Amazon has announced that a spin-off of its highly successful superhero satire The Boys called Gen V is officially in the works, and Redditors are already sounding off with their expectations. Set between seasons 3 and 4, with the Singer/Neuman race to the White House in the background, it will focus on teenage students with extraordinary superpowers, and contain all the blood, guts, and graphic violence fans have come to love from The Boys.
While fans are curious and a little skeptical about a spin-off hoping to appeal to younger audiences given the mature content of its predecessor, they're willing to explore other aspects of The Boys canon provided it has an interesting angle. It's fun for fans to speculate about which characters will make cameos, how it will spoof superhero stereotypes and teen dramas, and whether or not it will be presented as an in-universe series from Vought Studios.
Gen V Needs Homelander
He might be the villain, but Homelander is a character fans love to hate. Not only is he one of the best television villains of 2022, he's become one of the best parts about The Boys, and it's difficult to imagine a spin-off that doesn't contain the laser-eyed leader of The Seven.
Some Redditors don't think a spin-off can happen without Homelander, one of the deadliest supes on The Boys. "Homelander needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine," says tompink57, emphasizing all of The Seven leader's most hilarious traits.
Time Travel
Other genre series have dabbled in time travel extensively, but The Boys hasn't focused on any superhero with time traveling capabilities, perhaps because of the inherent repercussions the plot device creates. Nevertheless, fans think Gen V provides the perfect place for a time traveling young supe to appear.
"That would be a cool plot for future seasons," SnowmanMat says. "They find out there's a teenage supe with time travel capabilities but hasnt mastered yet so he keeps popping in and out while the boys and homelander try to get to him first." This would be a fun way for both series to have crossover events with a plausible explanation, provided it was handled appropriately.
An In-Universe Vought Series
Throughout The Boys Vought Studios made several superhero movies that were sendups of the current MCU and DCEU canon, and fans would love if Gen V was actually just another Vought-produced piece of entertainment that existed in the universe of its spin-off.
Dancingskeletonman86 postulates "maybe [Gen V] is what they are going for it is The Boys universe after all. I could see it being an intentional thing maybe." Not only would this be in keeping with Vought's current slate of production, it would also open up opportunities for the series to be self-referential and self-deprecating, along with cameos by Stan Edgar and other Vought employees.
A Spoof On Vought Trying To Get Young Adult Viewers
What if Gen V was just a ploy by Vought to get the Gen Z audience? Not only would its title make more sense, it would also make the series a spoof of YA series on the CW and other networks that try to appeal to a teenager demographic.
Veluxidus wonders if "Vought [is] trying to up its image in the eyes of young adults, with scenes of what really goes on inter-spliced with those awful scripted TV tropes." If Gen V was intercut with Vought Studios board meetings all about how to engage Gen Z, followed by their moronic attempts to do so in the series, it could be a worthy spin-off.
Help Carry On The Boys If It Ends With Season 5
Eric Kripke has stated that The Boys may only have five seasons of stories to tell, which means Amazon stands to lose one of its most popular series if and when that happens. While there are a lot of juicy conflicts heading into season 4, a lot of fans know one day The Boys will end and another series will need to maintain the brand.
To WhyWorryAboutThat, "if this means Amazon can carry on their cash cow Boys brand without unnecessarily dragging out the actual Boys show, I'm okay with it." A lot of series lose their momentum and their way by going on longer than they should, and if The Boys has a satisfying conclusion, fans will be excited to see what else Vought has cooking in Gen V. Just look at Cheers and its long-running and successful spin-off Frasier.
It Pokes Fun At Superhero Crossover Shows & Films
Fans of The Boys who also watch superhero series like Arrow and follow Marvel comics crossover events think Gen V could be an excellent opportunity to lampoon the way superhero shows frequently resort to crossovers to get the audiences to watch from both series.
Austinangelo thinks "it could be a fun way to make a mockery of crossovers in superhero films" provided the execution was done well. Since The Boys is already a superhero series that stands on the principle of "superhero shows suck, here's a superhero show to watch" this could make the series just as witty and ironic.
Satirize Current Events
The Boys has a habit of satirizing current events, both cultural and political, in a way that uses brevity and humor to offer perspective. With its clever title, Gen V is already alluding to offering more of the same, which is something Redditors can get behind.
"Title is clever actually," Momjeens asserts. "The Boys has been handling satire of current events really well. I’m hoping they can maintain that with a spin-off that’s focused on younger characters that’ll most likely take some influence from gen z/millennial humor." If it can be done well, it might be a refreshing and necessary contribution to The Boys canon.
Leave Butcher And Homelander Behind
As much as the feuds between Homelander and his enemies forms the backbone of the series, Gen V might offer the perfect opportunity to leave him, Butcher, and the rest of The Boys behind and embark on something fresh with new superheroes that have their own emotional damage.
"The Boys has a really cool world built," DwightsEgo says, "and there seems potential to tell multiple stories within that world that don’t revolve around Butcher and HL." There's no guarantee that the series will have the same appeal without the fan-favorite characters, but it would allow for growth beyond their baggage.
It Focuses On The Journey To Become A Superhero
Season 3's Supersonic was chosen from a reality show searching for the next member of The Seven, which when combined with Starlight's past preparing to be a young superhero, gives fans an indication that there's room for Gen V to show the journey to becoming a superhero and all of its obstacles.
"This show can be about the climb," thinks BGMDF8248, "[and] goes without saying but they really need to go all out, drugs, sex, backstabbing." Starlight's innocence became corrupted when she joined The Seven and realized what depraved and uninspiring people some superheroes truly were, but that doesn't mean that the journey to becoming one couldn't be frought with the sort of depravity The Boys is known for.
It Could Follow The Plot Of Invincible
Invincible, which also features young teen supes, has an effective twist whereby the established main characters (all of whom are written to be incredibly annoying) are called to audition for a superhero team, and then forced to fight each other for top positions. Some fans hope that instead of being a typical angsty teen drama, Gen V will follow the same template.
KianOfPersia hopes that "the promo is part of the joke and they pull an ‘Invincible’ on us by killing off like 90% of the “main” characters, and that’s where the story really starts." Given how subversive The Boys can be, as well as the amount of violence in Invincible, Gen V going the same route would be satisfying to fans who feel focusing on teen supes won't be interesting enough.
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