When students chant “fire up” at Godolkin Unversity, they take it literally.
Home to future superheroes, the school is filled with raw talent and incredibly weird behavior.
In “Gen V,” a spin-off from “The Boys,” nothing is predictable. Just when you think it’s going to be another college series, characters veer left and, in some cases, become even more corrupt than members of The Seven.
Now airing on Amazon Prime Video, “Gen V” is like the origins story of “X-Men.” Here, though, students aren’t as noble. They’re true offspring of Vought, the company that polishes superhero images and isn’t a bit afraid of controlling. It's profane...and proud of it.
At God-U, students learn how to fight crime and hide their weaknesses.
We get into the school through Marie (Jaz Sinclair), a blood bender who seems ripe for success. She’s roomies with Emma (Lizze Broadway), a student who has the ability to shrink. The secret to her success: Binging and purging.
Other disorders emerge when Marie makes her way around campus. Among the most head-turning: Golden Boy Luke Riordan (Patrick Schwarzenegger) who has a fiery temper and a penchant for walking around campus without clothes.
One by one the failings emerge.
Developed by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg and Eric Kripke, “Gen V” is far more adult than other teen series. Sexual experimentation is a polite way to explain what it is the students do outside the classroom. “The Boys” looks tame in comparison.
Four episodes into the series, “Gen V” has the ability to spin out into a dozen different directions. Marie may be viewers’ way into the school, but she’s hardly its most interesting character.
Emma gets that honor (she’s like Hayden Panettiere in “Heroes”). When she tries to help the others by “getting small,” we see how this could be The Seven’s undoing.
Jordan Li (played by London Thor and Derek Luh) is a gender shifter. In one scene, Thor plays the character; in another, it’s Luh. Oddly, it’s not difficult to discern.
More questionable: Sam Riordan (Asa Germann), Luke’s brother with superhero strength and deep-seated emotional problems.
When Tek Knight (Derek Wilson), a God-U graduate and host of a crime series, turns up on campus, it’s clear some of the dirty doings going on could be exposed. The first episode is packed with jaw-dropping twists and an event that galvanizes the student body.
Because it looks at the selling of a superhero (come on, there’s even a class in branding), “Gen V” is pulling out a different rug than “The Boys.” Both are fairly subversive (and violent) but this one has an easier way in.
When ads, fundraisers and a kid’s show starring Jason Ritter part the curtain, “Gen V” becomes a great way to extend the narrative “The Boys” started. If that series hits a wall, this one can walk right through.
Consider it a superpower with legs.
“Gen V” is now airing on Amazon Prime Video.
