Gen V serves as the third television series in The Boys franchise and its first season is set before the fourth season of The Boys. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023, and received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the cast performances.
In October 2023, Gen V was renewed for a second season.
Premise
At the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, founded by Thomas Godolkin, young adult superheroes ("supes") put their moral boundaries to the test by competing for the university's top ranking and a chance to join The Seven, Vought International's elite superhero team. When the school's dark secrets come to light, they must decide what kind of heroes they want to become.[1][2]
London Thor and Derek Luh as Jordan Li, a supe gender-shifter. Thor portrays Jordan's female form who can fire energy blasts and Luh portrays Jordan's indestructible male form.
Shelley Conn as Indira Shetty (season 1), the dean of Godolkin University and a behavioral therapist who secretly develops a "supe virus" to kill supes as vengeance for her family's deaths.
Curtis Legault and Nicholas Hamilton as Maverick, a student representative at Godolkin University able to turn invisible and the son of Translucent, a deceased former member of The Seven. Hamilton replaces Charles Altow, who portrayed the character in The Boys. Legault portrays his visible form in the first-season finale, while Hamilton voices his invisible form.
Maia Jae Bastidas as Justine Garcia, a supe influencer with a healing factor who attends the Crimson Countess School of Performing Arts.
Peter Kim as Paul Li, Jordan's father who disapproves of Jordan's gender-shifting ability.
Derek Wilson as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight (season 1),[6] a true-crime TV host and former superhero with observation-based powers who uses his show to cover up scandals for Vought. He has a tumor in his brain that causes him to have an unusual sexual fascination with holes.
Jason Ritter as himself via Sam's hallucinations of an episode of the educational TV series Avenue V.
Andy Walken as Dusty (season 1), a supe resembling a teenager whose body ages slowly.
The second season is scheduled to premiere in 2025.[9]
Production
Development
On September 20, 2020, a spin-off of The Boys was announced, with Craig Rosenberg writing and executive producing the series with Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Michaela Starr, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Aisha Porter-Christie, Judalina Neira, and Zak Schwartz.[1] On September 27, 2021, Amazon gave the order for the series, and Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters were set as showrunners and executive producers of the series.[11] On October 2, 2020, Kripke stated the Hunger Games-inspired series would focus on the G-Men team mentioned in the first season of The Boys, originally created as a parody of Marvel Comics' X-Men for the fourth volume of Ennis', Robertson's and John Higgins' comic book story arc We Gotta Go Now, from which the series is "loosely inspired".[12]
On January 5, 2023, it was announced that a writing room for a potential second season would soon come together, to be led by Michele Fazekas, who also has become sole showrunner since Tara Butters has taken a break from work.[13] On October 19, 2023, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season.[14]
Filming began at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in May 2022 and the Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton in July, intended for an October wrap, under the working title of The Boys Presents: Varsity.[25] Other filming locations include Sobeys Stadium, and the Stardust Drive-In Movie Theater.[26] In July 2022, it was announced that the series would officially be titled Gen V.[2] In September 2022, members of the cast announced on social media that production had wrapped.[27]
On March 30, 2024, it was announced the production of the second season would be put on hold following the death of Chance Perdomo in a motorcycle accident. The cast was due to begin table reads that afternoon before filming started April 8.[28] It was confirmed that his role will not be recast due to his death as filming began in May 2024, with the second season being recrafted from the original idea.[29] In October 2024, members of the cast announced on social media that production of season 2 had wrapped.[30]
Music
In October 2023, it was revealed that Matt Bowen and Christopher Lennertz had composed the score for the series.[31]
Release
Gen V premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023, with its first three episodes, with the rest of the episodes debuting on a weekly basis.[10]
Reception
Audience viewership
According to Whip Media's TV Time, following its 3-episode premiere, Gen V became the fifth most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 1, 2023.[32] During the week of October 8, the series rose to fourth place.[33] It then rose to second place during the week of October 15 and remained in the position for the weeks of October 22 and 29, as well as November 5.[34][35][36][37] Meanwhile, Nielsen Media Research reported that Gen V ranked at number 8 on its Top 10 Streaming Originals chart with 374 million minutes viewed.[38]
