Gen V’s Cancellation Hurts More After Its Characters’ The Boys Season 5 Absence

Halfway into The Boys season 5, the Prime Video show’s acclaimed spin-off, Gen V, has been canceled. Since Gen V only lasted for two seasons, its cancellation is disappointing in itself. However, what makes the cancellation worse is that its characters have not even appeared in The Boys season 5 so far.

More often than not, spin-offs come off as forced extensions of popular franchises, intentionally created to milk the success of well-established IPs. Gen V, too, was met with a bit of skepticism when it was first announced because it showed how The Boys was becoming a victim of its own satire.

After poking fun at other superhero franchises for endlessly commodifying their properties, The Boys was seemingly treading the same path with Gen V.

However, Gen V proved to be an incredible addition to the overarching franchise and, arguably, even ended up becoming far better than The Boys season 4. With both seasons, Gen V proved that it had good reason to exist, which made it hard not to hope that it would continue after season 2.

Since Gen V is more of a subset of The Boys, and many of its story beats are directly linked to the parent series, continuing it after The Boys‘ end would have been a little challenging. However, in more ways than one, Gen V also adopted many standalone stories and created a smaller world for itself in The Boys‘ overarching universe. This would have allowed the show to continue far beyond The Boys season 5.

Unfortunately, it has now been confirmed that Gen V season 3 will never see the light of day, which is even more of a letdown after The Boys season 5.

Gen V’s Characters’ Absence In The Boys Season 5 Makes The Spinoff’s Cancellation Worse

Four episodes into The Boys season 5, Gen V‘s main supe characters are yet to show up even though they joined forces with Starlight and her team in Gen V season 2’s ending moments. The Boys‘ final season has only dropped a reference or two to the characters, but has revealed nothing about their whereabouts or why they are not actively involved in Starlight and her team’s fight against Homelander.

Viewers who have not watched Gen V may not have even noticed their absence. However, for the ones who grew attached to them during Gen V‘s two-season runtime, The Boys final installment almost feels incomplete without them. The Prime Video’s franchise was seemingly developing them to become key figures in The Boys‘ closing chapter.

Gen V‘s Marie was even being touted as a potential Homelander rival. However, the fact that she has not even appeared in season 5 yet, suggests that her significance in the franchise has been watered down. While Gen V season 2 has given the young supe characters somewhat of a resolution, their absence from the franchise’s larger story makes their arcs seem unresolved.

Reviews suggest they will eventually show up in The Boys season 5. Unfortunately, their brief appearances will only feel underwhelming after two seasons worth of development in the spin-off.

The Boys Had The Perfect Opportunity To Introduce Gen V’s Supes In Its 1st Episode

In The Boys season 5’s opening episode, Starlight and Butcher lead a dangerous rescue mission to free Hughie, Frenchie, and Mother’s Milk from a supe-run “Freedom Camp.” Considering the high-stakes of this mission, it would have made sense for them to seek help from Gen V‘s characters who have proven to be far stronger than Homelander’s supe allies.

Yet, the Gen V characters remained absent from the opening episode and the ones that followed. Since we are almost halfway through The Boys season 5, it almost feels strange that the series has casually flossed over some of its key players.

Hopefully, despite their limited screen times in The Boys season 5’s future episodes and Gen V‘s cancellation, Marie, Cate, Emma, Jordan, and Sam will get the satisfying and well-rounded endings they deserve.

The Boys

7/10

Release Date

2019 – 2026-00-00