Streaming on: Prime Video
Episodes viewed: 6 of 8
After three seasons, multiple web shorts and a cartoon anthology (Diabolical), The Boys is enrolling in school with Gen V, a new live-action teenage spin-off series based on the original comic’s 2009 arc ‘We Gotta Go Now’ by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. But anyone concerned that this youth-focused entry might dilute Amazon's foul-mouthed franchise need not worry.
Gen V is firmly entrenched in The Boys’ world from the get-go, and not just because of the multiple cameos you'd expect to see (along with a few you won't). The first episode opens with a far more gruesome origin story than casual comic-book fans will be used to, and then we're thrown onto campus with Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), a blood-bender who becomes our wide-eyed gateway into this corner of the franchise’s universe.
R-rated moments are grounded with real concerns that try to say something beyond mere shock value.
Bizarre sex scenes, a cascade of prosthetic cocks, and the kind of extreme violence Tarantino could only dream of all come into play — this is The Boys still, after all — but just like in the main show, these R-rated moments are grounded with real concerns that try to say something beyond mere shock value.
It helps that Sinclair’s Moreau — the actorfresh off Netflix's Sabrina reboot — is instantly likeable and relatable in a situation that's neither. The rest of the cast are more of a mixed bag, although Derek Luh and London Thor impress in the same role, that of Jordan Li — a gender-shifting student whose abilities change depending on who's playing them.
As in The Boys, superpowers are used more creatively here than they are in rival big-screen fare, and the special effects are mostly on a par (one giant misstep aside). That being said, the central mystery is somewhat predictable and the characters aren't as compelling as Homelander's team or Butcher's Boys. Still, showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters have successfully managed to inject something new into the Boys franchise that more than justifies this show's existence. Marvel and DC, take note.
