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Gen V First Reviews: The Boys' College-Set Spin-Off Series Is 'Edgy,' 'Funny,' and 'Sharp,' Critics Say

Reviews praise jaz sinclair's performance and the immature, but clever tone..

The Boys ’ college-set spin-off Gen V is exactly what you think it is: Junior supes getting into trouble while attending an institute of power-learning. Just how deep the dysfunction and perversity get is what makes the show a must-see, according to critics.

The series cast includes Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi. Gen V also features guest stars Clancy Brown and Jason Ritter, as well as appearances from The Boys cast members Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit and P.J. Byrne reprising their roles.

Here’s what critics are saying about Gen V :

Gen V cast (Photo by Prime Video)

There are moments where Gen V succeeds in creating a series that perfectly mixes teen melodrama, superheroes, and satire, but the overall story is ultimately a little too generic and predictable. — Nate Richard, Collider

If you expected “Gen V” to be as subversive, perverse and brilliant as “The Boys,” only more sophomoric, you won’t be disappointed. — Bob Strauss, TheWrap

If the series becomes frustratingly rushed as it progresses, within that rush and those choppy narrative choices, I kept finding enough moments of giddy inspiration to be entertained and sometimes more than that. — Dan Fienberg, Hollywood Reporter

Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It’s a hot mess, but it’s a damn good time. We can only hope it gets weirder from here. — Lauren Milici, Total Film

“Gen V” retains the edge, cynicism and (aptly) adolescent humor that make its parent show tick, suggesting “The Boys” is far from the creative fatigue now plaguing juggernauts like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. — Alison Herman, Variety

A mashup of Student of the Year and X-Men . — Pramit Chatterjee, Digital Mafia Talkies

It makes for an entertaining ride, even if the show never manages to stray too far from the original The Boys blueprint. — Lacy Baugher, Paste Magazine

Fits in to the world of The Boys perfectly, but still feels like its own thing. Unafraid to dive into blood and gore, as well as political and social issues. Fans will fall in love with these new characters & love the cameos! — Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

Like the original, this spinoff is subversive and giddy and full of characters worth caring about as they cope with a deluge of bodily fluids that confirms that, yes, this is very much The Boys territory. — Kimberly Ricci, Uproxx

“Gen V” is lively and gruesome, cheeky and clever. — Ben Travers, indieWire

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Asa Germann, Derek Luh, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, London Thor, Maddie Phillips, and Chance Perdomo in Gen V (2023)

From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral ... Read all From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school's top ranking. From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school's top ranking.

Evan Goldberg
Eric Kripke
Jaz Sinclair
Lizze Broadway
Maddie Phillips
282 User reviews
41 Critic reviews
2 wins & 6 nominations

Episodes 10

Top cast 99+

Marie Moreau

Emma Meyer …

Cate Dunlap

Sam Riordan

Andre Anderson

Indira Shetty

Dr. Edison Cardosa

Social Media Jeff

Cameron Coleman
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Trivia Producers for The Boys (2019) reached out to Patrick Schwarzenegger after meeting him when he auditioned for Homelander in the original series. He wasn't allowed to read any scripts until he was officially cast.
Goofs Little Cricket's voice fails to change when she is tiny. It should be high-pitched, both because of the physics and because of the continuity within the Boys universe - Termite's voice also got pitched up when he shrunk.
Connections Featured in Half in the Bag: 2023 Catch-up (Part 2) (2023)

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Aug 10, 2024
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September 29, 2023 (United States)
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"The Boys Presents: Varsity"
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Review: ‘Gen V,’ the irreverent spinoff of ‘The Boys,’ flies on its own

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There’s nothing worse than an omnipotent superhero with anger control issues, unless they also happen to be an impulsive teenager with a sky-high sex drive and low self-esteem.

Roll out the bloodied carpet for “Gen V,” Prime Video’s spinoff from the brilliant black comedy “ The Boys .” The new series, which premiered with three episodes Friday, 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. And yes, it’s just as irreverent and crass as its fearless predecessor.

The Godolkin University School of Crimefighting is home to students with a host of terrifying abilities and none of the maturity to use their gifts wisely. They are the first generation of “supes” who know that their powers are not God-given but rather the result of Compound V being injected into them at birth. The drug is manufactured by Vought International, a nefarious conglomerate that also happens to run the university. It’s training the next generation of crime avengers and crusaders to make America and the world a safer place! Sure it is.

Review: Why you need to watch ‘The Boys,’ even if you loathe superheroes

“The Boys” is back for Season 2 on Amazon Prime Video. And whether you’re a super-skeptic or a Marvel fanatic, its blistering cultural satire is for you.

Sept. 3, 2020

Fans of “The Boys” know better, but the kids of “Gen V” don’t. They hope to become part of celebrated superhero team the Seven and fight alongside A-Train and the Deep. However, they’re too busy fighting their own internal enemies: Crippling Anxiety, Deep Depression, Low Self-Worth and Raging Hormones. The nation’s next generation of supes are a mess of undergrad neurosis and confusion, and many of their powers reflect this challenging period in their lives.

One of the show’s more immersive characters, Emma (played with depth and humor by Lizze Broadway), can shrink herself to the size of an ant, or expand above the treeline. To get small, she has to vomit. To get big, she must overeat. Bingeing and purging — body dysmorphic disorder comes to mind. Cate (Maddie Phillips) is the mean girl who manipulates minds. Jordan (played by London Thor and Derek Luh) uses they/them pronouns and their superpower includes the ability to switch between male and female forms. Each gender has a subset of powers, from exceptional agility to launching energy blasts from their hands. Golden Boy/Luke (Patrick Schwarzenegger) is poised to be the next Homelander ( Antony Starr ). The expectations placed upon him are staggering — then he self-immolates.

Developed by “The Boys” team of Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke , “Gen V” references many of the backstories and characters from that older series. A-Train makes an appearance and so does the Deep. Though just as raunchy and gory as “The Boys,” “Gen V” strikes its own tone. It veers away from much of the political and cultural parody that shaped “The Boys” and focuses more on a peer group whose biggest challenge is navigating the mess left behind by their parents’ generation, and that mess includes their own chemically induced superpowers.

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Sam (Asa Germann) is monstrously strong and nearly invulnerable, but he’s also a mess when he’s off his meds. The poor teen has been treated like a science experiment for most his life, and things only get worse when he’s inducted into a secret program run behind the scenes at Godolkin University. When he veers into a violent episode, he sees the enemy as these Sesame Street-inspired puppets, and the viewer sees a hilariously twisted bloodbath animated with red glitter.

Like “The Boys,” “Gen V” may be too much for those who prefer the comparatively clean-cut superheroes of Marvel blockbusters. There are seriously bent sex scenes, and the violence is next-level. But for the rest of us, it’s a wonderfully warped alternative to your friendly neighborhood superhero tale.

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Lorraine Ali is news and culture critic of the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she was television critic for The Times covering media, breaking news and the onslaught of content across streaming, cable and network TV. Ali is an award-winning journalist and Los Angeles native who has written in publications ranging from the New York Times to Rolling Stone and GQ. She was formerly senior writer for The Times’ Calendar section where she covered entertainment, culture, and American Arab and Muslim issues. Ali started at The Times in 2011 as music editor after leaving her post as a senior writer and music critic at Newsweek Magazine.

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'Gen V' Review: 'The Boys' Spin-Off Has Strong Characters, but a Struggling Story

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'Bad Monkey' Premiere Recap: The Murder Mystery Kicks Off

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Take all the copious amounts of superpowered mayhem, blood, guts, sex, politics, and satire of The Boys and inject it into a college setting. It seems like a natural fit, right? That's the formula that makes Gen V , the first live-action spinoff of the mega-successful Prime Video series, so diabolically promising. When it was first announced that the Amazon-owned streaming service would be expanding the world of The Boys , many were weary that the series would slowly morph into the kind of corporate franchising it has always excelled at lampooning. The Boys has always felt like it's a step ahead of Marvel and DC as it's not like you need to watch countless streaming spinoffs, shorts, and movies to fully understand what the hell is going on onscreen.

This largely self-contained series is set at the Vought-owned Godolkin University, a prestigious "supes only" college where many aspiring superhuman young adults train to become part of a new generation of superheroes and celebrities. The star pupil of the school is undoubtedly Luke Riordan, aka Golden Boy ( Patrick Schwarzenegger ). He's got it all — a beautiful girlfriend in Cate ( Maddie Phillips ) and plenty of friends, he's the top-ranked student, and his esteemed professor Rich Brink ( Clancy Brown ) has constantly told him that he's a shoo-in to become the next member of The Seven, which, after the events of The Boys ' Season 3 finale , is in desperate need of new members.

Meanwhile, freshman Marie Moreau's ( Jaz Sinclair ) blood-bending powers have only carved out a path of tragedy, rejection, and isolation for her. Marie finally gets the chance that she's been longing for upon receiving a full-ride scholarship to Godolkin, with the hope of turning her dream of becoming the first Black woman in The Seven into a reality. She makes fast friends with her size-changing roommate Emma ( Lizze Broadway ) and quickly catches the eye of Luke and his friends, which also includes the metal-bending supe Andre Anderson ( Chance Perdomo ) and the gender-shifting supe Jordan ( Derek Luh , London Thor ), all of whom have been promised bright and successful futures. After a night out partying takes a violent turn, Marie and her peers start to realize that their dream school is harboring some dark and sinister secrets and is beginning to prey on all of their individual insecurities.

