Yahoo News How to stream Gen V in the UK as first episodes arrive
The Boys meets The Hunger Games in a super-powered offshoot
Just when you thought The Boys couldn’t get any more scandalous, imagine how much emotional damage two versions of the show could inflict. As new spin-off series Gen V flies onto Prime Video, we’ll all get an answer to that question.
Taking its cues from the superheroes-in-training sub-genre a la X-Men: First Class and splicing it with the cut-throat world of Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, Gen V promises to deliver even more spit-take-inducing scenes and questionable behaviour that you probably wouldn’t expect from the super-powered community.
Read more: What we know about The Boys season 4
Developed by main-show creatives Craig Rosenberg, Eric Kripke and Evan Goldberg, Gen V is set concurrently with the events of the show’s upcoming fourth season and based on the comic-book arc “We Gotta Go Now,” penned by The Boys’ mastermind Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson.
What else do we know about it? Read on to find out.
How can I watch Gen V?
Gen V landed on Amazon streaming service Prime Video on Friday, 29 September, with the first three episodes airing all at once. From there, new instalments will be delivered weekly until its sure-to-be-bloody series finale lands on Friday, 3 November.
’An official release date for The Boys fourth season hasn't been announced yet — but were guessing it'll arrive shortly after Gen V’s debut.
What are the reviews like?
Reviews for Gen V have crash-landed online and by the sounds of it, these supes-in-training are pulling no punches. Already earning itself a super-powered 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, our review round-up easily echoes this stellar score.
Our own write-up assured fans that Gen V “retains the same level of gruesome debauchery” as its primary series The Boys, with The Telegraph echoing that statement, suggesting that this “blood-splattered Hogwarts is not for the faint of heart.”
Variety’s review said that the show keeps the “edge, cynicism and (aptly) adolescent humor” that made The Boys such a hit but Entertainment Weekly would’ve liked to have had a bit more fun with it, saying it lacked a “diversity of tones.”
That said, The Hollywood Reporter praised its ability to retain gore while refreshing the formula, telling us Gen V “is still deeply invested in transposing our internal goo to the outside, it does some new things with its corporeal spatter.”
Read our full review round-up below:
Yahoo TV UK: The Boys spin-off is as outrageous and horrifyingly fun as the original (4-min read)
The Telegraph: This blood-spattered Hogwarts is not for the faint of heart (3-min read)
Variety: ‘The Boys’ Avoids Franchise Fatigue With Gloriously Gory Spinoff ‘Gen V’ (3-min read)
Entertainment Weekly: The superhero school spinoff should have more fun (4-min read)
The Hollywood Reporter: Amazon’s ‘The Boys’ Spinoff Refreshes the Snark-and-Gore Formula (7-min read)
The Wrap: College-Set ‘The Boys’ Spin-Off Is a Delightfully Debauched Romp (5-min read)
What happens in Gen V?
The superheroes in The Boys may have no sense of responsibility despite having huge amounts of power — but they all have to cut their teeth in a training ground run by Vought International, the corrupt company behind each and every supes’ creation.
If you’re unfamiliar with The Boys, the show’s title refers to the chemical compound that transforms ordinary people into superheroes and in Gen V, a batch of ‘heroes-in-training’ will be put through their paces at the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting.
However, considering how corrupt and shady the school’s parent company is, it should come as no surprise to discover that this training regime is no walk in the park. In fact, anyone who fails at it is killed off, Hunger Games-style.
Read more: New on Prime Video in September 2023
Much like The Boys, viewers can expect to have their own limits tested, especially when it comes to taste, dignity and their ability to endure eye-wateringly shocking moments.
According to the series' official synopsis, Gen V’s young heroes “put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities.” These descriptors match up nicely with The Boys’ penchant for utilising raunchy, bloody and downright gross elements in its eyebrow-raising water-cooler-moment sequences.
Speaking to Collider, The Boys’ producer Seth Rogen, who also produces Gen V, revealed that he had seen a few episodes and they were, in his words, “completely insane.”
He later doubled down on this assertion during a chat with Empire, saying “Gen V has some really crazy s*** in it. The fact that they’re in college, they’re a little younger, makes it more shocking maybe” — so we can’t say we haven't been warned.
Who is in the Gen V cast?
Gen V will introduce us to a new cast of younger supes led by Jaz Sinclair’s Marie Moreau, a soon-to-be hero who can harness the power of her own veins and use them like tendrils.
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor Chance Perdomo joins Sinclair as metal-bender Andre Anderson, alongside Lizzie Broadway’s Emma Shaw who can shrink in size. Maddie Phillips plays the telekinetic Cate Dunlap, while Derek Luh and London Thor play a supe named Jordan that can shift genders.
Arnie’s son and actor Patrick Schwarzenegger plays fire manipulator and school popular kid Golden Boy, with Sean Patrick Thomas playing Polarity, another supe that can manipulate metal. The Shawshank Redemption's Clancy Brown will also appear as a character named Richard "Rich Brink" Brinkerhoff.
When it comes to cross-over with The Boys, we know that Jessie T. Usher’s A Train will make an appearance at some point alongside Jensen Ackles's Soldier Boy, although the extent of their involvement remains to be seen.
Vought International’s perpetually-stressed new boss Ashley Barrett, played brilliantly by Colby Minifie, will also guest star on the show and can be seen in the series' first-look trailer.
Is there a trailer for Gen V?
Dropping in September, the second trailer for Gen V gave us a better look at the drama and depravity on offer in this new spin-off series.
Featuring plenty of blood and intrigue, we get the distinct feeling that not all is okay at Godolkin University. Check it out for yourselves below:
Meanwhile, the first look teaser trailer for Gen V touts the show’s Godolkin University as a “safe space for you to thrive” — but somehow, we’re not sure if that’s entirely true.
The following scenes appear to confirm that assumption, with snippets of blood, guts, fighting and even a puppet decapitation. Watch it below.
A second, even gorier trailer was released online in July 2023, proving definitively that this school is no Hogwarts.
Gen-V will air on Prime Video on Friday, 29 September with new episodes airing weekly.
