After two years, Gen V is finally making its return to Prime Video with its long-awaited season 2. It not only serves as the first spin-off of The Boys to come back for a sophomore outing, but also the final piece of media for the franchise before the main series comes to an end with season 5.
Though with the last season of The Boys serving as a bit of a low point for the franchise up until this point, and two more live-action spin-offs on the way, season 2 of Gen V will serve as two very important tests for the universe: Was season 4 just a fluke? And does the franchise have a future beyond Butcher and the rest of The Boys?
Season 2 of Gen V picks up exactly where The Boys franchise left off. America has fallen under the iron fist of Homelander, with a non-insignificant portion of the metahuman population being radicalized into “Supe Supremacy.”
Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway) and Jordan Li (London Thor/Derek Luh) return to Godolkin University, which has now become the face of youth radicalization following Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and Sam (Asa Germann) being catapulted to stardom by Homelander. Meanwhile, Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) continues her hunt for her long-lost sister.
Sadly, this is where the issues with season 2 of Gen V start to creep in. The biggest appeal when it came to the show’s freshman outing is that it allowed fans to see what life was like for everyday teens in the franchise. As opposed to The Boys, which focused on national media and multinational corporations, Gen V was a chance to see how these major societal changes affected those who seek higher knowledge in a world where their very existence is a commodity.
Instead of keeping the broader machinations of the franchise at length, season 2 irreversibly staples Gen V to The Boys by escalating the stakes to the point where the shows feel like they’re tackling the exact same sets of issues with a slightly different coat of paint and more references to vaping and Sydney Sweeney.
Gen V also isn’t helped by the fact that the satire present in The Boys franchise is about as subtle as a hydrogen bomb. The series has always been political, and some of its most insightful and touching moments have been staring down the darkest parts of the current political and economic system.
However, in order to keep up its reputation as “the edgy superhero show” in a socioeconomic climate that seems to get more extreme and polarized by the day, The Boys (and by extension Gen V) turns their satire from incisive political commentary to nothing more than a Saturday morning cartoon.
Real-world fascism and bigotry are not complicated. But what are the mechanisms and societal pressures surrounding radicalization? The true terror of autocracy is that anyone can succumb to the horrors of it, given the right material conditions. Yet if one were just to watch the most recent seasons of The Boys and season 2 of Gen V, it would seem that the only people who perpetuate these systemic injustices are degenerates, morons, or have no morals at all. Often, when it comes to figureheads of institutions present in the series, the answer is all three.
The one positive to the conceit of season 2 is that the circumstances through which the main cast returns to Godolkin are heavily tied to the absence of Andre Anderson, whose actor Chance Perdomo tragically passed shortly before filming began on this season of Gen V. While there are a few places where you can feel how quickly this plotline was slotted in, the result is still an incredibly tasteful tribute to such a sudden and shocking loss.
As for the actors who do return, they all do a phenomenal job. In particular, the characters of Jordan and Emma go through major evolutions heading into season 2, with their newly found layers captured masterfully by Lizze, Derek, and London. While there are a handful of scenes that might have been served by another take, the season also holds some of the best performances in Gen V.
There is one actor who, while technically returning from season 1, gets a chance to completely reinvent their character in season 2. That honor goes to Polarity, the father of Andre Anderson, played by Sean Patrick Thomas. While much of his increased prominence in Gen V likely stems from the writers subbing him in for scenes that would have included Chance Perdomo, the character adds a unique blend of maturity and stability to a cast defined by their young age and reckless nature.
These characters, largely carried by the effort of a truly passionate cast, serve as the main latch to keep folks watching Gen V season 2. if one is looking for engaging relationship drama and superb character acting, they’ll find it in the series. But the plot that helps move the show between those electric moments will likely be lost to bathroom breaks and checking social media.
While the first season of Gen V didn’t bring much new to the genre plot-wise, it did at least have a central mystery that unraveled episode by episode. A similar mystery does sit at the core of season 2. However, instead of each episode feeling like a logical extension of character interactions and their consequences, the story gets buried under contrivances that make the most obvious answer in the world seem confusing and convoluted.
The Boys has also never been known for good use (or, well, any use) of color. And while the first season of Gen V served to at least bring some color to the universe, season 2 sinks back into the dull blue-washed palettes the franchise is infamous for. The cinematography, while not bad by any means, doesn’t do much to make up for this, leaving scenes feeling muddy and lacking any sort of memorability when it comes to key locations.
Gen V is far from the worst series on the market right now. If you fell in love with the characters in season 1, it provides more of them with some truly masterful performances from the young cast. However, if you were waiting to see how season 2 turned out to decide whether or not to watch the show, it’s not likely to win you over.
Gen V season 2 premieres on Amazon Prime Video on September 17, 2025. Stay tuned for the latest news surrounding the series and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
Score: 7/10