'Gen V' Stands on Its Own

jaz-sinclair-Patrick-Schwarzenegger-Gen-V

While Gen V is able to retain The Boys ' knack for graphic violence and exposing corporate corruptness, it is also able to stand on its own two feet. For better and for worse, Gen V diverges from the more satirical elements of the flagship series and decides to tackle issues that many young adults in our everyday world face, including gender, sexuality, drugs, and eating disorders. At times, the series recaptures the snark of its predecessor. At others, the show resembles something closer to a CW series with a much higher budget.

Gen V seems like it's trying to bring in new fans as, while there are a handful of callbacks in each episode that will fly over any first-timer's head, the overall story stands on its own. Gen V makes an effort to give each of its youthful supes their own kind of backstories and insecurities. Marie's attempts to reconnect with her estranged sister and Emma's constant struggles with her body image are when the series is at its strongest. The gender-swapping character Jordan does have a lot of promise in being able to explore gender in the world of The Boys , but the themes in their storyline are often muddled and undercooked.

Related: 'Gen V' Stars Share the Advice They Got From the Cast of 'The Boys'

Thankfully, none of these new additions are necessarily a riff on the old characters that fans have already come to know and love (or hate). Golden Boy could have easily been written and portrayed as a younger version of Homelander , but instead, Schwarzenegger is able to bring his own charm to the role and make him much more relatable. The series makes several references to the fact that Marie could become "the Black Starlight," but Sinclair's performance solidifies that the character is her own person with her own demons. While she is becoming more and more disillusioned by Vought and the true intentions of her new school, she also is making many choices that will benefit her — not out of selfishness, but out of necessity.

Broadway is another stand-out in the Gen V ensemble as Emma. She initially starts out as chipper and eager, having found success for years on YouTube, before her more toxic classmates begin to take advantage of her and her naivety about the real world. Broadway not only shines in every scene she's in, but she also has stellar chemistry with Sinclair. If any of the cast members in Gen V are to break out in a big way, just like Jack Quaid did after the first two seasons, it'd be Sinclair and Broadway. They have such an immensely watchable screen presence, and it becomes very easy to root for them, even if their characters don't always make the best decisions.

'Gen V' Doesn't Always Take Advantage of Its Potential

Outside an explosive pilot episode, Gen V feels like it's playing things much more safely than The Boys . Putting a bunch of corrupted superheroes in a college setting is an intriguing concept, as one can only imagine the kinds of classes that these students take and what kinds of parties they go to. Yet Gen V never takes full advantage of this conceit. There are a couple of scenes that show the day and night lives of the students at Godolkin University, but the series appears far more interested in telling a generic murder mystery story where the surprises start to become more and more predictable as the story progresses.

As the series becomes more entrenched in this murder mystery, it starts to forget what was successful for the initial episodes, especially as certain plot lines revolving around the main characters are dropped for several episodes before being unexpectedly brought back up later on. This makes the payoff underwhelming rather than an exciting new reveal. The shock value that has been a staple of The Boys and its animated anthology spinoff Diabolical remains present in Gen V , especially as the characters begin to learn new things about their powers, but it doesn't always have a lasting impact. There are moments where Gen V succeeds in creating a series that perfectly mixes teen melodrama, superheroes, and satire, but the overall story is ultimately a little too generic and predictable.

The Big Picture

Gen V , the first live-action spin-off series set in the world of The Boys , is increasingly about a murder mystery that lacks the same punch as its predecessor.
The new characters in Gen V stand on their own and don't imitate the old guard, with standout performances from Jaz Sinclair and Lizze Broadway.
While the concept of a college setting with corrupted superheroes is intriguing, Gen V plays it safe and focuses more on the generic murder mystery plot, losing some of the initial excitement.

Gen V premieres on Prime Video on September 29.

Gen V (2023)
The Boys (2019)

Screen Rant

Gen v review: the boys spin-off is wild, entertaining & leaves you wanting more.

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Gen V Season 2's Story Is A Huge Disappointment After The Show's Big Cliffhanger

Fallout season 2 update teases major world expansion & filming timeline, star wars: the clone wars proves lucasfilm just made a big mistake with the acolyte's cancelation.

Gen V, the Boys' spin-off, brings fresh faces and maintains the franchise's staple elements of gore, drugs, and humor with a familiar yet fresh essence.
The show follows Marie, who gains powers unexpectedly and navigates a prestigious superhero university, bringing a coming-of-age metaphor that works well.
While the show has a great dynamic among its characters and an engaging story, the superpowers themselves are not particularly unique, posing a question for the franchise.

The Boys' first live-action spin-off, Gen V , is a welcome addition to Garth Ennis and Seth Rogen's co-production. The cast is full of fresh faces, except for the incomparable Clancy Brown ( Justice League ). Developed by Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg, and Evan Goldberg, the usual gore, drugs, and dick jokes are still a staple of the franchise, and no punches are pulled just because the cast is younger. Though we might miss characters like Homelander and performers like Chace Crawford, there is a familiar but fresh essence to Gen V . Nelson Cragg ( Them ) directs two episodes and does a great job bridging the two shows, with showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters providing an engaging overall story. Leading the show in front of the camera are The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina alums Jaz Sinclair and Chance Perdomo, and they do a great job grounding the series.

Like many other kids, Marie Moreau (Sinclair) gets powers with no warning. As a result, she is sent to an orphanage for everyone's safety. While honing her powers she eventually gets strong enough to be accepted into the prestigious Godolkin University for superheroes. Upon her arrival, she is hesitant to engage in the school's top ten politics but quickly realizes she has to play the game if she is going to make it to where she wants to be. When she finally decides to hang out with the cool kids, she has a great time, lets loose, and even ends up with a top ten ranking. But the consequences of that night out haunt her eternally.

Gen V season 1 is more than competent and balanced. It's also more grounded than the outrageous plot lines of its predecessor. Sinclair and Perdomo quickly become the focus of the A-plot and are great leads. Simply put, Gen V is Riverdale meets The Boys and it works. Their version of Homelander is Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and the show cleverly makes a point to not make him the focus of the show. In doing so they allow not only Sinclair and Perdomo to shine, but also leave room for their co-stars to bring in new perspectives.

Many characters have powers with downsides that almost counterbalance the power itself. Sinclair's Marie can control blood, but from a public relations view this is not exactly appealing. One of the standouts is the character played by both London Thor ( You ) and Derek Lu ( Runaways ). They have multiple powers that kick ass, but not according to their father. This is where Gen V really finds its footing. None of the characters are in full control of themselves. While this is a pretty basic metaphor for coming of age, it really works.

The characters in Gen V have a great dynamic and bounce off each other in a way television audiences should love. The plot is straightforward in a way that fits the subject. The main drawback of the show is that the superpowers themselves are not very interesting. Multiple students just have super strength or invulnerability. There are a couple of psychic additions to the cast, but it ultimately begs the question: Does anyone in The Boys universe have a power we haven’t seen before? Perhaps it's a moot point because the premise is a play on the superheroes of old, but two shows in, the question is valid.

All in all, Gen V is very entertaining and will work for fans of The Boys and newcomers to the universe. Though some of the comic book aspects won’t wow you, the story is engaging enough to keep you ready and waiting for more. The cast clicks, and their performances are firing on all cylinders. Season 2 seems inevitable if audiences fall in love with even one of them. Either way, The Boy s universe just got a lot more interesting.

The first three episodes of Gen V are streaming on Prime Video September 29. The remaining episodes will air weekly every Friday.

Gen V (2023)

Gen V Review: The Boys Spinoff Is Super Unhinged

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If you haven't seen The Boys , you don't know what you're missing out on. The Boys is a brilliantly written R-rated superhero satire that simply has no limits. It's full of over-the-top gore, phenomenal pop culture references and commentary, as well as numerous superhero sexual interactions that many comic book movies and TV series are too scared to tackle. The Boys isn't afraid of going too far; it's not in their vocabulary. The show has delivered many of the most shocking, grotesque, and hilarious TV moments of the past decade, and has accrued a mass audience.

So when it was announced that a show titled Gen V would serve as a spinoff series set in the world of The Boys, fans were instantly consumed by excitement. That's without mentioning that the show will essentially give the X-Men The Boys treatment, with the show centering around a school full of super-powered individuals.

Ever since its announcement, fans have been clamoring to find out more about the show and its set of compelling characters. It promised a captivating story, as well as some gut-busting and over-the-top scenes, and thankfully, Gen V is another super-powered success from the world and the team behind The Boys. It sports everything we love about The Boys , from its exceptionally written and layered characters and some hilarious meta commentary, to many dark moments that push the limits.

While it's rooted ever so deeply in The Boys universe, Gen V feels different enough to stand out on its own. Sure, Gen V delivers a bucket load of jaw-dropping cameos and Easter eggs. However, unlike many superhero movies and shows where cameos are used just for the sake of it, the cameos in Gen V all have a purpose, and they all have a fantastic payoff.

