Commentary: ‘Gen V’ Has A Unique Relationship As A Spinoff From ‘The Boys’

Spinoffs are not always easy to pull off, but when it works, they are a great tool to expand a franchise and keep a story going. The great thing about them: there are no rules as to how connected or detached they must be from the original story. Some might feature a character or two from the original, but stand alone in their own setting that doesn’t cross over with the original at all. Others are completely beholden to the source and are at the mercy of whatever plot developments it might develop. And in terms of The Boys, there is no spinoff more intrinsically linked to what’s going on in the main story than Gen V.

The series takes place largely at Godolkin University, a school for young adults with superpowers. It mainly focuses on Marie (Jaz Sinclair) as she navigates the school’s very competitive rating system to become a superhero using her powers of controlling blood. She grew up in an orphanage and was only able to enter the school because she had an anonymous benefactor who was revealed to be Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), a character from The Boys who eventually became vice president during the most recent season. Unfortunately, she is off the board now, and so Marie’s future is up in the air.

Although spinoffs usually retain some sort of connection to their parent story, they are more or less their own thing. Angel had crossovers with Buffy, for example, but it takes place in an entirely different city and has an entirely different plot. Gen V operates in much the same way. The show has some cameos from The Boys, but it’s a completely separate story. However, The Boys is such a wide-ranging show that Gen V has no choice but to be affected by it. The plot of that series spans the entire world and has ramifications for every aspect of the globe. It’s impossible for Gen V not to honor those developments, and in that regard, it is in a truly unique position as a spinoff.

Gen V and The Boys are now streaming on Amazon Prime.