In The Boys universe, Compound V babies are growing up and going to college in their own live-action spinoff, Gen V. How will the series connect to the original show? What can we expect from a Vought-led school of hero higher learning?
Here’s everything we know about Gen V so far.
Title
The title of this The Boys spinoff is Gen V.
Gen V‘s Plot
Here’s the initial Gen V synopsis from Prime Video and Sony:
Set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes (run by Vought International), Gen V is an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive Supes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. It’s part college show, part Hunger Games—with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.
Gen V will take place at Godolkin University (and within its “School of Crimefighting”), an exclusive university of higher supe learning. The series will borrow from The Boys comic, specifically from the “We Gotta Go Now” arc.
This Gen V trailer reveals that A-Train, Ashely, and Adam Bourke will appear alongside these new characters. And Marie, whom we previously saw a photo of on The Boys in a Red River Institute file (more on that later), is the main character. Love that for her… or maybe not.
And, yes, there will be puppets.
We also know what The Boys‘ spinoff’s college student union and dorm rooms will look like. Gen V‘s setting is looking pretty clean… for now.
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, speaking with Empire, promise there are some shocking scenes to come. Rogen notes, “Gen V has some really crazy shit in it. The fact that they’re in college, they’re a little younger, makes it more shocking, maybe.”
And more widely, Rogen offers this insight into creating The Boys‘ worlds. “In general, if you’re making an R-rated thing, they let you do whatever the fuck you want, unless there’s some real legal thing that they think you might be bumping against… With The Boys, maybe it requires one extra five-minutes phone call, where they’re like, ‘Really?’, and you’re like, ‘Really.’ There are other things you’re on hours of phone calls about that are so much less interesting than that.”
Gen V‘s Connections Within The Boys Universe
The Boys Presents: Diabolical‘s second episode introduced the Red River Institute. It’s a group home for abandoned and parentless super-powered children. But the animated series ( with the exception of the final episode) is not canon. The Boys season three made Red Rive canon when Hughie discovered that congresswoman Victoria Neuman was a secret Supe named Nadia. She grew up at the not-so-great Red River Institute after accidentally killing her parents.
Some children at Red River—whose ages range from 3-17 years old—ended up there for similar reasons. But others had been left/abandoned to Vought’s care when their parents decided they either couldn’t or wouldn’t raise their super-abled child. The case files Hughie stole from the group home included a photo of Gen V‘s main character Marie Moreau.
The Boys‘ showrunner Eric Kripke has said Gen V will react and continue building on events introduced during the original show’s third season. Here’s what Kripke told Deadline:
There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity (the previous working title of the show). Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show.
Gen V‘s Cast
Jaz Sinclair (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) will star as Gen V‘s lead Marie M. Sinclair will star opposite fellow co-ed Emma, played by Lizze Broadway, and Chance Perdomo’s Andre Anderson. Cast regulars also include London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn. Sean Patrick Thomas, Marco Pigossi, Chance Perdomo, Maddie Phillips, Alexander Calvert, Clancy Brown, Jason Ritter, and Patrick Schwarzenegger will also appear in recurring roles.
The Boys actors Jessie T. Usher and Colby Minifie will make appearances as A-Train and Ashely Barrett, respectively. And P.J. Byrne’s Adam Bourke will also show up on campus to make the next great Vought movie. Propaganda really, but whatever.
Additionally, Jensen Ackles, who plays Soldier Boy on The Boys, teased a cameo in Gen V at a fan convention. Entertainment Weekly reports that Ackles shared the following:
Soldier Boy pops up for a brief moment in this new spin-off of The Boys. In fact, there’s a few cameos from the mothership that come into this spin-off. My little bit there was heavily [improvised].
Behind the Scenes
Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters will serve as Gen V’s showrunners. They will also executive produce alongside Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur, Pavun Shetty, Ken Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Craig Rosenberg, Zak Schwartz, Erica Rosbe, and Michaela Starr. (That’s all?!) Brant Engelstein also joins the show as co-executive producer.
As with The Boys, Sony Pictures Television Studios will produce Gen V alongside Amazon Studios.
Gen V‘s Release Date
Gen V will release its first three episodes on September 29 with weekly releases to follow.
Originally published on September 9, 2022.
