Gen V's Finale Echoes An Incendiary X-Men Comic
This article contains spoilers for the "Gen V" season 1 finale.
"Gen V" season 1 has been building up the mystery of "The Woods," the secret lab under the Godolkin University campus, running tortuous experiments on Supes to devise a virus that will kill them all. In the season finale, "Guardians of Godolkin," this spring was finally let loose. Cate (Maddie Phillips) — groomed by Dean Shetty (Shelley Conn) as a telepathic lapdog, and Sam (Asa Germann) — who was experimented on in the Woods, are the ones who make it so.
The pair free the other Supes imprisoned in the Woods, by force, but their plans for liberation go further. No, they want revenge on humanity as a whole and intend to make a world by Supes, for Supes. So, when Cate and Sam free the prisoners of the Woods, they urge them to kill all the humans at Godolkin. It's not long before there's a full-scale massacre.
"Gen V" is a spin-off of "The Boys," but the "X-Men" influence is all over this show too; the superhero school setting, the teenage main characters, and investigations into how superpowers affect the leads' personal (and sex) lives. Continuing this analogy, while Andre (Chance Perdomo) might be able to control metal, Cate proves she's Magneto, a revolutionary who won't stand by as supes are subject to human whims. Or, is he the best comparison here? The "X-Men" comic that "Guardians of Godolkin" reminded me the most of was Grant Morrison's "Riot at Xavier's."
Riot at Xavier's
Grant Morrison wrote "New X-Men" for about 40 issues from 2001 to 2004, alongside a rotation of different artists (including Frank Quitely, who drew "Riot at Xavier's"). They came to the title with a mission to revitalize the X-Men, hence the costume redesigns to be more like the movies, a legion of new supporting characters, and emphasis on being "hip." Morrison's comics widened the scope of the setting — if there were millions of mutants, then they should have the culture to show for it. That leads to "Riot At Xavier's."
The story (unfolding from issues 134 to 138) kicks off with mutant fashion designer Jumbo Carnation seemingly being murdered by humans outside a nightclub. The hate crime radicalizes some students at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, pushing them away from Professor X's dream of human-mutant coexistence.
The ringleader is the telepathic Quentin Quire, or Kid Omega. He digs up a Daily Bugle article from the day he was born, with the headline "Mutant Menace" and an artist's rendition of a future where mutants enslave humans. This newspaper image first appeared in "X-Men" issue #14, published way back in 1965. This issue was the first appearance of mutant-hunting robots the Sentinels and the first "X-Men" comic to seriously tackle human prejudice. Morrison is a fan of the Silver Age of Comics (the 1960s, give or take), and they delight in turning insignificant moments from those comics into major plot points in their own. Quentin takes a look at the future evil mutant in the drawing (pointed ears, striped shirt, carrying a whip, etc.) and models himself and his followers after it; they start wearing striped red-and-black shirts while cropping their hair like little skinheads.
Radicalized super students
Morrison is writing about how minority groups can reclaim things meant to degrade them as badges of honor (think of how, in real life, the word "queer" has gone from derogatory to descriptive). Quentin refers to the drawing as "pop art" rather than the anti-mutant propaganda it was intended to be. When Professor X objects to his new fashion, Quentin swaps out the striped shirt for a text t-shirt: "Magneto Was Right," including a picture of the helmeted villain's face like a Che Guevara poster. Since mutant history is so new, who else can Quentin look to as an icon?
"The Boys" and "Gen V" also explore what media and trends would look like in a world with superpowers. The difference is that superheroes are the world's dominant culture (a look-in-the-mirror moment for viewers), not counterculture like mutants are in "X-Men." That's what makes Cate and Sam's riot all the more frightening since they're aren't many true heroes in this world to balance them out. College students being radicalized is usually a paranoid fantasy, but the kernel of truth is that young people, who are naturally looking for purpose and identity, are more easily swayed to extreme beliefs. True in "Gen V," true in "New X-Men."
True enough, Quentin and his "Omega Gang" don't stop at aesthetics. After some vigilante justice, they take Professor X hostage in protest of the school admitting human students. They throw out similar demands about mutant supremacy that Cate does in "Gen V." However, the X-Men (Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast, and Emma Frost) de-escalate this riot, while Homelander (Antony Starr) is only sad he didn't get a chance to join in.
Quentin has since turned over a new leaf (see his adventures in "X-Force"), but I fear Cate and Sam won't get the positive influence they need to quell their riotous spirits.
"Gen V" is streaming on Prime Video.