Gen V Season 2: The Starlighters, Explained

This article contains spoilers for "Gen V" season 2, episode 1, "New Year, New U."

It was hardly a surprise that "Gen V" season 2 would throw in a few "The Boys" cameos. After all, fans were already familiar with the constant barrage of major and minor "The Boys" characters who waltzed across Godolkin University's halls and lawn in "Gen V" season 1.

The season 2 trailer had already revealed that Annie "Starlight" January (Erin Moriarty) would be joining the party, and the season premiere, "New Year, New U," doesn't waste any time showing us how. Thanks to her lengthy meeting with Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) and the shorter, less friendly one with Homelander (Antony Starr) in season 1, Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) is no stranger to interacting with characters from "The Boys." This time around, though, she meets Starlight, who enters the scene by casually defeating the supe bounty hunter Dogknott (Zach McGowan) just as he's about to beat and capture the fugitive Marie. The meeting is not a coincidence, either: Marie has been in touch with Annie, who's here to convince the young bloodbender to become a spy for her Starlighters group.

Named after Annie's Starlight House non-profit organization, the Starlighters have been around for a while, but they haven't received all that much attention in the grand scheme of "The Boys" things, where colorful personalities like Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) and Homelander hog much of the attention. Now, it seems that Annie has been building the Starlighter forces into the franchise's equivalent of the "Star Wars" Rebel Alliance ... and with Marie now in the mix, it's high time to take a closer look at who they are.

The Boys" season 4 completed Homelander's lengthy transformation into Donald Trump, Vought represents the worst aspects of conservative and corporate America, and Vought News Network is basically Fox News at its most bizarre. By the time "Gen V" season 2 takes place, these forces have effectively taken over the U.S., pushing their own narrative and slandering their opponents every which way they can.

Thanks to their highly public differences, Starlight has organically become the public face of Homelander's opponents, and Starlight House and the Starlighters have become the show's answer to Trump's most vocal grassroots opponents — left-leaning protesters, activists, and regular people. As "The Boys" season 3 (where Homelander pulls a Pizzagate on Starlight House by claiming it's a front for a trafficking ring) and the news clips in "Gen V" season 2 illustrate, this has had the unfortunate side effect of making Starlighters a de facto persecuted minority in the show's universe, as well as a common target for smear campaigns and Qanon-level conspiracy rhetoric.

However, this is still a superhero show, and both "The Boys" and "Gen V" are walking toward a full-on war between supes and non-powered humans. To revisit the "Star Wars" analogy, Annie's request that Marie dig into Project Odessa to find a potential way to defeat Homelander is a clear indicator that the Starlighters are actively taking the Rebel Alliance role against Homelander's Imperial forces. Marie's new Starlighter status could also turn out to be the most important connection between the shows since "The Boys" season 4 hinged on a key "Gen V" plot point — Dr. Cardoza's (Marco Pigossi) supe virus – and it will be interesting to see how it impacts the series' endgame.

"Gen V" season 2 is streaming on Prime Video.