Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Boys season 5, episode 7, "The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother's Milk."
It may have taken nearly the entirety of season 5, but The Boys finally featured some key Gen V characters in its final installment, yet their impact was far more limited than expected. Heading into this season, showrunner Eric Kripke did warn viewers that Gen V wouldn't play a major role in The Boys' ending, but this decision has proven divisive.
While it would feel strange for characters introduced in another show to dictate how The Boys' final season plays out, it's equally bizarre that the events of Gen V have essentially been rewritten and matter very little, especially when considering how blatantly the spinoff setup season 5.
Gen V's first season introduced The Boys' supe virus — which has been a major part of the main show for the past few years — while the second season saw the Godolkin University students get recruited by Starlight to join the fight against Homelander. In addition, A-Train also returned in the spinoff, confirming his allegiance to this resistance group.
These were major factors that seemed like they'd play into The Boys' final season, as it made rescuing Hughie, MM, and Frenchie a little easier, since there were several powerful supes to aid this infiltration mission. Instead, Marie's group was completely absent until she and Jordan appeared in episode 7.
For those who thought The Boys season 5 might deliver a slight Gen V recap, this wasn't the case either, as Marie and Jordan had two brief cameos, getting around three minutes of screen time. In contrast, Dogknott and Sheline had more of a presence, despite being gag villains who serve no real purpose on the greater story.
During Marie and Jordan's small moment in the spotlight, the only major revelation was that Marie's powers weren't as strong as Gen V hyped them up to be, one of several aspects from the now-cancelled spinoff that have since been rewritten in The Boys' last chapter.
Marie Moreau Is Nowhere Near As Powerful In The Boys Season 5 As She Was In Gen V
A huge focal point of Gen V season 2's story was highlighting that Marie Moreau was one of the most powerful supes in The Boys universe. Although the show parodied the classic "chosen one" trope, Marie's arc did set her up to be one of the few supes on a similar level to Homelander.
Marie and Homelander are the only two characters to survive the Odessa Project introduced in Gen V season 2, which was essentially Thomas Godolkin's attempt to make even stronger supes than what Vought already had. This suggested Marie had plenty of potential, which was enhanced drastically through her training.
Cipher — controlled by Thomas Godolkin — showed special interest in Marie, helping her master bloodbending, the same sort of trick that allowed Victoria Neuman to blow up people's heads from a simple look. Coming out of season 2, Marie was more dangerous than ever, and it really felt like this prodigy was capable of challenging Homelander.
Obviously, it would feel strange for her to take down The Boys' main villain, since she hadn't appeared in the original series before season 5, but Marie could've easily been inserted into the story and participated in the final fight. Instead, she's been sidelined, and it seems like her powers aren't as special as we first thought.
During her short episode 7 appearance, Marie told MM, "Reports of my awesomeness have been greatly exaggerated." Sure, this may have been her downplaying things a little and being humble, but the fact that Starlight isn't begging her to try and use her powers on Homelander does suggest that The Boys may have retconned her skill level.
Alongside potentially using the supe virus and replicating Soldier Boy's blast, surely The Boys would've tried to convince Marie to manipulate Homelander's blood, especially since she and the other Gen V students were already working with Starlight. Alas, it seems like her unprecedented power isn't all that impressive after all, making her story in the spinoff's second season feel pointless.
The Boys Season 5 Dismissed Gen V Season 2's Entire Plot
Discarding Marie's increase in power is already bad enough, but The Boys season 5 has dismissed Gen V season 2's plot entirely. The return of Thomas Godolkin and his intention to get rid of weaker supes so that only the strongest remained was a massive storyline, not just for Gen V, but The Boys in general.
This important figure returning from the dead and killing numerous students should have been a big deal, yet Vought covered this up in The Boys season 5 by claiming it was down to AI. Admittedly, it is a hilariously simplistic way to deal with what should be a PR nightmare for Vought, and it does somewhat mimic reality.
However, the fact that there wasn't more of a fallout from this and that Homelander didn't immediately drop Sage from the Seven or kill her despite conspiring with Thomas Godolkin feels crazy, since the villain has done much worse for much more trivial reasons.
The Boys has also seemingly forgotten Marie's healing upgrade that she gained during Gen V season 2, which allowed her to essentially bring back her sister from the dead. The full extent of this power remains unknown, but surely if it isn't being rewritten, The Boys could try and convince Marie to use her powers on Frenchie.
Even going back to Gen V's first season, the supe virus that seemed to be a big plot point has now been rendered almost entirely useless, since The Boys season 5 gave Homelander V-One, granting him immunity to this weapon. Sure, it can still take down other supes, but it doesn't appear all that important anymore.
Regardless of whether you've loved or hated The Boys' final season, it does feel extremely far removed from Gen V, which is a real shame. The spinoff helped flesh out the world and complemented the main show well, so seeing some of its biggest plot points being reworked or undermined is disappointing after it set up season 5 so well.
Gen V's Cancellation Is Looking Even Worse After The Boys Season 5
Considering it was a widely popular and well-received spinoff, hearing the news that Gen V had been cancelled following its second season was a bit of a shock. Fortunately, The Boys season 5 offered a chance to give these characters a decent send-off and complete any unfinished arcs, but this hasn't been the case.
Marie and Jordan are the only two Gen V protagonists to make an appearance in The Boys season 5, and it failed to follow up on their story. Having ended their romance in the spinoff's second season, it's hard to tell what their relationship is like now based on their brief cameo in episode 7.
Likewise, having worked directly for Homelander in The Boys season 4's ending, Cate and Sam both got their own form of redemption last year in the spinoff. In theory, this set them up perfectly to fight back against the people who corrupted them, yet they haven't even appeared in the show, nor have Emma or Annabeth, who could've been big helps.
Despite Gen V's cancellation, Prime Video has two other The Boys spinoffs in the works, Vought Rising and The Boys: Mexico.
Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity is The Boys failing to follow up on Polarity. Having lost his son, he became a major character in Gen V season 2 and constantly assisted Marie's group, even fighting Cipher one-on-one. However, someone had to stay behind and take the blame following God U's big fight, prompting Polarity to step up.
Not getting to know what happened to this major character is unfortunate, but The Boys' finale isn't the time to reveal it. Overall, it feels like Gen V has been sidelined very quickly at Prime Video, and even if these characters have a small role in the finale or other spinoffs, it won't make up for the cancellation.
Fans became invested in these students, and they could've easily been the future of The Boys. Instead, Gen V has been almost entirely forgotten about, creating questions about why it even existed in the first place, if only to be abandoned at the final hour.
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Gen V
8/10
Release Date September 28, 2023
Network Prime Video
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Lizze Broadway
Emma Meyer / Little Cricket
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English (US) ·