Welcome to Godolkin University

Set in the disturbing world of The Boys , Gen V follows tortured super-powered teen, Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), who harbors the ability to control blood. Her dream is to become the first Black woman in The Seven, the world's most famous team of superheroes, essentially the Justice League, or the Avengers, of The Boys universe.

Her journey begins at the most elite superhero school in the world, Godolkin University, a school where the likes of A-Train and The Deep began their journeys into becoming two of the world's most famous superheroes. However, it isn't long before Moreau begins to face some of the dark secrets of Godolkin University, and after a mentally troubled supe runs amuck at the school, Marie and her new allies must find out what is going on and stop it before It's too late.

A Stellar New Cast of Supes

Gen V introduces many instantly lovable characters who are sure to become fan favorites. In true The Boys style, the show includes many disturbed super-powered teens, all of whom hold some tragic backstories. The show then layers these characters even more, by allowing them to grow in some truly compelling ways across the length of the series. Whether it's through true acts of heroism, epic battles, or digressions into their vulnerabilities and interpersonal issues, each character gets a chance to grow.

Easily among the best is, of course, Marie Moreau, who boasts a pretty gruesome but badass superpower. Likewise, her trauma and drive to become a truly heroic supe makes for one of the most kind-hearted characters in The Boys universe, a feat we can't say about many characters. Andre Anderson (Chance Perdomo) and Cate Dunlop (Maddie Phillips) are also captivating characters hell-bent on discovering the dark secrets held beneath Godolkin U.

However, easily the three best characters are Jordan Li ( played by both Derek Luh and London Thor ), Emma Meyer (Lizzie Broadway), and Sam (Asa Germann), who never fail to steal the show every time they are on-screen. Whether it's with their wit, their emotionality, or awesome powers, these are without a doubt three of the best characters in the entire The Boys universe.

Related: The Boys: Ranking The Characters In the Series By Power

Great Satire and Real-World Issues

One of the many reasons we love The Boys so much, is for its much-needed genius satirical takes on the superhero and entertainment industries, along with many other real world issues and pop culture moments. Whether it's a political critique of populism and fascism or just a funny takedown of 'the Snyder Cut' bros, the team behind The Boys have offered some endlessly hilarious satirical takes. Thankfully, Gen V is no different. The series takes a no-holds-barred look at teenage life , with the show tackling vlogging, TikTok trends, and of course party culture and the college industrial complex.

Yes, we can praise The Boys for its absurdist, over-the-top, and incredibly graphic situations. However, we can't forget that the show actually deals with many serious issues, and Gen V is perhaps the franchise's best attempt at this. Throughout the series, Gen V tackles issues of gender, with Jordan the gender-swapping supe, as well as parental pressure, body-shaming, and social media. The show's writers, including Gareth Ennis, Evan Goldberg, Lauren Greer, Craig Rosenberg, and Eric Kripke, truly understood what teens in our modern world deal with, and they detail it effortlessly.

Related: The Boys: What Made This Departure From Superhero Fare So Popular?

Jaw-Dropping Cameos

With its emphasis on a younger generation and different themes, Gen V easily stands on its own as an exceptional R-rated superhero show . That said, the show is filled with the similar bloody charm that made us fall in love with The Boys in the first place. That's not a criticism by any stretch, as keeping it set in the familiar disturbing world of The Boys instantly brings a sense of warm recognition to the show.

Never letting audiences forget they are in The Boys ' universe, Gen V will constantly throw clever cameos at its audience, with the likes of A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), and Adam Bourke (P.J. Byrne) just to name a few. It's fantastic seeing these characters back, adding another layer of excitement to the show. That's all without forgetting a truly amazing cameo later on in the season that will have fans jumping for joy, and then being frozen in a state of shock. We won't spoil more, but suffice it to say, Gen V is a tremendous success for The Boys franchise.

Gen V will premiere its first three episodes on Prime Video September 29, 2023, with new episodes streaming weekly.

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Jaz Sinclair and Lizze Broadway in 'Gen V'

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Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors, prime video's gen v is an antidote for superhero fatigue.

Superhero fatigue has finally hit mainstream audiences in the last couple of years. Abysmal box office numbers and critical work about the failings of many franchises have begun to strike. But, one IP remains in the good graces of of fans and critics alike. Since its inception in 2019, Prime Video’s “The Boys” has achieved something other superhero films or TV shows have not: engaging criticism about the genre it's bound to.

When it was announced that there would be a spinoff of "The Boys," fans and critics alike were wary. Not only is a spinoff something that other superhero IPs have often failed at, but this one would also focus on young adults at a university. The coming-of-age genre is not necessarily something superhero IPs have done well (remember Hulu’s “Runaways” adaptation?). Would the creators lose sight of what they’re attempting to critique? The answer, thankfully, is no.

“Gen V” begins with a young girl—later revealed to be the child version of the show's main character, Marie Moreau ( Jaz Sinclair )—getting her period for the first time. She’s confused by the event and is even more so when her blood begins to float as if the substance has a mind of its own. Things get weirder (and more violent) from there, culminating in a brutal and shocking introduction to Marie and “Gen V” as a show.

Thankfully, the surprises don't stop there. We follow an older, traumatized Marie in a mundane life that she desperately longs to escape. A way out comes in the form of an acceptance to Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, a school that specifically houses students with super-powered abilities.

"Gen V" reveals the messiness of young adulthood, basking in displays of drunken mistakes and glimpses of bodily fluids. At its core, though, “Gen V” draws viewers in with a mystery at the center of its story. Late one night, Marie sees security personnel employed by the university take an erratic young man - later revealed to be named Sam (Asa Germann), who ends up becoming an essential character in the story - into their custody. Thinking nothing of it, she lets it go until other events cause her and her new friends to believe this isn't an isolated incident and perhaps these students aren’t the ones causing harm.

Later, after a public student death and a subsequent cover-up, Marie quickly becomes a hero in the public eye. She rises in the ranks at school and outside of it, becoming the first freshman on the school’s power ranking roster. Shining through the cameras and makeup, though, Marie must question her integrity as she knows that she's not the hero the school is making her out to be. Guided by the hand of Superintendent Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn), Marie must attempt to free herself from the clutches of those who wish to control her.

“Gen V” masterfully juggles its laugh-out-loud comedy and biting critiques with its more serious moments, becoming a show about young people rectifying or trying to recover from the mistakes of the adults in their lives. Each character is haunted by the shadow their parents have left them in, whether intentionally or not, and ultimately, the show attempts to allow them to escape it. Slowly but surely, each character wrenches themselves from the clutches of their past until they can become freer versions of themselves and build the new family they have longed for.

The chemistry between the group is fantastic, and as the season goes on, disdain for each other unravels into a bond that each of them desperately needs. Two standouts are Emma (Lizzie Broadway), Marie’s roommate, and Andre (Chance Perdomo), the wingman for Golden Boy ( Patrick Schwarzenegger ), the top-ranked student at Godolkin University. In the first episode, both Emma and Andre appear as if they will strictly remain sidekicks, but quickly, the two become essential to not only the story “Gen V” is trying to tell but the new family these characters find themselves in. With the power to get as small as a pinkie finger and the power of magnetism manipulation, respectively, these two don’t initially stand out amongst the other powers "Gen V" is showing off. However, the actors provide some of the series' best and most emotional work.

Whether it's the handful of charismatic characters or an abrupt cut-to-black followed by a Hole needle-drop, it's clear from the first episode that fans of "The Boys" are in good hands. What could have been a catastrophic spin-off instead establishes that this may be the sole superhero franchise that still understands what its viewers want. Nor is “Gen V” completely bound to its predecessor; it can exist separate from “The Boys” and its characters. Sure, there may be a glimpse of Homelander and a slightly jarring cameo from another hero later in the season, but what makes this show great is that anyone can enjoy it. “Gen V” is a fun and biting coming-of-age drama—it just happens to be full of superheroes.

Six episodes were screened for review. "Gen V" premieres on Prime Video on September 29th.

Kaiya Shunyata

Kaiya Shunyata is a freelance pop culture writer and academic based in Canada. They have written for RogerEbert.com, Xtra, Okayplayer, The Daily Beast, AltPress and more.

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Gen V Review: A Raucous And Immediately Addictive Successor To The Boys

Immediately endearing cast of characters with new superpowers
Gruesome, off-the-wall sense of humor
Fast-paced energy that keeps audiences engaged
Some on-the-nose superpowers as reflections of mental health issues

If anyone was worried about a spinoff of "The Boys" not being able to live up to the original, their fears should be put to rest. "Gen V" has the same irreverent, iconoclastic sense of humor as "The Boys," and introduces a new cast of superheroes with creatively designed powers that capture the audience's attention right off the bat. Where "The Boys" took place in the full adult world of superheroing as a job, "Gen V" tackles it from a college perspective, where aspiring supes are still learning how to use their powers and what their place in the world will be. The result is that the show falls into more coming-of-age territory — albeit with all of the crudeness and gross-out humor that fans have come to expect. Still, though, there's a surprising emotional heart at its center, as young, vulnerable superheroes navigate a landscape where they are simultaneously put on a pedestal and surrounded by people who want to tear them down, all while the powers that be are determined to keep a tight leash on them by any means necessary. Is "Gen V" subtle? Nope! But to be fair, at no point does it claim to be.

