The new spinoff of Amazon’s hit series The Boys is nothing like I expected. Gen V is just as graphic, raunchy, and hilarious as the original, yet is totally its own thing. Set in the same world as The Boys, Gen V follows students attending Godolkin University. The school is exclusively for kids with superpowers and is run by Vought International, giving them a pipeline of heroes trained to their standards. So it’s a group of teens just striking out on their own while dealing with having superhuman abilities. What could go wrong?
Unlike The Boys, in which the Seven and many other featured supes had their powers mapped out by the comic book source material, Gen V has more freedom. Most of Gen V‘s characters are original creations. The show can play with their powers a bit more and explore how these abilities shape the young people who have them. Usually we see the supes all grown up and (almost) completely in control of their powers. Gen V is a bit more messy. Some of these powers are almost comically on the nose, yet the show still makes them interesting and fun.
She’s got the power
The three main female characters all have powers that seem almost too on-point. But I’m still loving every second of it. When Marie (Jaz Sinclair) discovers her ability, it coincides with her first period. She can literally turn blood—in this case, her own menstrual blood—into a weapon. At first, this is heartbreakingly disastrous and extremely traumatizing. However, the idea of a woman using period blood to attack people is something that only makes sense in the universe of The Boys. As she ages, Marie takes to cutting her hand open if she needs to use her powers. She must cause herself harm to be a hero—there are a lot of women who can probably relate to that.
Marie’s roommate Emma (Lizze Broadway) is known for her small size. She can shrink from a standard human height to smaller than six inches. After shrinking a few times, Emma reveals that the way she gets small is by forcing herself to vomit. Yes, she must purge to become smaller. This point is underscored when a sorry dude she’s hooking up with asks her to shrink so he can, um, appear larger. It’s only when Emma makes herself small that the guy is attracted to her. I know, it sounds like a walking ad about the harms of eating disorders. But Emma makes it clear that she doesn’t have an eating disorder. Purging is just the only way that she can use her powers. It does make you wonder just how she figured out the necessary trigger.
It’s a cliche that a pretty woman can make men do whatever they want. Well, Cate (Maddie Phillips) literally can with just a touch and a bit of her empath power. Cate usually wears gloves and clothing over most of her body to avoid accidental skin contact. Once the gloves are off, she can easily manipulate people, but it takes a toll upon her body when she over-extends her powers. During a night out with Cate, gender-shifting supe Jordan (London Thor and Derek Luh) shows us how they shift into their female form to get free drinks. Jordan also has no qualms about using such cliches to their advantage.
Gen V has taken stereotypical issues women face and turned them into powers for these characters. With such an interesting take on superheroes, we can’t wait to see where the story goes.
(featured image: Prime Video)
