Gen V Is Sky High But for Messed Up Teenagers
The Boys spinoff has arrived.
(SPOT.ph) Audiences nowadays are more or less accustomed to the superhero movie formula of godlike beings dressed up in militaristic apparel saving the world from bad guys “who have good intentions but too bad their methods are extreme.” They tear through cities, leave destruction in the wake of their “saving the world,” pay some lip service to facing consequences, but those are brushed away after 20 minutes since the sequel’s higher stakes narrative has to kick in. Sorry, we didn’t mean to spoil the plot of Spider-Man: No Way Home, we swear.
In the midst of all this, a little superhero show known as The Boys managed to grasp the attention of the Internet in the 2020’s, perhaps because of—not in spite of—the ever-growing streaming services of content from the Big Two, Marvel Studios and DC Films.
Starting with one of the more memorable series premieres of recent memory, The Boys’ first scene kicks off with one of the main character’s girlfriends exploding into bloody bits when one of the show’s premier superheroes accidentally super-speeds through her as she takes one one step off the sidewalk. From there, the series sucks you into the sinister spiral of corporation-owned supes, gods with mommy issues, and even a super-orgy called Herogasm.
After three seasons of The Boys’ cynical and irreverent take on superpowered authority figures in the modern world, we now get its first spin-off series Gen V, where we get to see what it’s like for the gifted youngsters who have to grow up in the dark, decrepit, and soul-sucking world that is not too distant from ours. Or, as Ice Cube would more light-heartedly sell it, “You two sons of b*tches are goin’ to college!”
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We check out the first three episodes of Gen V Season 1:
Immediately, Gen V will call for comparisons to other properties featuring schools of superpowered teens, such as the X-Men (the graphic novel Gen V is based on was literally inspired by Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, after all), Sky High, and even supernatural titles like Netflix’s Wednesday. Surprise, surprise—prepare to gasp—the plot even focuses on a group of kids who have to solve a murder mystery that exposes something rotten about the school!
While it can’t be denied that Gen V relies heavily on that rather tried and tested narrative frame, the first three episodes shine where The Boys has proven to excel at: blunt mockery of how superhero pop culture is (at best) immature and (at worst) dangerous for general public consumption.
The premise of Gen V’s school setting is that the school for supers has two tracks: one for crime-fighers and one for superhero entertainers. Super-teens get into the crime-fighter track if they’re already influencers with trending social media accounts and can test well with general audiences, while those who don’t fit the bill are pushed to the drama track, where they could end up with their own reality TV series or, if they’re lucky, a guest spot on Dancing With the Stars.
It’s all inherently silly, but the way these students bend themselves and break their relationships all to climb up the school rankings and get more clicks and followers is not all that far from current reality. It certainly helps that the comedy of The Boys has felt more in line with the tone of humor of those unbearably online, so now it’s more fitting with teens who are quite literally perpetually online.
The framing of the series from the point-of-view of the impressionable, coming-of-age supers also makes the drama feel more grounded. With The Boys, it always felt as if the series was looking down on all its characters and passing down judgement, which would lead to long stretches of story where you can’t help but just feel depressed when all the characters do is either commit atrocities or be hopeless that the world exists solely on an inherently corrupting power structure.
It’s different with Gen V since it gets you to invest in the teen’s complex blend of insecurities, boundaries, selfish wants, and idealistic thoughts. They’re definitely not all good guys; just teens blessed and cursed with incredible gifts. Plus, they actually go to class! A title set in a fantasy school where going to class and doing assignments is actually incorporated into the narrative, finally!
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What to Expect on Gen V Season 1:
When it comes to what comes next for Gen V, all audiences are pretty much in the dark. A real Game of Thrones season 6 and beyond situation here—not in terms of the quality (we hope), but in terms of the lack of annoying friend who has read the source material hovering over your shoulder making unsubtle remarks about how a certain plot device will pay it forward in the future.
Gen V is/was based off a graphic novel from The Boys universe, but let’s just say it had some plot developments that were even worse than what happened between the teenagers in Stephen King’s original It novel. Probably not suitable for a spin-off series that Prime hopes to run for a few seasons.
If there’s anything that we do hope for, it’s that Jordan (Derek Luh and London Thor) takes their rightfully earned number one spot on the Godolkin University rankings by the end of the season. Best character on the show and has the most interesting super powers, hands down.
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Gen V’s first three episodes are now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes in season one stream every Friday.