Ah, superheroes. We live in a world that is dominated by superhero culture, whether that be the Marvel Cinematic Universe films or maybe even the superhero show, Invincible, but another series that has been taking over the world is The Boys, which finished up its third season in July 2022 and its fourth season is on the way. With that impressive showing of truly horrid supes came a spinoff, called The Boys Presents: Diabolical. Now, we’re getting a second spinoff - this time, taking us to the college years of superheroes.
That’s right, it’s officially been announced that the new The Boys spinoff will be called Gen V, and will release on Prime Video. However, when is this new show going to come out? Who is going to be in it? What on earth is this going to be about? If you are like me and asking all those questions, here is what we know about the upcoming spinoff that you should know, too.
What Is The Gen V Premiere Date?
According to a Variety report from July, Gen V is set to premiere on September 29, 2023, with three episodes coming out initially. Every week after will premiere a new episode until its finale on November 3rd. So that means Gen V is going to be on our 2023 TV premiere schedule. Are you excited? Because I’m excited as heck.
Check Out The Teaser Trailer For Gen V
Something we also know is that the trailer is out! In July 2023, an official teaser trailer was released that gave us an idea of what the world of Gen V will look like. And boy, is it going to be bloody as heck – perfect for the world of The Boys. Check out the bloody teaser down below, including an intro into the new powers we’re going to encounter:
Jaz Sinclair, Patrick Schwarzenegger, And Many Others Star
You might be wondering who exactly is going to star in this spinoff, but don’t worry, we have you covered there, too. As reported with the announcement of the spinoff, several stars have already been cast in lead roles.
One of the lead actresses will be Jaz Sinclair, most commonly known for her role in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina cast as Roz, but has also appeared in movies such as Paper Towns and When the Bough Breaks.
Another big name that has been announced with the series is Patrick Schwarzenegger, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The young actor has starred in films such as Moxie, Grown Ups 2, Midnight Sun, and more. When his dad, Arnold Schwarzenegar, found out about him starring in the show, he didn’t even know how to react. It’s so funny.
Other stars who have signed onto Gen V include Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Sean Patrick Thomas, Maddie Phillips, Marco Pigossi, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn.
Also, from the trailer that was dropped, it’s been confirmed that three new cast members have signed on, which includes Clancy Brown, Alexander Calvert, and Jason Ritter.
Characters From The Boys Will Be Making Appearances
As is the case with any spinoff, it’s not that surprising to know that there are several characters from The Boys that will be appearing in Gen V. According to a late July 2023 Variety, Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie and P.J. Byrne are going to reprise their roles as A-Train, Ashley and Adam in some capacity in Gen V, most likely in guest appearances.
Something else that’s been teased is that Jensen Ackles, who plays Soldier Boy, teased that he has a cameo in Gen V, which he confirmed at a Supernatural fan convention (via Entertainment Weekly).
Soldier Boy pops up for a brief moment in this new spin-off of The Boys. In fact, there's a few cameos from the mothership that come into this spin-off. My little bit there was heavily [improvised].
I mean, I’m always here to see Ackles back in this universe, so even if it’s just a quick cameo I’ll be happy to see him again.
Gen V Will Take Place Within The Boys Universe - At A Supes-Only College
If you’re a fan of college movies and academic-themed TV shows like I am, but with a twist of dark humor and a whole lot of gore, then boy does Gen V look like it’s you. This show is set to take place at the only college that is exclusive to young adult superheroes, which is, of course, run by Vought International.
The series, like its predecessor, The Boys, will be quite violent, and will follow the young supes as they compete for some of the best contracts in the city, almost in a Hunger Games kind of way, according to an official description shared by IGN, with all of the raunchiness and heart you can expect from this sort of series.
Already, it sounds like something up my alley, but The Boys showrunner, Eric Kripke, recently said that there’s also going to be crossover between both The Boys and Gen V (which was previously called Varsity) in the new series, as Eric Kripke discussed in an interview with Deadline in July 2022
There’s definitely crossover, and we’re doing our best to design a universe that sees some of the issues and storylines in Season 3 hand off to the first season in Varsity. Like there’s a presidential campaign happening in the background of that season, and there’s certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of The Boys. There’s Soldier Boy, etcetera, but also some new storylines that are happening in that season of the spinoff that we have to pick up and take into Season 4 of the show.
I can’t wait to see what the heck happens in this show, and how it’s going to cross over with The Boys. I need school to be in session now.
Patrick Schwarzenegger Says Gen V Is Like “Euphoria Meets Superheroes”
Oh, you thought this show was going to be less dramatic than The Boys? Nah, from the sound of it, we’re getting full drama. In an interview that Patrick Schwarzenegger did with the Just for Variety podcast for Variety, he said that Gen V is almost like a crossover between HBO’s hit teen drama, Euphoria, and superheroes:
This set is really fun, and there's just a loosey-goosey comedy. It's kind of like Euphoria meets superheroes.
If you know about the drama of Euphoria, then you know that there’s going to be some serious moments in this show, but I’m also here for the comedy from superhero movies too, so if this is what Gen V is going to be like, sign me up.
Gen V Is Loosely Based On An Element Of The G-Men - A Parody Of The X-Men
If you were wondering where the idea of a supes-only college came from, the idea is actually loosely based on the G-Men - which is a parody of the classic X-Men characters from Marvel comics, featured in The Boys comics.
In an interview with The Wrap, Eric Kripke explained the origins of Gen V, and how it relates to the parodied superhero group in the comics:
I would say it’s loosely inspired by an element of the comics, which is the G-Men. Part of the G-Men is there’s sort of an educational, college experience. And we just used that as a jumping-off point, kind of similar to The Boys, where we sort of take an initial notion and then we are going to run with it in our own weird direction.
Parodies can either be super funny or super bad – but I have a feeling we’re going to get the super funny this time around with this show.
The Boys’ Showrunner, Eric Kripke, Will Serve As Executive Producer
As stated with the initial announcement of Gen V, Eric Kripke is going to be serving as one of the show’s executive producers. While Kripke has since served as the showrunner for The Boys, he’s letting Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters serve as the showrunners for Gen V.
However, Kripke isn’t alone in producing the series, as he’s joined by a variety of people, such as Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and many more.
Filming Concluded In 2022
With the show set to release at some point during 2023, it would make sense that filming for the show would have ended in 2022 at some point. In 2022, it was reported by CBR that filming was underway in Canada, most likely in late May/early June, but later on, it was confirmed that filming had come to an end on Gen V in September 2022.
The official The Boys Twitter page posted about the wrap of the series, saying that they finished up filming but they weren’t about to tell people about when it was coming out.
Yea, we’re wrappin GEN V production. No, we ain’t tellin ya when it’s coming out yet. pic.twitter.com/BGiaX6fNjASeptember 16, 2022
Lizze Broadway, one of the actresses on the show, also posted about her finishing up filming on her Twitter, saying that she hoped her character, “Emma,” touched the hearts of viewers the character touched hers.
That's a wrap on #GenV - get ready to go on a fucking ride! Thank you to our brilliant Show-runners, genius writers, and visionary directors. & Thank you to the crew - you guys are the real superheroesI hope 'Emma' touches your heart as much as she touched mine. pic.twitter.com/haN3Gcy3OuSeptember 16, 2022
Truly, I am so excited for all of this and can’t wait to see these characters finally come to life after all this teasing.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really excited for Gen V and all that it has to offer. But until it comes out, I suppose I’ll just re-watch The Boys for the umpteenth time - and wait patiently for this show to release on Amazon Prime.