For many young people with powers, Godolkin University (a school reserved exclusively for supes) is just a stop on the way to future greatness, a place that they're expected to go to hone their skills before becoming global superstars. But for Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), a young woman with the unique ability to control blood, it goes further than that — it's a chance for her to get a fresh start at life, to prove to the world that she's so much more than the worst thing she's ever done. While her classmates are partying and giddily exploiting their superpowers, Marie is determined to keep her head down and focus on carving out a path for herself as one of the most promising supes of her generation. But just because she's not looking for trouble doesn't mean that it won't find her. Almost immediately upon arriving at campus, she and a group of her classmates become embroiled in a mystery, one that involves whispers of a place called "The Woods."

A new crop of supes

Andre, Marie, Luke, Cate, and Jordan by car

One of the biggest selling points of "The Boys" is that its large ensemble cast of characters is interesting and likable, even when they're behaving in thoroughly repugnant ways. The same is true of "Gen V," which has not only the earnest and empathetic Marie as its lead protagonist, but a swath of other college students who quickly become her circle of friends (and sometimes adversaries, depending on the episode).

There's her energetic and outgoing roommate Emma (Lizze Broadway), who can shrink down just a few inches tall, Ant-Man-style; Andre (Chance Perdomo), who can control and manipulate metal; Cate (Maddie Phillips), who has unique powers of persuasion; Jordan (Derek Luh and London Thor), a non-binary classmate who can switch between male and female at will; and Luke (Patrick Schwarzenegger), appropriately named Golden Boy, who can turn his entire body into a ball of fire. They're all fascinating in their own ways, and even if some of their powers are a little on the nose, it takes barely an episode for audiences to become emotionally invested in their stories. "Gen V" doesn't really have that warming-up period that a lot of spinoffs require, where it takes a little bit of time for viewers to get used to the fact that they're not watching the characters they've grown to love.

Picking up where The Boys left off

In fact, "Gen V" feels like a natural extension of "The Boys" in many ways. Although it deals with superheroes earlier on in their careers, so much of the narrative revolves around the fallout of one of the biggest revelations on "The Boys" — that superheroes are created through the administration of Compound V to infants. Vought has made these all-powerful beings, and now they need to figure out a way to keep them in line. But that's hardly the end of the ramifications of Compound V. All of these young adults, already trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be, have to grapple with the fact that when they were vulnerable little babies, their parents purposely injected them with a serum that changed the trajectory of their lives. Now they're on a set path filled with unrealistic expectations and surrounded by people trying to exploit them at every turn. The limitations of their paths are made clear by Godolkin's recruitment video — they highlight the School of Crimefighting and the School of Performing Arts, and there's no reference to any other potential career aside from a brief mention of the superhero management major.

"Gen V" offers a different perspective on the world of superheroes, one that is given a burst of energy by focusing on younger college students just starting out. It remains as creative as "The Boys" in terms of its determination to come up with as many different unique (and sometimes gross) superpowers as it can, and the entire first season moves fast, never giving the audience a chance to get bored. The main characters work well together, each with their own dynamics as they meld into a team. The more we learn about them and the experiences that have led them to Godolkin, the more we're just as emotionally attached as we were to anyone on "The Boys." Equal parts raucous and surprisingly introspective, "Gen V" is a more than worthy successor to the popular Amazon series.

"Gen V" will be available to stream on Prime Video on September 29.

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Cast & Crew

Eric Kripke

Evan Goldberg

Craig Rosenberg

Jaz Sinclair

Marie Moreau

Lizze Broadway

Asa Germann

Should You Watch Gen V , Even if You’ve Never Watched the Darkly Hilarious The Boys ?

Two slate writers debate the merits of the show about college students juggling superpowers, a sinister mystery, and makeout seshes..

The Boys , Prime Video’s cynical , disgusting, hilarious superhero show, is back—sort of. The success of the original Boys , a darling of critics and audiences alike , has summoned forth a spinoff, possessed of the same profane spirit, and containing a similar amount of blood and guts: Gen V .

In The Boys , which will have its fourth season in 2024, “supes”—humans altered to become superheroes, by the early administration of a chemical called Compound V—work for the evil corporation known as Vought International. Corrupt and violent supes (led by Antony Starr’s fantastically unhinged Homelander ) battle a cadre of vengeful humans (led by Karl Urban as Butcher and Jack Quaid as Hughie) who have got serious anti-Vought vendettas.

If The Boys is a David vs. Goliath story, Gen V is a coming-of-age tale. A group of young supes attend the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, where they struggle in a perpetual rat race, fighting to get into the university’s “Top 10” list of best students and gain the attention of Vought higher-ups. A central group, led by Jaz Sinclair as Marie, a “blood-bending” young woman who mistakenly killed her parents, unravels a mystery and slowly comes to see the evil at the heart of God U.

Does Gen V work—as a college show, as a Boys show, as a show about young people’s issues? Below, Boys fan Rebecca Onion, a Slate senior editor, and college-show fan Nadira Goffe, a Slate culture writer, discuss.

On Gen V as a college show

Rebecca Onion: The Boys’ showrunner Eric Kripke says that Gen V is, he hopes, “one of the most realistic college shows anyone’s made.” Nadira, you were in college much more recently than me. Is this what your undergraduate experience was like?

Nadira Goffe: One of the things I’m both resentful of and deeply thankful for in life is that I had pretty mild high school and college experiences. I think that’s partially why I love teen soaps —on which I consider myself somewhat of an expert—because they depict teen adventures that are more exciting (though also more traumatizing) than what I’ve experienced. However, while my university wasn’t full of teens who could kill me in a heartbeat with their super strength or wipe my mind with their mind-control powers, it did —like Gen V ’s God U.—have the internal politics of wanting to sustain a clean media image as a “good university for talented students,” something that has resulted in a few scandals . And, like in most colleges, I saw my fair share of fellow students dealing with or spreading awareness about common issues among young adults like eating disorders, sexual agency and consent, drinking and drug use, lack of LGBTQ+ rights, racism, and violence of various sorts. So, I guess what I’m saying is … surprisingly, kinda? What about you?

Onion: Also kinda! One thing that Gen V does well, in trying to be a “realistic college show,” is playing up the hothouse weirdness of a selective college. It’s a place where a bunch of horned-up teens and early twentysomethings are thrown together, all trying to “find their true selves” while also competing to have the best: the best friendships, the best internships, the best romantic relationships. I always thought these goals were incommensurate, to some degree, because what if the “true self” you’ve come to college to “find” turns out to enjoy a quiet life of tea and houseplants? No room for that at my undergrad , or at God U.! In that way, I guess the show was “realistic,” even though nobody ever flew above the quad and burst themselves into a million pieces—like the supe Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) does in the first episode of Gen V —at my school.

In the God U. context, we see the competition between the students through the eyes of Marie, who comes to college from a place of deep trauma. She has no support—she killed her parents, by mistake, the first time her powers appeared, and her sister won’t speak with her—and if she fails at God U., she will join the other kids who hurt people with their powers, many of whom, it’s hinted, have lost their minds and been shunned from society because of what they did. What did you think of Marie, the classic audience avatar who guides us through this weird new world? (As a Boys rookie, you probably needed a guide, and badly!)

Goffe: I didn’t know what or who a Vought was, let alone a Compound V, so I definitely appreciated having a proxy newbie who is constantly bombarded with exposition dialogue from other characters.

On the show’s issues-driven superpowers

Goffe: The show opens with Marie’s supe origin story, in which Marie experiences her blood-bending powers when she gets her period for the first time, which she obviously can’t control, leading to the tragic end that you’ve mentioned.

I sort of love this? We are constantly bombarded with menstrual media that is so flowery and serene—like those countless ads that show a slender woman twirling in a white dress—even though the experience of having a uterus is often anything but. Today, I think this tone of period marketing and discourse is lessening as the conversation around menstruation takes on a more empowering tone—it’s a process to celebrate, not ignore, fear, malign, or make pretty with milky euphemisms. But it’s rare that we see periods—at least in the context of womanhood—as badass. Marie’s story is heartbreaking, but it’s pretty cool to see menstruation as something that is so powerful it can even be deadly. Sure, the simplification of “your femininity or womanhood equals your power” is pretty cheesy, but Gen V complicates it in devastating and hilarious ways.

However, it should be said that present-day Marie, who is in better control of her powers, often has to perform self-harm acts to draw blood, usually in the form of cutting her palm, in order to weaponize it for battle. Self-harm is one of the many “quintessential teen issues” that the show attempts to flip on its head. I don’t know about you, but some of this I loved and some definitely felt tiring at times.

Onion: Whew, yes. I was listening to a segment on the show on the Ringer podcast The Watch , and co-host Andy Greenwald described Gen V as the most “irresponsible and appalling thing I’ve ever seen on television since we started covering it.” He described the spinoff as “incredibly cynical” for using young people’s issues—disordered eating, drug use, self-harm, burnout—as an amplifying device for the show’s drama and its plentiful violence.

