Gen V is a spin-off of The Boys, but the show is much more than that. It exists in the same fictional world and in the same timeline. The former satirical superhero series crossed over to the latter show in its first season, while The Boys crossed into Gen V in its Season 4 finale. The shows are so inextricably intertwined that you get the most out of it by watching both, and Season 2 of Gen V continues this trend.
How ‘Gen V’ Ties to ‘The Boys’
The Boys is a satirical superhero series about an alternate world where people with special powers, known as Supes, live among humans. A select group of them known as The Seven serve as ambassadors for their kind, as well as for Vought International, the company that markets and monetizes them. While these heroes could do so much good with their powers, however, they are mostly puppets to help Vought exert its authority, influence, and power. They also range from hapless heroes with odd powers to maniacal ones with massive egos and superiority complexes. There are a few good eggs among the bunch, however.
Many of these superheroes, who were injected with Compound V as babies, later attended Godolkin University, where they learned to control their powers and build their personal brands, thereby maximizing profitability for Vought. Vought closely monitored the students, selecting The Seven and other promising individuals they could control or who possessed exceptional powers.
The two shows first tie together when Godolkin is mentioned and briefly shown in The Boys. Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) had grown up in an orphanage known as Red River, rather than being at Godolkin. But it’s in Gen V that the school is highlighted as the main setting.
‘Gen V’ Shows a World of Young Supes
Season 1 of Gen V follows a young group of Supes as they learn to manage and wield their powers. There are interesting ones that hadn’t been seen before, including Jordan Li (London Thor, Derek Luh), a gender-shifter that seamlessly switches from male to female form, each with distinct powers, and the young woman at the center, Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), who can manipulate and weaponize blood.
The stories converge when Vought International sends Ashley (Colby Minifie) to Godolkin to try to spin the news of the death by suicide of student Luke (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who was being primed to become the next member of The Seven. While there, Cate (Maddie Phillips) breaks all the imprisoned students out of the basement they discovered, known as The Woods, where they had been used as lab rats, and incites a riot to fight back against the humans.
Naturally, Homelander (Antony Starr) shows up to stop it (or watch), just in the nick of time to catch Marie in the act of doing something that appears to suggest she is betraying her own kind. The episode concludes with another cameo from a The Boys character, setting the stage for Season 4 of that series, which will continue from there. Conversely, in The Boys Season 4 finale, several key characters from Gen V appear in brief cameos, setting the story up for that show’s second season. To follow the storyline linearly, watch The Boys Seasons 1–3, then Gen V Season 1, followed by The Boys Season 4, and finally Gen V Season 2.
‘Gen V’ Season 2 Keeps the Momentum Going
With Gen V kicking off its second season after a two-year wait, dropping the first three episodes at once, we can already see how the two shows will tie together. Fans of The Boys know that Season 4 ended with Steven Calhoun (David Andrews) becoming the new president and appointing Homelander as a deputy of the people. He declares martial law and prepares for a fight as the superhumans eliminate humans who have supposedly been trying to harm them.
Most notably, however, the members of the group known as The Boys have gone on the run; Hughie (Jack Quaid) is with Annie/Starlight, and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) is with Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara). Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) is on his own, driving away with the last remaining bit of the virus, seemingly looking to take Homelander down with it. Just as Hughie and Annie are captured, she regains her powers and escapes, a decision Hughie supports because he knows they will need her help. Frenchie and Kimiko, meanwhile, are captured by Cate and Sam (Asa Germann) from Gen V, and for the first time, Kimiko screams and speaks, yearning for her boyfriend.
In Gen V Season 2, Episode 1, “New Year, New You,” the plot kicks up from here, sitting perfectly between the events in Season 4 of The Boys and what’s to come in Season 5. Starlight crosses over to the show, where she saves Marie from being captured and begs for her help. She needs Marie to re-enroll at Godolkin and pretend everything is good while secretly trying to find information about Project Odessa. Starlight doesn’t explain what Project Odessa is, nor does she reveal if she already knows. But it’s clear Marie is her only hope.
The reason is that Thomas Godolkin, played by Ethan Slater in a flashback, was Frederick Vought’s right-hand man and spearheaded the entire project. So, if there’s anything to learn about it, it stands to reason that the details would be kept at the school. Marie obliges, and her friend Emma (Lizze Broadway) uncovers details about Project Odessa. As it turns out, it involves Marie directly, her likely being the only survivor of the mysterious experiment. Fans might recall hearing of Project Odessa for the first time in The Boys Season 4, when Homelander visited the lab where he was raised and spotted a memo on a bulletin board referencing the secret project, promising serious retribution for anyone who reveals its details.
The first three episodes of Gen V Season 2 continue to reference The Boys in subtle moments, including mentions of Homelander and the overall state of the country, which is now divided into two distinct groups, the HomeTeamers and the Starlighters, all based on the events of Season 4 of The Boys. This spills over to the school, where students proudly spew hate as HomeTeamers while Starlighters try to stay quiet about their allegiance. The school itself, meanwhile, has effectively become a training ground, the new Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater) determined to train the most powerful Supe students so he can create an army to fight back against the supposed threat against people of their kind.
There are smaller mentions, including The Deep (Chace Crawford) welcoming new members into the fraternity he belonged to when he went to the school, and is still heavily involved in. Sam is also reminded of how he ripped the screaming woman away from her boyfriend, a reminder to fans of what happened with Frenchie and Kimiko at the end of Season 4 of The Boys.
So, just like Gen V Season 1 could easily be considered The Boys Season 3.5, Gen V Season 2 fits perfectly as The Boys Season 4.5. It’s great for fans since the fifth and final season of The Boys won’t arrive until sometime in 2026. With the franchise continuing with a prequel series, Vought Rising, coming, too, the world-building is complete. But for The Boys and Gen V, they exist not only in the same shared universe but also in the same timeline. Each episode of Gen V fits perfectly between the last of The Boys, so they’re like interludes with their own unique but related stories about what’s going on in another location, often directly related to the events that have happened on the main show. There’s no doubt that the end of Gen V Season 2 will set things up beautifully for The Boys’ swan song. Stream Gen V on Prime Video.
Gen V
4.5
/5
- Release Date
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September 28, 2023
- Network
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Prime Video
- Directors
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Nelson Cragg, Clare Kilner, Philip Sgriccia, Sanaa Hamri, Shana Stein, Steve Boyum
- Writers
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Craig Rosenberg
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Jaz Sinclair
Marie Moreau
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Lizze Broadway
Emma Meyer / Little Cricket
