The success of Prime Video’s The Boys cannot be understated. Having completed its third season in 2022, the raunchy and violent series about a group of humans and supes (i.e. The Boys) who ban to take down a conglomerate of superheroes is now the longest running of the three superhero shows that the streaming service put into production a few years back (The Tick was canceled in 2019 while a second season of the animated Invincible is promised by this year’s end). It is also the most wildly watched of that trio and even scored a best drama series Emmy nomination in 2021.
So, naturally, Prime Video wants to expand this world. After the series of animated shorts, The Boys Presents: Diabolical, enter the first live-action spin-off: Gen V.
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Announced in 2020, the program took some time to coalesce thanks to the pandemic and other issues. But with a first season shot, Prime Video gave Boys fans a glimpse at the series in December 2022 via a brief teaser. And it was clear that Gen V will have some similarities with its antecedent: beside the expected blood and gore, the shows share an aesthetic and also maybe a mystery or two.
But what else can we learn about the series? Join us as we take stock of what we know so far about the program and just what its characters may be up to in the first season.
What’s it All About?
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Based on the “We Gotta Go Now” story arc from Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys comic books, the program will focus on the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, a for-profit center of higher education run by the nefarious and omnipresent Vought International to train the next generation of supes. The school is less about education and is more akin to a reality show competition: Young hopefuls square off in intense challenges with the goal of securing the best spots in the Vought-controlled regional superhero markets. (Considering what we know about Vought’s obsession with creating a superhuman race, we imagine the company also has another reason for Godolkin’s curriculum).
Into this setting comes the G-Men, a team occasionally mentioned in The Boys television series and one that was designed in “We Gotta Go Now” to serve as a parody of the X-Men. In that story, the G-Men are a collective of over 80 supes spread across multiple teams. Although often outcasts like their Marvel inspirations, they still prove to be one of the most lucrative super franchises in the world. But with that huge of a roster, inevitably many publicly break ranks (and end up dead).
In “We Gotta Go Now,” Hughie from The Boys (Jack Quaid in the show) joins a junior G-Men team to learn more about the operation. Posing as a young supe called Bagpipe, he learns that some more senior G-Men are the worst people in the world (even if the kids are not beyond redemption). Vought itself steps in to deal with the G-Men when things unravel. When (or if) this storyline will be part of Gen V is unknown, as Quaid has said that he won’t be in the first season of the spin-off.
To add to the confusion: “We Gotta Go Now” was also the title of the episode in The Boys Season 2 when the members of the Vought-backed top superheroes known as The Seven shoot their fictionalized origin film, Dawn of the Seven. So it’s good to remember that everyone involved with this project says it’s “loosely inspired” by the original comic book storyline.
Whatever appears on screen, Ennis and Robertson have already established a definitive tone via their comics. The cover of the “We Gotta Go Now” collected edition is inspired by the classic raunch-fest movie, Animal House, and one of the G-Men’s super power is the ability to vomit.
Who wouldn’t want to see a The Boys-style take on Wolverine?
Who’s Attending The School?
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But will the super characters in Gen V be more sympathetic than most of the ones we’ve seen in the main Boys series? Audiences have to root for someone to uncover the secret of Godolkin University. Or, considering just how popular Antony Starr is as the thoroughly detestable Homelander in The Boys, it is possible Gen V will center on a likable antagonist.
The series will be headlined by Jaz Sinclair (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as “blood manipulator” Marie Moreau and Lizze Broadway as shrinking YouTuber Emma Shaw. Other stars include Sinclair’s fellow Sabrina alum Chance Perdomo as metal bender Andre Anderson, Maddie Phillips as empath Cate Dunlap and Derek Luh as a gender-shifting character called Jordan.
Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, Marco Pigossi, Alexander Calvert, Jason Ritter and Clancy Brown will recur throughout the season. Schwarzenegger will play a character called Golden Boy. Thomas reprises his role of Polarity, a previously unnamed character he voiced in the animated series The Boys: Diabolical. Pigossi plays Doctor Edison Cardosa and Brown will appear as Richard Brinkerhoff, aka “Rich Brink.”
And, although Hughie is the only member of the group The Boys who has a known association with the characters in Gen V, there are other characters from the show The Boys who will be on this show. Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie, and P.J. Byrne will reprise their Boys roles as (respectively) Seven member A-Train, Vought exec Ashley Barrett and Dawn of the Seven director Adam Bourke. Jensen Ackles will reportedly make a cameo appearance as Soldier Boy, his character from The Boys‘s third season.
It’s also possible that one (or some) characters from Gen V could appear in the third season of The Boys.
Behind the Collegiate Mayhem
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Initially developed by Craig Rosenberg with The Boys executive team of Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, and Neal H. Moritz, the series went into production with Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters serving as showrunners. Additional executive producers include Pavun Shetty, Michaela Starr, Ennis, Robertson, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Aisha Porter-Christie, Judalina Neira and Zak Schwartz.
When Do Classes Begin?
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Production occurred between May and September 2022. Early-ish 2023 seemed like a safe guess for a premiere. But it could also depend on how closely it is tied to events of The Boys’ upcoming season and how much content Prime Video wants to hold in reserve during the Writers Guild of America’s strike. Despite not yet airing, a writers’ room for a potential second season convened prior to the strike with Fazekas serving as the single showrunner.