Gen V Trailer: Small Details, Breakdown, And Big Reveals
While Prime Video had a hard road ahead of it when it first emerged as a competitor to Netflix, incredible original series like "The Boys" have helped the streamer rise to become one of the best services out there. Smartly, Amazon Studios has doubled down on the success of the superhero subversion series with shows like "Invincible" and Eric Kripke's spin-offs of "The Boys" like "Diabolical" and "Gen V."
In fact, the latter series, which is set to premiere on Prime Video on September 29, 2023, just dropped a fresh new trailer. The latest (and horrific) look at "Gen V" shows us just how wily college life can be when the entire campus is packed with superpowered kids fresh off of the hormone-fueled highs of their teenage years. Murder is not only expected but seemingly... praised?
The new "Gen V" trailer features a few returning faces from "The Boys," a cavalcade of new powersets being showcased throughout, and what looks like even more deep, dark conspiracies that will help to flesh out the universe of the franchise. (Our money is on even more lab experiments with unsuspecting college students!) Luckily, if you don't happen to have the time to rewatch the trailer over and over, our eagle-eyed writers have parsed out all of the tiny details that we noticed in the new trailer, and we'll be laying them all out just for you.
Will Ashley have any hair left?
Ever since the beginning of "The Boys," Ashley Barrett (Colby Minfie) has been a key character in the series. Constantly doing damage control and trying to keep things at Vought from getting totally derailed, Ashley often appears to be the most stressed-out character on "The Boys." Based on the new "Gen V" trailer, it looks like this trend will continue.
While Ashley is only shown briefly in the trailer for "Gen V," she's wearing her typical "oh, crap" expression of shock and disbelief — meaning there's definitely going to be at least one mess that she has to clean up in this "The Boys" spin-off. Notably, two characters are seen wearing ribbons on their chests in the trailer as well, which could allude to a possible tragedy on the campus.
Whether it's this prospective tragedy that Ashley is going to be tearing her hair out over in Season 1 of "Gen V" or a whole host of other unimaginable public relations catastrophes, the question remains the same: Is Ashley going to have any hair left at all by the time Season 4 of "The Boys" comes around? Also, are any of The Seven going to jump in to add to the campus chaos? Either way, she already bought the wig, and it looks like it was a good investment for the perpetually anxious character at this point in the spin-off.
Is A-Train making a U-turn?
Though A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) was originally set up as one of the more villainous characters in "The Boys," the corrupted former hero has become something of an anti-hero over the course of the series. While he remains morally dubious, Season 3 saw the character at least trying to make a difference and even had A-Train taking vigilante justice into his own hands and brutally killing the racist supe Blue Hawk (Nick Wechsler). Due to this, he ends up with Blue Hawk's heart (weird, we know) and regains the ability to use his super-speed without posing health risks.
Since the character finally seems to be growing something of a conscience, his inclusion in "Gen V" could point to a redemption arc for the character. Early in the "Gen V" trailer, we see some footage of A-Train running a race from an earlier Season 1 episode of "The Boys." But later, we see him in a The Seven baseball cap in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment seemingly around the general public — suggesting that A-Train could be a potential visitor to the college campus to speak to fellow supes.
Of course, it will remain to be seen how much screen time returning characters like A-Train, Victoria Neuman, and Ashley Barrett actually have in "Gen V," but the fact that they're in it at all helps to suggest that the spin-off series will make a meaningful contribution to the overall lore of "The Boys" universe rather than being a meaningless cash-in on the popularity of the Prime Video series.
What's with the underground prison?
Godolkin University is advertised as a safe space that allows superheroes to become the best versions of themselves. However, that claim couldn't be further from the truth as the trailer proves that some violent tomfoolery is going down behind closed doors in this house of lies.
One scene from the teaser shows a student being dragged through underground corridors by armed guards. Another depicts a member of the security team being sliced and diced so hard that his insides come tumbling out of his mouth. Whatever's happening at this secret facility clearly isn't legal, and the narration suggests that the people who run the university are overseeing the twisted operation.
Of course, the tyrants who run the school are as corrupt as they come. Godolkin University is owned by Vought International, the corporation that built the Sage Grove Center. "The Boys" Season 2 reveals that the so-called mental health facility is actually a prison where humans are experimented on. So, it's highly possible that the underground horror chamber that's shown in the "Gen V" trailer is used for similar purposes. Don't expect any keg parties to take place here.
The college party reminds us of one wild night ...
Supes are no strangers to partying heartily, and the trailer for "Gen V" hints that there are going to be wild times aplenty in this college-based spin-off. We briefly see a group of characters drunkenly celebrating during a house party, and characters shape-shifting during a night out on the town. It looks like college life for the empowered will be no different than how it is for your average human.
Will these moments of excess reflect what's going on in the characters' busy social lives? We get some big hints that it's not very easy dating as a supe throughout the trailer. Calamity seems to rest just over the horizon. It's also worth noting that the ragers in this trailer definitely harken back to outlandish house parties we've seen on "The Boys." Remember when Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) took Hughie (Jack Quaid) to a wild party when Billy first approached him for help in tracking down Ezekiel (Shaun Benson)? In any event, it feels like "Gen V" is definitely trying to connect the dots between Hughie's experience in "The Boys" and what Marie Moreau (Jazz Sinclair) is going through as a freshman. Will this season have its own Herogasm event? And if so, what role will Marie play in that supe carnage?
