You gotta hand it to The Boys‘ fourth season finale for throwing nearly every existing situation into the air. A-Train evaporated, Ashley gained powers, Starlight got her powers back, Soldier Boy resurfaced, and a tentacled Butcher is now in the wind with the Supe virus that he originally discovered in the first season finale of Gen V, taking us to a full-circle moment.
Meanwhile, Sister Sage’s master plan came together to give Homelander the power to declare martial law, and that led to poor MM being tapped by Love Sausage and Frenchie and Kimiko being detained by Cate and Sam, which takes the story back to Gen V again. The spin off will continue the chaos in a second season ahead of The Boys‘ fifth and final season. With that said, let’s get down to business on what to expect from Gen V‘s sophomore year:
Plot
For starters, it’s worthwhile to note that The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke has been forthright about how it is not necessary to watch both shows to enjoy one of them. That’s the case even though Gen V pretty clearly is meant to bridge gaps, but Kripke has stressed that he does not give “homework” to viewers akin to the MCU, as he told Variety:
And so to me, it’s like, if you want to watch “The Boys,” and you don’t want to watch this other show, don’t watch it. If you want to watch “Gen V” and don’t watch “The Boys” — which I actually know a lot of people that do that — great. They’re each their own story. They each have their own reason for being. They each need to be good enough to exist without the other one existing. But I’m not giving the audience homework.
Still, Gen V is a hellish good time, so it’s worth staying up to date if you are moved to do so. Sadly, however, the second season was prefaced with tragedy with news of Chance Perdomo’s accidental death at age 27. Eric Kripke and the show’s writers chose to significantly retool scripts with Perdomo’s character, Andre Anderson, having died in between seasons, too, so expect those plot details to be disclosed on a somber note.
Vought International is ready, however, to set aside the Godolkin University bloodbath and have Cate and Sam, according to Total Film, acting as a Guardians of Godolkin welcoming committee alongside the new dean, portrayed by Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass). It remains to been, exactly, the show will handle the fact that several core characters (Marie, Jordan, Little Cricket, Andre) probably ended the first season in The Woods. Yet the possibility remains open that this surreal scene could have taken place in Cate’s head or otherwise not in reality, since Andre strangely seemed to be holding a cell phone in the medical facility. Also, most of the characters didn’t seem as upset as they probably should have been at being imprisoned.
Cameos from The Seven should be expected, and certainly prepare to see The Deep, as revealed by footage that recently debuted at San Diego Comic-Con. As for how Gen V will be affected by another upcoming spin off, Vought International, Amazon hasn’t clarified those details. However, we might not see that spin off (revolving around Stormfront and Soldier Boy’s earlier Compound V exploits) surface until 2027. Fortunately, Gen V will make its comeback years sooner.
Cast
A major get for this show: Hamish Linklater of Midnight Mass will portray the new dean after Cate forced Dean Shetty to slit her own throat.
Maddie Phillips (Cate) and Asa Germann (Sam) will be back at school following their scenes in The Boys‘ fourth season. Returning students will include Jaz Sinclair (Marie), Lizze Broadway (Emma/Cricket), and London Thor and Derek Luh (Jordan).
The series hasn’t yet revealed whether any previous footage of Chance Perdomo will be used to remember Andre Anderson. Presumably, Patrick Schwarzenegger’s time on the show as a regular (GoldenBoy) is over, but the series hasn’t definitely ruled out more flashbacks there, either.
Release Date
Gen V will be back in 2025. We will be all over specifics when they surface.
Trailer
While we await a teaser or full trailer, Amazon has kindly memorialized the final five minutes of the fourth season, which include Cate and Sam doing Homelander’s bidding while neutralizing Frenchie and Kimiko. If you don’t get chills while rewatching this, what kind of Vought devotee are you?