They had it coming. In its very first episode, The Boys‘ collegiate spinoff, Gen V, warned us that anyone deemed out of line by evil corporation Vought would end up in Elmira, the end-of-the-road max-security prison for superheroes (“supes”). And in its second season, we learn even more about the so-called adult rehabilitation center where the young heroes wound up after the bloody events of the first season. Remember that stark white, doorless room in the final scene? Yeah, we wouldn’t want to be trapped in there either.
Thankfully most of the gifted gang make it out when the sophomore round of Gen V begins, which is set a year after Season 1. Still, it’s taken an emotional toll. “Everyone starts in a completely different place,” teases executive producer Michele Fazekas. Adds EP Eric Kripke, creator of The Boys: “They’ve had a really rough year, and I think they’re dealing with a lot of trauma heading into this season.”
No kidding. Blood manipulator Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), her size-altering roomie Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway), and powerful shapeshifter Jordan Li (played by both London Thor and Derek Luh) all eventually return to Godolkin University’s (“God U”) school of crimefighting where they’ll come face-to-face with the new Guardians of Godolkin, Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam Riordon (Asa Germann). Their former allies, mind controller Cate and Sam, have been living much more luxuriously than their imprisoned pals. In Season 1’s finale, Cate and Sam freed the rest of the supes trapped in The Woods, the research laboratory underneath God U, and went on a murder spree targeting humans, after discovering that the scientists in The Woods were developing a supe-killing virus. Despite their intentions to save supe-kind, the killing of powerless people was a tough pill to swallow for Marie, Emma, and Jordan. So,“it’s a little tense,” teases Phillips of the classmates’ group dynamics in Season 2.
Maddie Phillips as Cate Dunlap — ‘Gen V’ Season 2
Jasper Savage/Prime
Politics will also continue to play a major role, on and off-campus, as Gen V picks up right where The Boys left off. “Coming off of Season 4 of The Boys, where Homelander [Antony Starr] in effect took over the United States, this is really the audience’s first glimpse for fans of what that new world looks like,” says Kripke. “And then we start revealing where Annie [Erin Moriarty, Annie/Starlight] is in the middle of all this, how Starlighters, and how her liberal movement is being treated.”
Fugitive Annie is the reason Marie even returned to school post-Elmira. She approached the on-the-run Marie with a proposition: Annie needs her to return to God U and investigate and stop “Project Odessa,” which Vought is reviving. Marie’s not exactly thrilled about the idea. “Marie’s in a bad situation,” says Sinclair. “And then Starlight shows up and offers her this mission with all these things she hasn’t heard about. So, I think there’s a healthy amount of excitement and flattery, but also skepticism, like, ‘Why should I trust you?’”
It seems safer than aligning with the opposition, like God U’s sketchy new Dean Cipher (Hamish Linklater), who will push the students to their absolute limits. “That name should inspire a great deal of confidence in everyone,” jokes Linklater, who teases that, “he’s a Dean for Homelander’s America.”
“That name ‘Cipher’ is apt,” confirms Kripke, who was delighted to have the Midnight Mass star join the comic book-based TV universe as the cryptic baddie. “Every single line [Linklater delivers] is so funny, and weird, and unexpected. He keeps you on your heels every single second.”
The even more puzzling secret, Project Odessa, which Kripke calls “the original purpose of the school,” will preoccupy the heroes through the season. What we do know is that it was started by Thomas Godolkin (Wicked‘s Ethan Slater) himself, and we’ll meet the behavioral scientist and university’s founder in a 1960s-set flashback in the opening scene. “As our heroes are getting to the bottom of this mystery, they’re also getting to the bottom of who Godolkin was, what was the point of the school in the first place, why was it created,” teases Kripke. “You really get to the origin of everything.”
At the center of this season is also tragedy, as the young supes must figure out how to move on from the loss of their friend and fellow hero Andre Anderson (Chance Perdomo). The 27-year-old Perdomo died in a motorcycle accident in March 2024, shortly before production on Season 2 began.
The show leans into the loss, letting the art speak for itself. “We dedicated the entire season to him,” says Kripke. “We thought we should play the absence of him from everybody’s life and not shy away from the tragedy of it, and let our characters really be galvanized by his memory — frankly, much like the cast was galvanized by Chance’s memory. We thought the best we could do for Chance is just really present Andre as the hero that he was. His absence leaves a big hole, and we’re not trying to fill it, we’re just trying to honor him as best we can.”
Andre’s grief-stricken father Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas), who has ties to Vought, will even assist the students with unraveling the mysteries ahead.
Let’s just say, sophomore year at God U is about to get a whole lot messier.
Gen V, Season 2 Premiere, Wednesday, September 17, Prime Video
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