it appears. In the first episode, the boy considered the number one student murders a beloved mentor and then commits suicide with the audience left wondering what is happening with that character, and with the school that supported him. The Boys demonstrated this many times in their three seasons with the supes' behavior and arrogance, often hidden to prevent backlash. This fear leads to two types of people. Ones that wish to live in peace, and those that wish to promote their arrogance to squash the others. It's ridiculous as it happens today, but it is still fun to watch the lovable characters fight back.

I'm eager for Season 4 of The Boys, and this show just made my eagerness stronger.

It is not easy to find a Spin off of a successful series that knows how to live up to it. Much less that it surpasses it in some aspects. This is precisely what happens with Gen V.

Spiritually it's like watching The Boys but it also feels different considering the setting in which it takes place.

An explosive first chapter and a plot that develops very well.

With fair and necessary cameos, with the gore and risqué scenes that the franchise has already accustomed us to.

What has been achieved with that universe is not simple and I am grateful that it is already known when and how the mother series will end.

I really liked the characters of Marie and Jordan, as well as Andre (it is a shame that the actor died) although we still don't know how his story will be carried out.

As season 4 of The Boys progresses, we will see how the events of Gen V will connect and perhaps the key to defeating Homelander.

A must for fans and followers.