Gen V


Gen V is an American satirical superhero television series, developed by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke, serving as a spin-off of The Boys by Kripke, and loosely based on The Boys comic book story arc We Gotta Go Now by Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and John Higgins. The third television series in [The Boys (franchise)|The Boys franchise], its first season is set after the third season of The Boys, while its second season is set after the fourth season of The Boys.
Gen V stars Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn in main roles. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023, and received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the cast performances. In October 2023, Gen V was renewed for a second season, adding Sean Patrick Thomas and Hamish Linklater to the main cast, which premiered with three episodes on September 17, 2025, and new episodes that followed weekly up until October 22.

Premise

At the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, founded by Thomas Godolkin, young adult superheroes put their moral boundaries to the test by competing for the university's top ranking and a chance to join The Seven, Vought International's elite superhero team. When the school's dark secrets come to light, they must decide what kind of heroes they want to become.
In the second season, while the U.S. experiences Homelander's reign, Marie and the rest of the inmates return to Godolkin, with a dean who turns Supes into soldiers. On the brink of a war between humans and Supes, the team discovers a program that could change everything.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau: An ambitious 18-year-old superhero, with the power to manipulate and weaponize blood, begins her freshman year at the elite Godolkin University. Determined to earn a place among the legendary team known as The Seven, her plans are soon disrupted when she becomes entangled in a growing mystery lurking within the campus walls.
  • * Jaeda LeBlanc portrays a young Marie.
  • Chance Perdomo as Andre Anderson : Sophomore at Godolkin University, with the ability to control magnetism. As the heir to the superhero legacy of his father, Polarity, he’s expected to eventually carry on the mantle. However, when strange events begin to unfold on campus, Andre decides not to sit back, he takes it upon himself to investigate and uncover the truth behind the growing suspicions.
  • Lizze Broadway as Emma Meyer / Little Cricket: Nicknamed “Little Cricket” due to her power to change her size by purging or binging on food, she starts off as insecure and naive, traits that often land her in difficult situations. Despite this, she quickly forms a strong bond with her freshman roommate, Marie, and the two soon find themselves confronting the strange and dangerous secrets hidden within Godolkin University.
  • Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap: A junior at Godolkin University and a close friend of both Jordan and Andre. She possesses the ability to control others through physical touch with telepathic abilities, compelling them to follow her commands, primarily in the form of tactile mind control. Known for her confidence and influence, Cate is not only Luke’s girlfriend but also one of the most admired and well-known supes at the school.
  • * Violet Marino portrays a young Cate.
  • London Thor and Derek Luh as Jordan Li: A top-performing trainee at Brink’s Academy for crime fighters, fiercely driven and willing to go to any length to rise above the rest. Gifted with the power to alternate between two distinct forms, Thor portrays Jordan's female form who can fire energy blasts and Luh portrays Jordan's indestructible male form.
  • Asa Germann as Samuel "Sam" Riordan: A young supe with superhuman strength and durability, and Luke Riordan's younger brother. A subject of unethical human experimentation in "The Woods", Sam suffers from extreme mental health issues, including hallucinations.
  • * Cameron Nicoll portrays a young Sam.
  • Shelley Conn as Indira Shetty : The dean of Godolkin University and a behavioral therapist who secretly oversees "The Woods", an underground research facility.
  • Sean Patrick Thomas as Polarity : Andre's father, a famous superhero with magnetic manipulation, and a trustee at Godolkin University.
  • Hamish Linklater as Doug Brightbill / Dean Cipher : The new dean of Godolkin University who believes in the superiority of Supes over humans and mentors Marie.

Recurring

Guest

Special guest stars

Production

Development

On September 20, 2020, a spin-off of The Boys was announced, with Craig Rosenberg writing and executive producing the series with Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Michaela Starr, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Aisha Porter-Christie, Judalina Neira, and Zak Schwartz. On September 27, 2021, Amazon gave the order for the series, and Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters were set as showrunners and executive producers of the series. On October 2, 2020, Kripke stated the Hunger Games (film series)|Hunger Games]-inspired series would focus on the G-Men team mentioned in the first season of The Boys, originally created as a parody of Marvel Comics' X-Men for the fourth volume of Ennis', Robertson's and John Higgins' comic book story arc We Gotta Go Now, from which the series is "loosely inspired".
On January 5, 2023, it was announced that a writing room for a potential second season would soon come together, to be led by Michele Fazekas, who also has become sole showrunner since Tara Butters has taken a break from work. On October 19, 2023, Amazon Prime Video renewed the series for a second season.

Casting

On March 11, 2021, Lizze Broadway and Jaz Sinclair were cast in the series. On March 19, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, and Maddie Phillips were cast in the series. On April 15, 2021, Reina Hardesty was cast in the series. On March 10, 2022, Carrero and McGhie exited the series. A few days later, Chance Perdomo joined the main cast in a recasting, replacing McGhie. On April 25, 2022, Hardesty left the series. On May 9, 2022, London Thor was cast to replace Hardesty. Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn also joined the cast as series regulars. Two days later, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi were cast in recurring capacities. In November 2022, Clancy Brown joined the cast as Richard "Rich Brink" Brinkerhoff. In December 2022, Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie, and P. J. Byrne were confirmed to be reprising their roles from The Boys, in guest appearances, as Reggie Franklin / A-Train, Ashley Barrett, and Adam Bourke, respectively, while in September 2023, Derek Wilson was confirmed to have been cast as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight.

