expect a lot of exploding penises
Is 'Gen V' The Next Great Superhero Show To Obsess Over? Here's What The Reviews Say
I love Amazon's adaptation of the graphic novel "The Boys." I can't speak for everyone at Digg, but I recently binged the entire show and can't wait for the fourth season — it's being held indefinitely until the SAG actor's strike is over — to come out. It's a brilliant mix of satire, action and comedy, with some truly star-making performances. It's a hard show to top, or in this case, follow.
But Amazon Prime Video clearly wants to be in the superhero business, so this Friday, September 29, 2023, "Gen V" is releasing. A brand new spin-off about younger heroes in school, this entirely new cast of characters (different from the main show) are based on a story arc from the comics, but they're getting the live-action treatment for the very first time.
So, what do critics think about "Gen V?" It stars Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, Derek Luh, Shelley Conn, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Jason Ritter, Clancy Brown, Derek Wilson and Jessie T. Usher.
The premise
Prime Video's "The Boys" is not an obvious candidate to launch a superhero franchise. The original series, which is dark, raunchy, and deeply cynical, spends most of its time openly delighting in satirizing the basics of superhero storytelling as we understand it today. In the world of "The Boys," superheroes are just as likely to be murderers and fascists as they are do-gooders, propped up by a mega-corporation that's more interested in ratings than saving lives. Can a scathing superhero send-up like this, one that revels in mocking everything connected to late stage capitalism and influencer culture, successfully participate in the same systems it so avidly makes fun of? With the launch of "Gen V," the story of a university full of young supes training to become the household name heroes of tomorrow, "The Boys" franchise certainly seems more than willing to try.
Ostensibly about the first generation of superheroes who had their powers injected into them — whose parents chose to dose them with Compound V and weren't born with their special abilities — "Gen V" is a coming-of-age tale on literal steroids, as students are not only asked to compete against one another for prestige and opportunity, but forced to confront ethical questions about what kind of hero they want to grow up to become. (A darker question than one might initially assume, as anyone who has ever watched "The Boys" knows.) Throw in some standard college-age debauchery and the sort of youthful idealism the original series only ever allowed Starlight to represent, and it makes for an entertaining ride, even if the show never manages to stray too far from the original "The Boys" blueprint.
The protagonists are memorable and likable kids worth following
This betrayal, combined with the youth of "Gen V's" protagonists, makes them more readily sympathetic than the antiheroes of "The Boys." Freshman Marie (Jaz Sinclair) can manipulate blood and Golden Boy's girlfriend, Cate (Maddie Phillips), can control minds, but both manifested their powers at the worst possible time for their loved ones, and have spent years living with the guilt. Marie's roommate, Emma (Lizze Broadway), is closely monitored by her momager, who wants to use Emma’s ability to shrink herself as a means to fame and fortune. Some characters, like an invisible RA who lectures on sexual boundaries with his own member fully exposed, are pure punchlines, yet there's a baseline of sincerity amid the gross-out humor and cartoon violence.
At the heart of the show is Asa Germann's Sam, whose capture holds the key to the inhumane goings-on at Godokin. Sure, all of the main supes in the series are likable, have cool powers, and end up touching our hearts. But Germann delivers the standout performance of the season, becoming the best part of every episode when he shows up. Sam is a tortured, haunted character and this never leaves him — not even in his fleeting moments of joy or when his dry humor is making Lizze Broadway's Emma laugh. Sam's dark cloud is always there, and it's what motivates him to escape — but it's also the thing that tells him to kill. And instead of it being consistent doom and gloom, some of his most paranoid and delusional moments are transformed into pure absurdity — with the writers giving us laugh-out-loud moments in the midst of heartbreak.
Throughout the school year, Godolkin's students are ranked based not only on their crimefighting prowess, but also on their marketability. That's bad news for Marie, whose superpower just doesn't have the kind of four-quadrant appeal that her teachers are looking for. But this ranking system works just fine for students like Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger), a handsome young super with a dazzling smile and a fiery power that looks great on a poster. (Having the offspring of a real-life Mr. Universe playing Vought's new prodigy is a clever bit of meta-casting, though Schwarzenegger doesn't quite have the screen presence of someone who's supposed to inspire awe wherever he goes.)
This is a graphic and bloody show, with an extra layer of satire on top
The series opens with a scene dedicated to out-Carrie-ing Carrie, or at least marking out distinctive new terrain in the tried-and-true "girl's first period" genre. Young Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) retreats to the bathroom, discovering she's bleeding at the same time she learns she has a very disturbing superpower. She's capable of manipulating blood, but incapable of controlling that manipulation, with tragic consequences. It's… gross. And disturbing. And funny as hell.
Extracurricular concerns include social media notoriety, gender dysphoria, lost siblings, cutting, bulimia, suicide and the perennial parents who suck (as do most other adults). "Gen V" puts sci-fi spins on these and other youth-adjacent issues, which generates kooky but sometimes clever and resonant metaphors. There's also, of course, all the hooking up, getting wasted, uncontrolled outbursts and destructive impulses we associate with teens and young adults. And in the first six episodes of eight shown to critics, "Gen V" has at least one sequence that out-nauseates "The Boys" penchant for exploding penises (though that's here too), and many more that strive for similar effect.
While "Gen V" is able to retain "The Boys'" knack for graphic violence and exposing corporate corruptness, it is also able to stand on its own two feet. For better and for worse, "Gen V" diverges from the more satirical elements of the flagship series and decides to tackle issues that many young adults in our everyday world face, including gender, sexuality, drugs, and eating disorders. At times, the series recaptures the snark of its predecessor. At others, the show resembles something closer to a CW series with a much higher budget.
Did someone say 'mutants?'
Those references to Magneto and Professor X aren't accidental. As a superhero series set at school, "Gen V" would appear to have a lot in common with the X-Men. Even the title is a clue: Generation X was a '90s Marvel comic about a younger class of mutants learning and training at the Xavier School while the adult X-Men were off saving the world. It was this signature mixture of relatable school struggles with super-powered action — as well as the overriding theme of oppressed minorities coming together to protect each other from a prejudiced society — that made the X-Men enough of a pop culture phenomenon to justify such spinoffs.
TL;DR
A mashup of "Student of the Year" and "X-Men."
I hope the SFX team is getting counseling.
"Gen V" is lively and gruesome, cheeky and clever.
The spinoff of Prime Video's go-for-broke superhero series follows its tradition of trademark gore, perverse comedy, and sharp social comedy — as well its phallus obsession.
[Image: YouTube]