According to ReelGood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million users in the United States across subscription and advertisement-based video on demand services for streaming programs and movies, the series topped the all streaming content chart during the week of October 12.[39] Meanwhile, JustWatch reported that the series became the most streamed TV show in the United States during the weeks of October 1 and 8.[40][41]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 7.65/10, based on 110 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Just about as gruesomely subversive as its origin series, Gen V builds on The Boys in occasionally chaotic but overall inspired fashion."[42]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[43]
Writing for the first three episodes, Matt Donato of IGN gave the series a score of 9 out of 10, praising the writing, humor, characters, and performances of its cast (particularly Broadway), and wrote, "Gen V does a tremendous job expanding on themes from The Boys that beg for deeper analysis, like the disgusting reality of Compound V injections. [...] [It] feels uniquely mapped as a spin-off that doesn't rely on cameos from [its predecessor] to assure relevance or importance."[44] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Ultimately, Gen V doesn't appear to be striving for greatness but for something just as elusive. Successfully franchising a concept as antagonistic to franchises as The Boys is no small feat. By embracing the youthful energy of its cast and some solid TV storytelling fundamentals, [the series] is able to somehow make it all work."[45] Lauren Milici of GamesRadar+ rated it with 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote on her verdict: "Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It's a hot mess, but it's a damn good time". She then praised Germann's performance, calling it "the standout of the season".[46]
Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times also praised the characters and Broadway's performance and stated that the series "expands upon the hit superhero satire with a new cast and storyline that stands on its own as a sharp, snarky commentary on the billion-dollar business of hero worship."[47] Reviewing the first six episodes, The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg called the series "uneven but entertaining", lauding the performances of Broadway, Sinclair, Phillips, Schwarzenegger, Germann and Thomas, but criticizing the pacing and some of its writing, saying that "[the series] lacks patience. It's so eager to charge forward that it can't be bothered giving most of its main characters personalities, much less building believable relationships among them. It tries filling in gaps as it goes along, but episodes get shorter and shorter, and when it comes to the choice between characters and plot, [it] chooses plot every time. [...] [But] whenever it's able to pause and breathe, the writing is clever, the effects are polished and the cast is good."[48] Michael Boyle of /Film rated the series a score of 8 out of 10, criticized the "bluntness of its writing", but praised its characters and performances, especially Broadway's.[49] For the penultimate episode, TVLine gave Sinclair and Phillips an honorable mention for the "Performer of the Week" for the week of October 28, 2023, stating that the two "delivered strength and heartbreak on behalf of their characters" and calling them "a dynamic duo".[50]
In his review for the season finale, IGN's Matt Donato, giving the episode a score of 8 out of 10, opined that "[the series] cleverly shows what happens when supes who've been branded as outcasts find a sense of camaraderie and community in redirecting that hatred. [...] [It] firmly establishes [the] supe-killing virus as an apocalyptic threat for The Boys'next season, but also ensures [that it] works as a standalone collegiate mystery with supercharged conflicts", and that the episode "closes [the season] by answering enough lingering questions to make its storytelling journey feel complete."[51]Vulture's Ben Rosenstock, rating the finale with 4 out of 5 stars, concluded his review by saying, "[Gen V] remains an imperfect show, at times a little emotionally simplistic and contrived. But while I often wanted it to take its time and develop the characters more, I had a really good time watching this solid debut season. It's a welcome complement to The Boys, helping fill in more details of the world.[52] Meanwhile, in a mixed review, The A.V. Club's Manuel Betancourt criticized the "deus-ex-machina machinations" but commended the characters and performances of Germann and Broadway, naming them "two of the strongest cast members in the show's ensemble".[53]
Gen V was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by several publications.[62]
^Chaney, Jen; Hadadi, Roxana; VanArendonk, Kathryn (December 4, 2023). "The Best TV Shows of 2023". Vulture. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
^Tinubu, Aramide; Herman, Alison (December 8, 2023). "The Best TV Shows of 2023". Variety. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
