The new series “Gen V” on Amazon Prime has launched with the first 4 of 8 episodes. Our author Schuhmann looks at the series in the universe of “The Boys” and sees superheroes on a self-destruct trip and the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger:
This is what the series is about: The series “Gen V” addresses the question: “What if superheroes were real?” – but not in a black-and-white world where Lois Lane modestly kisses Superman on the cheek, but in a thoroughly cynical-capitalist world full of failed existences, drugs, sex, and social media mania.
Gen V revolves around a fictional university where young students meet, who were treated by their parents as teenagers with a special substance that was supposed to grant them superpowers.
Therein lies the dilemma: Which loving parents turn their child into a guinea pig?
- Do they really want to give their child a better life?
- Is the desire foremost that their offspring becomes something “really special”?
- Or should their daughter achieve the career that mom failed to achieve – and possibly earn a few million $ along the way of her world career?
But not every “Supe” becomes a cool and absolutely flawless superhero like Homelander, most earn their money somehow as singers, actors, or at least as social media stars. To be prepared for such a career, young Supes attend Godolkin University, which is, of course, operated by the well-meaning company Vought.
Already “The Boys” stood out for its harsh critique of capitalism. Almost every character who works for the all-powerful company Vought is corrupt and cynical to the core. At least half have a strange sexual fetish or have already been covered from head to toe in the blood of an exploding corpse: regrettable collateral damage.
Heroes are reduced to their image, their marketability, and which target groups they appeal to.
That continues with “Gen V”, with the series specifically addressing themes like political correctness and highlighting the self-destructive tendencies of young adults in college age. Additionally, a hard-hitting “ranking” dominates life at the university.
The golden boy who bursts into flames and the blood kineticist next door
What kind of characters do we meet in “Gen V”? We meet students like the orphan Marie Moreau, who can shape her own blood, or the telekinetic Andre Anderson, whose father was already a famous superhero: Both want to serve in the “Seven”. The natural prerequisite for this is to be ranked number 1 in an official, constantly viewable university ranking of students.
Little Cricket will probably never reach that level: Her superpower is supposedly that she can shrink to a tiny size like Ant-Man. For the entertainment of the masses, she duels with a rodent on YouTube.
Number 2 in the list is Jordan Li, who has the power to absorb any hit in his male form and then transfer the charged energy in his female form as kinetic energy. But a superhero with pronoun problems and gender transition not only creates issues for his Asian dad, who doesn’t understand why his firstborn doesn’t just want to be his son, but is also a problem for the terrible Vought CEO Ashley. How is one supposed to market a gender-switch hero to the target audience in rural parts of the USA?
At the top of the list is “Golden Boy” (played by Patrick Schwarzenegger): A prodigy loved by everyone, who burns his clothes when he becomes the blazing superhuman. Because to the delight of his female classmates, he fights then naked.
The ranking officially revolves around things like performance, social media presence, and similar aspects: In practice, it’s about whom professor Brink (Clancy Brown) likes: the great father figure of the university who is considered the absolute expert in the field of superheroes.
Exaggerated but believable conflicts
What is special about the series: After the first 4 episodes, one can say that the dark side of superpowers and the self-destructive tendencies of young adults are strongly at the center of the series.
Every character has a believable inner conflict, in many cases the conflict revolves around parents or compromises that everyone has to negotiate with society. This is exaggerated but always has a basis in reality and is emotionally impactful.
As in The Boys, Gen V plays with the idea that even good and nice people make mistakes, but when people with superpowers make a mistake or lose control, someone dies – and this leads to a spiral of terrible decisions and consequences.
The audience often knows more about the world than the characters
Who is it worth it for? “Gen V” clearly targets people who have seen “The Boys” and want more: There are frequent references to the series. “Gen V” takes place after Season 3 of The Boys, which aired in 2022, and is meant to serve as a bridge to Season 4.
The series revolves around young people who have grown up in a world full of “Black Noir lunch boxes” and for whom Queen Maeve and Homelander are real role models, while the audience from “The Boys” already knows that the flawless images are just facades and that behind Homelander hides a crazy psychopath. The audience also knows the inner demons that Queen Maeve struggles with.
It’s a cynical, harsh world that repeatedly leads to absurd situations. In the best scenes, laughter gets stuck in your throat.
How can one watch this? “Gen V” is available in Germany on Amazon Prime, the paid streaming service from Amazon: The first 5 episodes are now out, with the last 3 set to be released in the coming weeks, always on a Friday. Whether there will be a second season is currently unknown, but it seems likely.
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