Two years after the wildly popular spin off of The Boys, the highly anticipated series Gen V premiered the first three episodes of season 2 on September 17 2025, hitting the ground running from the get go.
Developed by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg, and Eric Kripke, the Prime Video series serves as the fifth instalment in the R-rated satirical superhero dramedy universe – right after the fourth season of The Boys and the massive shift of power under Homelander’s (Antony Starr) wrath.
The season 1 finale saw Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) and Cate Dunlap’s (Maddie Phillips) rampage of Godolkin University, releasing all captives from the Woods in an effort to kill all non-supes. Their actions give them the status of “Guardians of Godolkin”, thanks to the radicalised views and influence of Homelander. After Homelander uses his laser vision on Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), we see her wake up in a room at the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Centre with Jordan Li (played by both London Thor and Derek Luh), Emma Meyer / Little Cricket (Lizze Broadway) and Andre Anderson (Chance Perdomo).
Season 2 jumps straight back into the action, and finds us at Elmira with Emma and Jordan. We see them shoved into a van on their way to an undisclosed destination, only to find them right back at the scene of the crime at Godolkin University. With help from Cate, they are both “allowed” to enrol back into school as a “Guardian”, as long as they abide by whatever Vought tells them to do, of course. And in a weird twist of events, Sam and Cate have also become quite famous on campus and are seemingly on track to become Vought’s up and coming supes – film deals and all.
While in search of Andre and Marie, we find out that Andre had died at the Elmira Centre (this choice was made out of respect to not recast Chance Perdomo, who had passed prior to filming), and Marie had escaped and was on the run, only to later be found out by Emma and Jordan, dragging her reluctant self back to Godolkin to be a “Guardian”.
As the “Guardians of Godolkin” settle into their new lives, and try to make sense of their trauma and loss, we’re introduced to the new Dean of Godolkin University. After the death of Dean Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn) last season, the mysterious Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater) emits an odd and intense behaviour, which only aids in his obsessive determination to eliminate the weakest supes and uplift the most powerful students on campus.
The eight episode season is filled with the usual plotting and sleuthing, unique and (at times) unusual superpowers, political satire that sometimes is a little too accurate, and over exaggerated violence. Given that The Boys and Gen V came up during the end of the biggest era of superhero films on the big screens, the consistency, its ambition, and brilliant writing, paired with unbelievable performances from every single character (across both series), is what paved its unique path into the superhero genre and continues to do so, with an incredible world fans just can’t look away from.
That said, without going into any spoilers, what Gen V does so differently compared to its more crude and grotesque sibling, The Boys (particularly this season), is that it doesn’t take as many bold and shocking risks. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as they are dealing with University students after all. While it is safe and relatively easy to watch, with fewer characters and more time to develop each of these individual people for who they are underneath their powers, we are able to feel more connected to them, especially as they go through all the hardships young people experience. And whether or not they have superhuman powers or not, their emotions and feelings are valid and relatable. These elements of innocence amongst the chaos only add to the heart of the show and is something that no doubt keeps audiences coming back for more.
With the show’s seasons being sandwiched between the high intensity seasons of The Boys, it’s a nice way to ease fans back in while still feeding audiences with the exuberant violent antics, full frontal nudity, and stereotypical superhero tropes that viewers know and love.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
You can watch the first 3 episodes of Gen V Season 2 on Prime Video, with weekly episodes to follow.
