Here’s what you need to know about The Boys spin-off

What The Boys has pulled off is huge — it’s taken what we’ve known and loved on TV for years and criticized it. Superheroes have for the longest time been our unquestionable fictional saviors; our childhood bedrooms cluttered with Captain America and Superman figurines.

The Boys took what was undebatable (superheroes are great, right?) and put a spin on it — what if the superheroes who did good and were inherently good….were the actual bad guys taking us for a ride?

Gen V is a spin-off that takes place after The Boys season 3 and before the upcoming season 4. Here’s everything you need to know about the Gen V season 1 release date, casting, and plot.

What is Gen V about?

Gen V takes place in Godolkin University, where superheroes are trained in their powers to rescue civilians? Save the world? Nah, secure endorsements that bring in the big bucks. You follow the college life of budding superheroes as they party, study, and question their way into their superhero lives.

Gen V lets us look at the lives of superheroes before they give into corruption. Will some of them hold on to their idealism? How long before they give into the sweet lure of money and power, especially when Godolkin University (picture an evil Hogwarts) is explicitly telling them to?

The usual conflict of fighting for academic relevance and social success in a school for superheroes is interesting to watch, peppered with school mysteries for the characters to figure out.

You have to admit that regardless of the platform or production house involved, superhero fantasies have always been a ‘guy’ thing. How a woman feels about and navigates all of this has always taken a backseat.

Gen V gives us a distinct commentary of a young woman’s perspective on all this.

When does Gen V take place?

Gen V takes place after The Boys season 3 and before the upcoming season 4. That’s good news because it allows them to stay more current with the plot and characters, and there’s very little back-and-forth with confusing flashbacks.

Gen V cast and characters

• Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau.
  Superpower: Marie can manipulate and use her own blood as a weapon.
• Lizze Broadway as Emma Meyer (Little Cricket).
  Superpower: Emma can shrink to minuscule sizes.
• Asa Germann as Sam.
  Superpower: Possesses immense strength and invulnerability.
• Chance Perdomo as Andre Anderson.
  Superpower: Has magnetic abilities inherited from his father, the renowned superhero Polarity.
• Derek Luh and London Thor as Jordan Li.
  Superpower: Can shift between two genders, each with unique powers: one form is dense and indestructible, and the other is agile and can launch energy blasts.
• Patrick Schwarzenegger as Luke Riordan (Golden Boy).
  Superpower: Can manipulate fire and envelop his entire body in flames.
• Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap.
  Superpower: By touching someone, she can compel them to obey her commands.
• Shelley Conn as Dean Indira Shetty.
  Superpower: None. However, she has extensive knowledge of superhero psychology.