On the OG Boys , the powers are sort of just randomly assigned to people who get Compound V as kids—Homelander has laser eyes and can fly; the Deep has gills and can talk to fish; A-Train can run super fast. Then, after the powers emerge, they’re massaged into character traits via the Vought media machine. Maybe the supes’ personalities reflect their powers a bit, but it’s not overdetermined.

But on Gen V , it’s like the writers brainstormed a list of issues that college kids might have and assigned each character one of them. We have Emma (Lizzie Broadway), Marie’s roommate, whose superpower is getting bigger and smaller, but she has to puke in order to do it, in the vein of “purging.” The ambitious nonbinary star-student Jordan can shift seamlessly between a boy body (Derek Luh) and a girl body (London Thor), but because “the South won’t like it”—clearly a comment on real-life political happenings —the Vought higher-ups think there will be a cap on how far Jordan can rise in the hierarchy. Cate (Maddie Phillips), who’s seen as the most popular and beautiful girl in the school, can manipulate people with her voice and touch. Golden Boy is a star athlete and student who burns out from his secret burdens.

I do have to say, I think I’m not quite at Greenwald-level disgust with this, but I find it a little ABC Afterschool Special for me. Especially because two of the main characters—Emma and Andre (Chance Perdomo)—have pushy momager-type parents who press them to achieve greater heights of success, which is such a classic teen-show dynamic. What do you think? Is this cynical or just kind of weak sauce?

Goffe: I go back and forth on this because I find some of these situations intriguing, and some entirely overwrought. For example, I’m not too fond of Emma’s belabored issues with an-eating-disorder-that’s-not-an-eating-disorder, although I do love her character overall. It’s not merely that, if she pukes, she immediately gets small, and then she can get big again instantly. Instead, bingeing and purging determine her size at any point in time, so she has to be constantly mindful of what she eats. It’s clunky—she’s ashamed because her bingeing and purging is “gross,” but still maintains that she’s in control. (There’s a funny scene where her overbearing mother, who thinks Emma has shrunk an inch or two shorter, offers to measure her height and reminds her to eat enough.) The behind-the-scenes peek at her power feels cynically shoehorned in, yes—but The Boys universe seems to be a deeply cynical world, in which I don’t think Emma’s classmates would care about this as much as they do in the show because it’s entirely believable that teen supes might be used to their peers having to do disgusting or dangerous things to control or maximize their powers.

What I do find interesting, and what actually convinced me to watch the show without having ever seen The Boys , is Jordan’s transitioning power. I saw a fan edit of the character and immediately wanted to check out the show because I think it’s one of the more original powers, derived from a much more interesting “teen issue,” on display. I find Jordan’s power incredibly campy and fun, though I could understand an argument that it is pandering or cheesy. And let it be known that if I, a cishet Black woman, could choose to transition into a man at will, especially one as hot as Derek Luh (which, whew ), I would all the time. It is kind of a serve to see Jordan transition into a girl just to spite their father, and it’s interesting to see Jordan fight for their identity in the most intimate and public spaces. However, Jordan’s power also plays an interesting role in their budding romance with another character, when Jordan fears that their partner will be like everyone else in the past who wanted Jordan to pick a gender and stay with it. Now, I wasn’t sure if that felt eye roll–worthy or earnest. What did you think?

Onion: I totally agree that Jordan’s power is probably the most compelling one. I was reminded on the subreddit r/TheBoys that this is not the very first time a “teens have powers” show has come up with this idea—shout-out to the character Curtis Donovan on Misfits , who once impregnated himself while he had the power to switch sexes—but this is different, because Jordan is like this for life. I can’t believe how perfect the dual casting of Derek Luh (likewise, whew ) and London Thor is.

On whether Gen V is a watch or a skip

Onion : If nothing else, I’ll stay with this show to watch how Jordan’s plotline develops. But another reason to keep watching is the way the writers integrate social media, and its users’ fixation on reputation and clout, into the world. (These matters are also key in The Boys .) These kids at God U. can choose two career tracks: crime-fighting, which is seen as prestigious and desirable, and entertainment, which is seen as less than. But the crime-fighting superheroes are always also entertainers. The division is interesting, and I think there are places the show can go with it that could surprise us.

Will you keep watching? And would you recommend that other non- Boys people pick it up?

Goffe: Ah, yes Misfits ! How could I forget about that show, which I loved? It’s the first time I was introduced to Game of Thrones ’ Iwan Rheon and The Umbrella Academy ’s Robert Sheehan. But you’re right, I appreciate Gen V ’s take on gender more, and I love the way it digs into not just social media, but specifically influencing and content creation. The show pretty explicitly lays out that good attention, whether in the form of heaps of followers for entertainers or positive approval ratings for crime fighters, is the only way to make something of yourself as a supe. I’m really interested in seeing where that goes, and so I will definitely be finishing the show.

Because of everything we’ve laid out, I would recommend this show to the Boys -unacquainted if they like teen soaps. It’s about teen superheroes, all with deep-rooted childhood trauma, trying to unearth some hush-hush evil plot going on in their university, putting their middle finger up to corrupt authority, while also, of course, wanting to have sex with each other all the time. Of course it’s melodramatic. But it’s also really fun and deals with some hotbed topics in interesting ways. I can’t wait to see how our Heroes of Godolkin get through the semester.

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Gen V review: The superhero school spinoff should have more fun

The Boys spinoff lacks some of the silliness of the original.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 1 premiere of Gen V , "God U."

Gen V , Amazon Prime Video's new spinoff series from the world of The Boys , begins much the same way as its predecessor did — with a burst of horrific, superhero-induced violence. But this time, it's the protagonist's fault. While Hughie (Jack Quaid) could only watch in horror as his girlfriend was obliterated by oblivious speedster A-Train (Jesse T. Usher), spurring him to join Billy Butcher's (Karl Urban) anti-Supe crusade, Gen V central character Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) kills her own parents when her blood-bending superpower manifests for the first time. The opening scene of the new show is a flashback to young Marie's first period, which quickly became a horror show when her blood suddenly changed into blades that impaled both her parents when they came to check on her.

Sounds cheery, right? Well, the scene is indicative of the tone of Gen V , which goes on to be a nonstop misery parade for all involved. A few years after that tragic accident, Marie is sent to Godolkin University, a college for young Supes raised on injections of the ability-bestowing serum Compound V. There, she meets fellow powerful people like Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway), who can shrink to Ant-Man size; Andre Anderson (Chance Paderno), a charming nepo baby with the magnetism of Magneto; Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips), a blonde queen bee with the mental persuasion of Charles Xavier; and Jordan Li (Derek Luh and London Thor), who can switch effortlessly between genders.

Those references to Magneto and Professor X aren't accidental. As a superhero series set at school, Gen V would appear to have a lot in common with the X-Men. Even the title is a clue: Generation X was a '90s Marvel comic about a younger class of mutants learning and training at the Xavier School while the adult X-Men were off saving the world. It was this signature mixture of relatable school struggles with super-powered action — as well as the overriding theme of oppressed minorities coming together to protect each other from a prejudiced society — that made the X-Men enough of a pop culture phenomenon to justify such spinoffs.

Gen V , unfortunately, doesn't have much interest in school. The first episode has hardly even set up its interesting social hierarchy (where an ongoing "leaderboard" literally ranks each student according to their professional superhero prospects, and Marie's mix of morbid history with an unsettling power keeps her at the bottom of the pyramid) before taking a hard right turn into a murder mystery, which is part of a greater conspiracy.

As the episodes go on, Gen V also adds "media satire" to its plate, targeting true-crime TV shows and red-carpet galas in addition to The Boys ' standard skewering of Marvel movie culture. Suffice to say, the show has bitten off a little bit more than it can chew, and its different interests keep bumping into each other — such as when Marie's unexpected romantic encounter with a fellow student is quickly interrupted by a development in the conspiracy plotline.

What would be so wrong with making a fun show about superheroes going to school? Weirdly, Gen V isn't the first to fumble this ball. Last year's Disney+ miniseries Ms. Marvel also began with Iman Vellani's Kamala Khan walking the halls of Jersey City high school while reckoning with her newfound abilities… but the show went on to spend two of its six episodes in Pakistan. That storyline was admirable in its own way , but it meant the season finale (when Kamala's high school classmates join together to help her fend off government agents) rung hollow, because we hadn't spent enough time with that setting or characters.

There are bright spots to Gen V , especially for fans of The Boys . Like the earlier show, Gen V is very good at making superpowers look visually dynamic, as well as coming up with creative uses for them. What it lacks is its predecessor's diversity of tones. The Boys had plenty of bloody violence and deranged sex acts, but combining those with Butcher's British sarcasm and Homelander's (Antony Starr) unexpected fetishes keeps everything entertaining. Even when Gen V is cycling through one subgenre after another, the emotions remain the same: Everyone is miserable, every potential bright spot is cut off by an even worse disaster, everyone gets covered in blood.

At a certain point you have to respect the commitment to the bit, but it's important to remember you can make cutting commentary about corporate pop culture while still having some fun. That's a lessen they should teach at Godolkin. Grade: B -

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“Gen V” Review – “The Boys” Spinoff Series Explores Violent World of Young Adult Superheroes

Ultra-violent superhero series “The Boys” centers around insidious corporation Vought, the corrupt superheroes it fosters and controls, and the vigilantes determined to dismantle it all, one supe at a time. The new spinoff series “Gen V” showcases a different, though no less evil side of Vought by examining a different age group’s dealings with their evil machinations.