Filming

Filming began at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in May 2022 and the Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton in July, intended for an October wrap, under the working title of The Boys Presents: Varsity. Other filming locations include Sobeys Stadium, and the Stardust Drive-In Movie Theater. In July 2022, it was announced that the series would officially be titled Gen V. According to Playback, specified real time visual effects shots were produced at Toronto's Dark Slope Studios including driving sequences In September 2022, members of the cast announced on social media that production had wrapped.
On March 30, 2024, it was announced the production of the second season would be put on hold following the death of Chance Perdomo in a motorcycle accident. The cast was due to begin table reads that afternoon before filming started April 8. It was confirmed that his role would not be recast due to his death as filming began in May 2024, with the second season being rewritten to accommodate his absence. In October 2024, members of the cast announced on social media that production of season 2 had wrapped.

Music

In October 2023, it was revealed that Matt Bowen and Christopher Lennertz had composed the score for the series.

Release

Gen V premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023, with its first three episodes, with the rest of the episodes debuting on a weekly basis. The second season was released on September 17, 2025, with three new episodes, followed by the rest debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale on October 22, 2025.

Reception

Audience viewership

According to Whip Media's TV Time, following its 3-episode premiere, Gen V became the fifth most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 1, 2023. During the week of October 8, the series rose to fourth place. It then rose to second place during the week of October 15 and remained in the position for the weeks of October 22 and 29, as well as November 5. Meanwhile, Nielsen Media Research reported that Gen V ranked at number 8 on its Top 10 Streaming Originals chart with 374 million minutes viewed.
According to ReelGood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million users in the United States across subscription and advertisement-based video on demand services for streaming programs and movies, the series topped the all streaming content chart during the week of October 12. Meanwhile, JustWatch reported that the series became the most streamed TV show in the United States during the weeks of October 1 and 8.

Critical response

Season 1

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating based on 114 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Just about as gruesomely subversive as its origin series, Gen V builds on The Boys in occasionally chaotic but overall inspired fashion." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable".
Writing for the first three episodes, Matt Donato of IGN gave the series a score of 9 out of 10, praising the writing, humor, characters, and performances of its cast, and wrote, "Gen V does a tremendous job expanding on themes from The Boys that beg for deeper analysis, like the disgusting reality of Compound V injections. feels uniquely mapped as a spin-off that doesn't rely on cameos from to assure relevance or importance." Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Ultimately, Gen V doesn't appear to be striving for greatness but for something just as elusive. Successfully franchising a concept as antagonistic to franchises as The Boys is no small feat. By embracing the youthful energy of its cast and some solid TV storytelling fundamentals, is able to somehow make it all work." Lauren Milici of GamesRadar+ rated it with 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote on her verdict: "Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It's a hot mess, but it's a damn good time". She then praised Germann's performance, calling it "the standout of the season".
Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times also praised the characters and Broadway's performance and stated that the series "expands upon the hit superhero satire with a new cast and storyline that stands on its own as a sharp, snarky commentary on the billion-dollar business of hero worship." Reviewing the first six episodes, The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg called the series "uneven but entertaining", lauding the performances of Broadway, Sinclair, Phillips, Schwarzenegger, Germann and Thomas, but criticizing the pacing and some of its writing, saying that " lacks patience. It's so eager to charge forward that it can't be bothered giving most of its main characters personalities, much less building believable relationships among them. It tries filling in gaps as it goes along, but episodes get shorter and shorter, and when it comes to the choice between characters and plot, chooses plot every time. whenever it's able to pause and breathe, the writing is clever, the effects are polished and the cast is good." Michael Boyle of /Film rated the series a score of 8 out of 10, criticized the "bluntness of its writing", but praised its characters and performances, especially Broadway's. For the penultimate episode, TVLine gave Sinclair and Phillips an honorable mention for the "Performer of the Week" for the week of October 28, 2023, stating that the two "delivered strength and heartbreak on behalf of their characters" and calling them "a dynamic duo".
In his review for the season finale, IGN's Matt Donato, giving the episode a score of 8 out of 10, opined that " cleverly shows what happens when supes who've been branded as outcasts find a sense of camaraderie and community in redirecting that hatred. firmly establishes supe-killing virus as an apocalyptic threat for The Boys next season, but also ensures works as a standalone collegiate mystery with supercharged conflicts", and that the episode "closes by answering enough lingering questions to make its storytelling journey feel complete." Vulture's Ben Rosenstock, rating the finale with 4 out of 5 stars, concluded his review by saying, " remains an imperfect show, at times a little emotionally simplistic and contrived. But while I often wanted it to take its time and develop the characters more, I had a really good time watching this solid debut season. It's a welcome complement to The Boys, helping fill in more details of the world. Meanwhile, in a mixed review, The A.V. Club's Manuel Betancourt criticized the "deus-ex-machina machinations" but commended the characters and performances of Germann and Broadway, naming them "two of the strongest cast members in the show's ensemble".
Gen V was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by several publications.

Season 2

The second season has an 90% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 39 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states,"Tastefully navigating the tragic loss of Chance Perdomo while getting a big boost from Hamish Linklater's villainous turn, Gen Vs sophomore season gets high marks as a spinoff that feels essential." On Metacritic, the second season received a score of 74 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable".

Awards and nominations