Puppets feel like a Noir head trip
One of the weirdest and funniest additions to Season 3 of "The Boys" was the fact that ultra-brutal hero Black Noir (Nathan Mitchell/Fritzy Klevans-Destine) seeks comfort in cartoons. Further, parts of his trauma become expressed through cartoon characters when he reflects on troubling moments. At these times, the world is part-real but also part colorful pastiche of animated, classic Disney-style cartoons complete a collection of talking animal sidekicks who question his morality.
It looks like "Gen V" may be continuing this trend, only with a bit of a different take this time around. Later on in the new trailer for the Prime Video spin-off series, we see two puppets in a neon-drenched black light tunnel. One of the two brutally kills the other one, causing glitter to emerge from its body rather than blood.
While this could allude to another character who sees reality differently from other characters, much like Black Noir does, this moment in the "Gen V" trailer could also be due to a drug trip. After all, the show is set in college, and other characters in the universe of "The Boys" have not exactly shown a ton of restraint when it comes to substance abuse, including Compound V and other more traditional drugs.
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Congresswoman Victoria Neuman is back!
There was always going to be a ton of crossover between "The Boys" and "Gen V" with various supes entering the picture. And the latest trailer provides a look at another important "Boys" character entering the mix — Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). It's a brief glimpse, but it shows Victoria on stage with a sign behind her that partially reads "Town Hall."
While it's unlikely she'll play a major role in "Gen V," the image does suggest how the show will set up future storylines for her going into "The Boys" Season 4. She's always had powerful political aspirations, leading the charge against supes while having head-exploding powers herself. Plus, Season 3 featured the death of Lamar Bishop (Graham Gauthier), setting up Victoria to become Robert Singer's (Jim Beaver) running mate. Her appearance in "Gen V" could simply set up this arc further, and if she gains more political power, that only makes her more of a threat.
She also has a daughter, Zoe (Olivia Morandin), who viewers were introduced to in "The Boys" Season 3. Zoe is a little too young to enroll at Godolkin University at the moment, but depending on how long the spin-off lasts, perhaps she could be in a future class. It could make for a fun legacy student joke down the line, depending on what happens to Victoria's reputation.
The timing of this trailer might be X-actly what you think it is
So it's pretty hard to ignore the elephant in the room here — a bunch of superpowered kids heading off to college to learn how to better use their abilities for the good of humanity? Kind of reminds of you the "X-Men," doesn't it, and Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants. Only the characters featured on "Gen V" are among the very first to learn that their powers are not given to them by the fates but rather thanks to Compound V, a chemical that can either be injected or applied topically to give each individual their powers.
Is it possible that the show is trying to get in a statement about how preparing young, bright, idealistic people for a life of crimefighting through taut control and intense training is foolhardy, dangerous, and detrimental to those around them? And all of this well before Marvel Studios is slated to build a cinematic world around its own "X-Men" property? That remains to be seen. As a matter of fact, viewers will have to keep their eyes peeled to find out if those themes play out during "Gen V" at all. But one thing's for sure — viewers are in for a wild ride.
Is that Homelander 2.0?
Naturally, being that Homelander (Antony Starr) has long cast a shadow over the universe of "The Boys," it makes sense that he will remain a part of the world-building in "Gen V," even if he doesn't actually show up in person in Season 1 of the upcoming spin-off series.
For starters, the trailer features a shot of Marie Moreau looking up at a Homelander statue on campus. Furthermore, we also see a shot later on that shows a student powering up his laser eyes, something the fascist villain is well known for doing throughout "The Boys."
However, being that the student has orange eye lasers rather than red ones, we can safely assume that the character is not Homelander's son, Ryan (Cameron Crovetti), who is also probably still a bit young for college anyway. Furthermore, considering that Butcher got orange lasers by using Compound V in Season 3, it's possible this character may have gotten his powers the same way.
Either way, we'll have to wait and see if this character is more of a hero or a villain in the first season of "Gen V," especially because other characters from the trailer, like the sleek shapeshifter who is seen several times, already appear to have something of a villainous aura to them.
What's the timeline for Gen V?
After seeing Congresswoman Victoria Neuman and Ashley in the "Gen V" trailer, it's a fair request to wonder exactly when this spin-off series takes place within the larger universe of "The Boys." Seemingly, Neuman is still running a political campaign. Brief glimpses of Maeve (Dominique McElligott), Ashley, and A-Train appear in the trailer.
In 2022, showrunner Eric Kripke spoke with Deadline about the series' blossoming (and savage) universe. When asked about how interconnected "The Boys," "Diabolical," and "Gen V" will be, he answered, "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 are certain things that are happening at that school that are both in reaction to Season 3 of 'The Boys'... 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."
He further teased the show's connectivity to "The Boys," telling Collider that "people will be surprised as they come into the show, and the show evolves, the implications that Gen V has on The Boys. The two shows have some really interesting connections." Sounds like supe fans will have to tune into "Gen V" to stay ahead of the plot twists!