In this case, a handful of super-powered college students find themselves in the thick of a vicious conspiracy lurking beneath the hallowed halls of Godolkin University School of Crimefighting. It makes for a completely different type of series than the parent show, though no less engaging or bloody.

Marie Moreau ( Jaz Sinclair ) overcame a tragic past, where she discovered her powerful ability to manipulate her blood through a shocking, violent act and found her way to Godolkin through scholarships. It makes her stand out among the affluent, privileged student body. When Marie gets expelled, she’s spared by a frightening encounter involving the campus’s prodigal student, Luke ( Patrick Schwarzenegger ). It exposes cracks in the pristine college, one that signals to Marie and her fellow students that something deeply sinister is happening.

L to R: Lizze Broadway, Jaz Sinclair, Maddie Phillips

Showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters strike the perfect balance between the merciless world “The Boys” established and a familiar coming-of-age tone befitting of the young adult series. While nearly all the players come from damaged homes or traumatic pasts that affect their current superhero ambitions, there’s a purity to them, too. For the most part, these teens haven’t yet been corrupted by Vought. “Gen V” is a show driven by flawed adolescents trying to navigate an increasingly ruthless world.

Sinclair leads the cast as the winsome protagonist in over her head among Godolkin’s elite. Through the central mysteries, Marie finds friendships and alliances forming with Luke’s closest friends, Andre ( Chance Perdomo ), Jordan ( London Thor and Derek Luh ), Cate ( Maddie Phillips ), and Marie’s dormmate Emma ( Lizze Broadway ). Every single one brings magnetic vulnerability and complexity to their roles that offsets the cruel nature of Vought’s reach. The more the series progresses, the more entangled their relationships become to an infectious degree. Untainted yet by Vought and adulthood, “Gen V” refreshingly offers a winsome sense of camaraderie among the core group, even when affected by obstacles or pain. Though it does bide its time establishing those personalities, powers, and relationships.

Because it is nestled within “The Boys” universe, “Gen V” does dabble aplenty in violence and gore. Marie’s inspired superpower alone brings the splatter, but look for the showrunners to get very creative with deaths and playing around with form to do so. There are callbacks to the parent series with familiar faces popping in, but “Gen V” wisely opts to let this spinoff speak for itself. If you haven’t seen “The Boys” yet, it won’t present as a barrier to entry here.

Of the six episodes screened for critics, out of the eight-episode season, there’s a streamlined simplicity that makes it work. One overarching mystery set solely within and around Goldokin University means a digestible inaugural season that lets its characters shine. It gives room for the series to potentially expand if renewed. That it’s more young adult-oriented than the parent series might ward away those hoping for more of the same, but “Gen V” forges its own path while adhering to the same reverence for gore and characters you love to love or hate. How it further fleshes out the expansive world makes “Gen V” worth visiting.

The first three episodes of “Gen V” are available on Prime Video now, Friday, September 29, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly on Fridays. The season finale will land on the streamer November 3.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

Heavy Gore and a Fun Creature Can’t Save ‘Graveyard Shark’ from Getting Beached [Review]

It’s summertime which means one thing in the cinemaverse: shark movie season! We have already been served fin-ematic releases like Under Paris from Netflix and Something in the Water over the past couple of months, but Mad Angel Films adds one more helping to our “shark”-cuterie plate with their horror-comedy Graveyard Shark .

The Indiegogo-funded feature tells the story of cryptid hunter Abby Wescott ( Stephanie Ward , Axegrinder 666 ) trying to uncover the existence of Graveyard Shark—an urban legend in the town of Willsboro Point who has been racking up quite the body count. Her investigation leads her to Captain Issac Seyburn ( Berndele March , The Man with No Pants ), who knows the creature’s backstory all too well and may be able to help in her quest. She assembles a team of current Graveyard Shark survivors to eliminate the baddie, but they first have to overcome their own personal fears, especially Abby. And that synopsis is as serious as it gets.

Graveyard Shark essentially feels like it’s a tale (tail?) of two films merging into one, or at least shifting between two-tones. At about the midway point, director Matthew A. Peters ( Radiant Dark, Barely Coping ) switches the gears of his film from taking the subject matter semi-seriously to pulling a 180° and going hard in the paint with comedy. Mind you, the humor consists of mostly sophomoric jokes of a sexual nature, but that this is not a bad thing at all! The comedy provides the film with its surprisingly memorable laugh out loud moments, and actually makes you want to stay around until the end to see if they can keep topping themselves in the WTF?! department.

In a film called Graveyard Shark , would you expect to see a mermaid sex encounter reenacted using a restaurant lobster tail or Bigfoot getting pegged on a hotel room bed? Did you know that Bigfoot is a “bottom”? Thanks to the filmmakers, we do now! How about seeing a baby shark-man’s birth followed up with a discussion about paying child support for said baby shark-man? What about learning the answer to the question “Does Graveyard Shark fuck?” (spoiler: oh he most certainly does). Well, these moments (and many other bizarre sequences) do in fact happen, but it’s too bad that some of these second-half gags don’t happen sooner because unfortunately most people will probably check out of this film early. There’s just too much plodding along in the first 40 or so minutes.

Besides the out-of-left-field comedy, the acting delivered by some of the stars is not that bad. Ward, who mainly carries the film with a majority of the runtime, is fantastic. And both March and Madisen Zabawa , who plays the promiscuous Sadie, really shine once things go completely off the rails. Plus, both the heavy amount of gore and practical special effects are great for such a low budget affair.

While you might have the vision of a SYFY-esque CGI ghostly shark cutting through tombstones with its shark fin, the in-title villain Graveyard Shark is actually humanoid in appearance, with its head resembling an old He-Man action figure. One of the characters in the film is named Teela, so maybe there’s a legitimate MOTU connection? The two-legged shark also looks like he could fit right into the Street Sharks crew (remember that cartoon and toy line?), as he flexes in his studded sleeveless leather vest that proves punk most certainly is not dead. Don’t read that description in the wrong way because he looks incredible considering the budget and is easily the film’s key highlight, as he should be.

While having some legitimately and purposely funny scenes, memorable sight gags and a really slick shark costume, Graveyard Shark sadly gets beached by running too long overall while taking too long to get to the good stuff. Even if you can forgive the restraints of the crowdfunded budget.

The film is available at Mad Angel Films’ official site in Blu-ray, DVD and VHS formats.

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Gen V: A group of young people wearing casual clothing is sitting on a flight of concrete steps; on the top stairs is a statue with its head blown off; the words Gen V appear in yellow above the statue

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 4 Reviews
Kids Say 7 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Edgy, violent spin-off stars young superheroes.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 17+?

Violence is gory and shocking: A young girl suddenly accidentally kills her pare

Sexual content is mature, such as a scene in which a hookup convinces a characte

Language includes "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "a--holes," "dick," "c--k," an

Expect frequent drug use, as when teens go to a club, snort cocaine, and take mo

Any Positive Content?

Marie is a young Black woman and the rest of the cast is diverse in terms of rac

Ironic and subversive, this show features few real heroes or heroics. Even the c

Marie is a sympathetic character, but most of the other cast members run the gam

Violence & Scariness

Violence is gory and shocking: A young girl suddenly accidentally kills her parents; we see spikes fly through her dads' head in numerous scenes. Superheroes have battles that leave other superheroes and mortals dead; there are slit throats, arms that are pulled off and then replaced, spouting, gouting blood, bodies that explode in a shower of blood and red tissue.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual content is mature, such as a scene in which a hookup convinces a character to miniaturize herself for sex. She is seen hanging onto his erect penis at length and then flopping on and kicking his testicles as he moans with pleasure. In another scene, we see a brief clip of pornography, with a topless woman thrusting on top of a man as another man watches and is called "cuck." There are references to masturbation, oral sex, group sex, and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "a--holes," "dick," "c--k," and "cuck."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Expect frequent drug use, as when teens go to a club, snort cocaine, and take molly before making some questionable decisions. A character discusses "microdosing" with "shrooms."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

Marie is a young Black woman and the rest of the cast is diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. People of color have strong main and supporting roles.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Ironic and subversive, this show features few real heroes or heroics. Even the characters you root for often give way to their darker impulses.

Positive Role Models

Marie is a sympathetic character, but most of the other cast members run the gamut from cartoonish to unlikeable.

Parents need to know that Gen V is a spin-off of dark superhero series The Boys . Its levels of sex, drug use, language, and, most particularly, violence match the original series. Expect scenes like one in which a teen girl suddenly murders her parents, who collapse onto the floor bleeding out. In other scenes, characters are burnt alive, get their throats slit, are dismembered, and more. Sexual content is also frequent and strong, such as a scene in which a character who can shrink herself is shown dangling from an erect penis, and jumping on his testicles. Drug use is casual: A group of teens take molly, cocaine, shrooms, and drink alcohol at a club. Language includes "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "a--holes," "dick," "c--k." The cast does include many strong roles for actors of color.

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

A young woman covered in blood looks upward

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (4)
Kids say (7)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Gen V could easily surpass its predecessor show "The Boys".

Satirically sad., what's the story.

Set in the same world as The Boys , GEN V focuses on the next generation of superheroes attending school at Vought-run Godolkin University of Crimefighting. Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) is intent on being the first Black woman to enter elite superhero unit The Seven, and it's looking good for her chances when she gets a full-ride scholarship to Godolkin. But all is not as it seems at Godolkin, or in the superhero world, and when Marie gets mixed up in the goings-on, it's going to take all her powers, and those of her friends, to fight the forces of evil.

Is It Any Good?

Just as breezy, ultra-violent, and sharp as its predecessor The Boys , this Superhero University series is plenty of briskly paced good fun. Set in the same universe as The Boys , Gen V presents a world in which babies were given the unearthly power-granting elixir Compound V, made by Boys ' evil corporation Vought, by their parents. Said powers are delightfully varied: some budding superheroes can run fast or turn themselves invisible, and others have more unusual powers, like Marie's ability to wield her own blood like a weapon, or control its flow in others. Marie's college dorm roommate Emma (Lizze Broadway) can change her size (but she has to make herself vomit to shrink).

The scenes in which Emma vomits and shrinks are a potent and rather unnerving visual reference to eating disorders, and the rest of the script teems with coming of age references: a social media following is crucial for a young superhero hoping to score a rare city-protection contract; Marie gains her powers just as she hits puberty; one character's power is the ability to change sex at will. Naturally, the plotline will involve tangles with Vought and characters learning to wield the powers they've been (chemically) granted. It's more than enough to keep you interested until the next season of The Boys is available.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about superheroes. What do we expect from superheroes? How do we expect them to behave? How do the superheroes on The Boys and Gen V behave? How is it different from what we have come to expect from superheroes?

How does Gen V blur the line between good and bad? Do characters behave in ways you might expect them to in real life if superpowers existed? What does the show think about celebrity?

Did the level of mature content in Gen V surprise you? Does the iffy content improve the show, or detract from it?

Premiere date : September 29, 2023
Cast : Jaz Sinclair , Lizze Broadway , Chance Perdomo
Network : Amazon Prime Video
Genre : Drama
TV rating : NR
Last updated : October 3, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Gen V Episode 4 Review – “The Whole Truth”

The horniest show on television stays horned up..

Through three episodes of Gen V , I thought I’d seen it all. Shrunken YouTube stars wrapped around gigantic dongs, Golden (Boy) showers that rain bloody chunks – all the freakiest sex and nastiest violence you’d expect from a collegiate spin-off of The Boys. In Episode 4, “The Whole Truth,” the show hits us with as many shock-and-gore standouts as the entire multi-episode premiere. Not only is there more penile mutilation and hilariously aggressive horniness, but “The Whole Truth” includes a cameo for the ages because Gen V never wants you to assume you know what’ll happen next.

The episode’s primary arc follows Godolkin’s staff and students as they become subjects for the popular Vought+ true-crime show “The Whole Truth.” Superhero host Tek Knight (Derek Wilson) uses his heightened interrogation skills to sniff around for clues that reveal how or why Golden Boy died via spontaneous combustion. Marie (Jaz Sinclair) can’t hide the slightest pupil dilation, nor can Andre (Chance Perdomo) cover a sensual stench on his breath because Tek Knight is the supe equivalent of being bitten by a radioactive detective. Wilson is doing great work as the alarmingly confident Tek Knight, who talks circles around people because he’ll always have the conversational upper hand. He’s the Homelander-type antagonist who speaks in finishing blows because there are no secrets in his presence, making his later follies laugh-out-loud spectacular when Tek’s finally challenged by Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn).

Gen V Episode 4 Gallery

Outside of God U’s campus, Emma (Lizze Broadway) and Sam (Asa Germann) find themselves on the run after escaping The Woods (the experimental holding area run by Shetty and a shadow team). We learn more about Sam beyond being Golden Boy’s unstable brother, and Emma does her best to show the socially awkward teen rare glimpses of compassion (romance is brewing). Lizze Broadway continues to play one of the show’s most compelling characters as Emma fearlessly talks Sam out of his psychotic breaks, sharing in his outcast anxieties since her own superpower has been labeled an eating disorder. Asa Germann is equally as endearing as the twitchy Sam, who so desperately craves the normalcy of having a crush on a cute girl, but can’t silence the voices in his head.

Heads up: a spoiler is about to follow that I can’t avoid, so if you want to go into the next Gen V episode squeaky-friggin’-clean, hold the rest of this article until later. You’ve been warned – I can’t skip talking about my favorite part of Gen V so far.

Are you enjoying Gen V so far?

Sam’s volatility is the catalyst for climatic highs in “The Whole Truth,” none better than the reveal of how his inner voices manifest themselves to be seen. Black Noir isn’t the only supe who sees adorable characters as his imaginary friends – Sam manifests “Television’s Jason Ritter” as a Mr. Rogers type who hosts Avenue V, a Sesame Street knockoff with puppet versions of The Seven. In an episode where sex pest psychics meet gruesome punishments and we’re reminded that supe egotism will always doom even the most bulletproof Vought figures, Jason Ritter’s first appearance still takes the cake as an episode highlight. It ties right back to the unpredictable mayhem that Gen V has established as its signature. Why? How? What? No bother. Ritter immediately becomes a series favorite, coaxing Sam into despicable deeds through "Letter of the Day" skits.

As for the main gang back at God U, “The Whole Truth” further develops relationships we knew would blossom into attraction. Marie and Jordan, Andre and Cate (Maddie Phillips), it’s all getting hormonally complicated as they find themselves atop the class ranking leaderboards. They jockey for position with every decision, with Marie and Andre neck and neck for first place. Last week I called out how the ranking system adds a unique wrinkle to overall stakes, since one slip-up on camera or failed quiz drops characters another spot away from being a worthy Seven replacement. “The Whole Truth” shows Marie’s gang growing closer and less cutthroat about where each sits, but the leaderboard hovers like a specter that could influence future power struggles.

However, Gen V saves its most ambitious swing until right before the episode closes. Sam listens to Jason Ritter and confronts the doctor behind whatever nefariousness is going down in The Woods, Edison Cardosa (Marco Pigossi). There’s an action-forward struggle; Marie’s crew intervenes when Emma cannot calm Sam’s rage, and then, with a snap, we’re in bed with Marie and Jordan. Don’t get me wrong, I love when a wrench is thrown into by-the-books storytelling, and I have theories about why time jumps either backward or forward, but it’s a gotcha trick that undermines the moment at hand – at least in this episode.

“The Whole Truth” is another guns-blazing installment of the wildest show on streaming, but the climax leaves a rare dent in the universe’s armor. It’s impossible for every episode to bean immaculate banger, but Gen V might push too far for its own good this time. There’s still so much to love in “The Whole Truth,” from Tek Knight’s bastardized Law & Order schtick to the nurturing of young love between characters looking for a sliver of hope under Godolkin’s corrupt oversight. You can’t fault Gen V for being its rebellious self, though there’s something unfulfilling about how “The Whole Truth” chooses storytelling tomfoolery over a clean dismount.

More Reviews by Matt Donato

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Gen V season 1 review: "A hot mess but a damn good time"

Jaz Sinclair and Chance Perdomo in Gen V

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It's a hot mess, but it's a damn good time.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

The Boys is the darker, grittier antidote to the colorful, hopeful world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It poses the theory that the people who are supposed to protect us suck, actually, and there are no heroes – just humans walking around with superpowers. Gen V is an extension of this universe, introducing us to a new crop of young supes who are destined to become world-renowned heroes and move into Vought Tower.

Welcome to Godolkin University, cheekily abbreviated to God U, a college for kiddos with superpowers that is an obviously parody of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Students take courses like "Hero Ethics" and "Branding," and are awarded for both clearing homicide cases and having a million Instagram followers.

It’s here that we meet our ensemble cast: the blood-soaked Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), real-life Alice in Wonderland Emma aka Cricket (Lizze Broadway), the mysterious and vengeful Cate (Maddie Phillips), the literally magnetic Andre (Chance Perdomo), the gender-shifting Jordan (Derek Luh and London Thor), the troubled but super strong Sam (Asa Germann), and the once beloved Luke aka Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger). The prestigous institution isn't what it seems to be, and our supes spend the season getting to the bottom of it – and uncovering some impossibly dark secrets along the way.

The first episode throws us right into action, attempting to hook the viewer by setting up a plethora of questions that will be answered later on – but the result is more confusing than anything. The first 20 minutes of the show is spent watching various characters go on something of an apology tour, for apparently traumatic events that we have zero context for. And, predictably, after spending some time throughout the episode hating each other's guts – everyone decides to soften and have a real bonding moment towards the end (something that happens again and again throughout the series).

After a muddled first episode, we head straight into Herogasm territory. Dicks explode, ear drums are broken, sex scenes are weird, puppets get violent, blood is everywhere, and there's also a gruesome self-immolation scene that rivals Hereditary. In between the moments of absurdity, we start to see that being turned into a supe at birth isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Turns out, not everyone wants to join the Seven. Some people just want to live a normal life. Other people have to deal with the negative side effects of their powers, and how they can become a form of self-harm. One of the main themes of show is guilt, how we cope with it, and the ways in which we blame ourselves for things that weren't our fault.

At the heart of the show is Asa Germann's Sam, whose capture holds the key to the inhumane goings-on at Godokin. Sure, all of the main supes in the series are likable, have cool powers, and end up touching our hearts. But Germann delivers the standout performance of the season, becoming the best part of every episode when he shows up. Sam is a tortured, haunted character and this never leaves him – not even in his fleeting moments of joy or when his dry humor is making Lizze Broadway's Emma laugh. Sam's dark cloud is always there, and it's what motivates him to escape – but it's also the thing that tells him to kill. And instead of it being consistent doom and gloom, some of his most paranoid and delusional moments are transformed into pure absurdity – with the writers giving us laugh-out-loud moments in the midst of heartbreak.

Because it's a spin-off, Gen V will inevitably spend its tenure fielding comparisons to its ultra-entertaining and wildly popular predecessor. The Boys feels like a comic-book show, rooted in spectacle and absurdity. Gen V, at times feels more like a CW show – and I'm not talking about the Arrowverse. Luckily, the writers are well aware of this, going as far as to namecheck Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars as just a sampling of the shows that their theatre students have gone on to star in. The series suffers from lulls, uneventful scenes that are used solely to establish plot, and exposition where there should be action. The timeline is a mess, with each episode jumping back and forth and relying heavily on flashbacks. Plus, the adult characters are both comically unlikable and utterly useless – especially the ones who are in charge.

Being in college is hard enough without pressure from your parents, but these parents (and parental figures) are dead-set on exploiting their super-kiddos and pushing them to their absolute limits just so they have something to brag about. Much like in The Boys, it's all about popularity and starpower, but the difference here is these supes are just trying to get by, and even, dare I say, do the right thing.

While villains like The Deep and Homelander exist in this world, these young supes aren't murdering for funsies and having intercourse with dolphins. When they're not at each other's throats over who gets to be number one, they’re battling eating disorders, recounting tales about accidentally murdering people with their period blood, and learning to love and accept themselves for who they truly are. They're also making huge mistakes, doing raver drugs, and using their powers to go viral on Twitter.

Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It's a hot mess, but it's a damn good time. We can only hope it gets weirder from here.

The first three episodes Gen V season 1 are streaming on Prime Video from September 29, with new episodes airing weekly. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows coming your way in 2023 and beyond and a look ahead to The Boys season 4 . For more on Gen V, also check out our guides to:

A Homelander Easter egg you might have missed
Where does Gen V take place on The Boys timeline?
Gen V release schedule
Can you watch Gen V without watching The Boys?

Genre

Superhero

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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IMAGES

Gen V teaser trailer and premiere date unveiled
Gen V review: The Boys spinoff serves up a bloody good coming-of-age
Gen V Episode Ending Explained Release Date Cast Plot Review
Gen V: Release Date, Trailer, Cast, And Other Things We Know About The
Gen V: Review, Cast, Plot, Trailer, Streaming Date
"The Carrot's Starting To Get Rotten": Gen V Producer Weighs In On

COMMENTS

Gen V First Reviews: The Boys' College-Set Spin-Off Series Is 'Edgy
The Boys' college-set spin-off Gen V is exactly what you think it is: Junior supes getting into trouble while attending an institute of power-learning. Just how deep the dysfunction and perversity get is what makes the show a must-see, according to critics. The series cast includes Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa ...
Gen V (TV Series 2023- )
Gen V: Created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg. With Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor. From the world of "The Boys" comes "Gen V," which explores the first generation of superheroes to know that their super powers are from Compound V. These heroes put their physical and moral boundaries to the test competing for the school's top ranking.
Review: 'Gen V,' the irreverent spinoff of 'The Boys,' flies on its own
Roll out the bloodied carpet for "Gen V," Prime Video's spinoff from the brilliant black comedy "The Boys." The new series, which premiered with three episodes Friday, expands upon the ...
'Gen V' Review
The Big Picture. Gen V, the first live-action spin-off series set in the world of The Boys, is increasingly about a murder mystery that lacks the same punch as its predecessor. The new characters ...
Gen V Review: The Boys Spin-off Is Wild, Entertaining & Leaves You
The Boys' first live-action spin-off, Gen V, is a welcome addition to Garth Ennis and Seth Rogen's co-production.The cast is full of fresh faces, except for the incomparable Clancy Brown (Justice League).Developed by Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg, and Evan Goldberg, the usual gore, drugs, and dick jokes are still a staple of the franchise, and no punches are pulled just because the cast is younger.
Gen V Season 1 Review
The first season maintains the hellacious hallmarks of The Boys, from extreme superhero violence to a raunchiness that'd make John Waters blush. Thematically and visually, it's not afraid to ...
Gen V Review
Prime Video. With its emphasis on a younger generation and different themes, Gen V easily stands on its own as an exceptional R-rated superhero show. That said, the show is filled with the similar ...
Gen V: Season 1
Rated 1.5/5 Stars • Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/02/24 Full Review Deal L "Although Gen V is a spinoff of The Boys, it is very well done. It's engaging, exciting, and integrates well with the ...
Gen V Review: The Boys Spinoff Carries the Torch
Matt Rife's Netflix Crowd Work Special 'Lucid' Is a Snooze-Worthy Take on Dreams: TV Review 15 hours ago ... The first three episodes of 'Gen V' premiere on Amazon Prime on Sep. 29, with ...
Prime Video's Gen V is An Antidote for Superhero Fatigue
The answer, thankfully, is no. Advertisement. "Gen V" begins with a young girl—later revealed to be the child version of the show's main character, Marie Moreau ( Jaz Sinclair )—getting her period for the first time. She's confused by the event and is even more so when her blood begins to float as if the substance has a mind of its own.
Gen V Review: A Raucous And Immediately Addictive Successor To ...
A new crop of supes. One of the biggest selling points of "The Boys" is that its large ensemble cast of characters is interesting and likable, even when they're behaving in thoroughly repugnant ...
'Gen V' Review: Amazon's 'The Boys' Spinoff Goes to Superpower College
Airdate: Friday, Sept. 29 (Amazon) Cast: Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Shelley Conn, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick ...
Gen V
Gen V TV-MA 2023 - Present 1 Season Comedy Drama Action Adventure Fantasy TRAILER for Gen V: Season 1 Red Band Trailer List 97% Avg. Tomatometer 84 Reviews 76% Avg. Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings
Gen V: The Boys' spinoff is worth watching, even if you've never seen
Oct 06, 20235:56 PM. Photo: Prime Video. The Boys, Prime Video's cynical, disgusting, hilarious superhero show, is back—sort of. The success of the original Boys, a darling of critics and ...
'Gen V' review: 'The Boys' school spinoff should have more fun
As the episodes go on, Gen V also adds "media satire" to its plate, targeting true-crime TV shows and red-carpet galas in addition to The Boys' standard skewering of Marvel movie culture. Suffice ...
Gen V Review
September 29, 2023. By. Meagan Navarro. Ultra-violent superhero series "The Boys" centers around insidious corporation Vought, the corrupt superheroes it fosters and controls, and the ...
Gen V Episodes 1-3 Review
This is a spoiler-free review of Gen V, the first three episodes of which debut Friday, September 29 on Prime Video. The first three episodes of Prime Video's sensationally obscene The Boys spin ...
Gen V
Youssef ElKhedry 2023-09-29. Episodes 1-3 of Gen V have just released and we're reviewing them all, dissecting everything in a spoiler-free manner. Set in the universe of The Boys, Gen V follows a cast of young adult supes attending Godolkin University School of Crimefighting. The Boys was known for its jaw-dropping violence and intense nature.
Gen V
Gen V constantly resorts to icky humor for fear of losing our attention. Despite its flash, its swaggers of confidence, this is a curiously self-conscious, uncomfortable show, forever offsetting its earnestness as if needing to prove its coolness. Read More. By Richard Lawson FULL REVIEW. See All 31 Critic Reviews.
Gen V Season Finale Review
Read the rest of Gen V Episode 7 Review - "Sick". "Guardians of Godolkin" is the fireworks display we deserve from the end of season 1. The All-American facade is stripped away, and Vought ...
Gen V TV Review
Our review: Parents say ( 4 ): Kids say ( 7 ): Just as breezy, ultra-violent, and sharp as its predecessor The Boys, this Superhero University series is plenty of briskly paced good fun. Set in the same universe as The Boys, Gen V presents a world in which babies were given the unearthly power-granting elixir Compound V, made by Boys ' evil ...
Gen V Episode 4 Review
Posted: Oct 6, 2023 10:35 am. Through three episodes of Gen V, I thought I'd seen it all. Shrunken YouTube stars wrapped around gigantic dongs, Golden (Boy) showers that rain bloody chunks ...
Gen V season 1 review: "A hot mess but a damn good time"
A review of Gen V season 1 on Prime Video. The Boys is the darker, grittier antidote to the colorful, hopeful world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It poses the theory that the people who are ...

Gen V First Reviews: The Boys' College-Set Spin-Off Series Is 'Edgy,' 'Funny,' and 'Sharp,' Critics Say

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