Gen V Season 2 Review: The Boys Spin-Off Avoids A Sophomore Slump By Showing A Little Heart

There's an old maxim in the TV business that the most difficult episode to pull off in any given show isn't the pilot — it's the second hour, when the novelty factor wears off and the hard work begins to keep viewers hooked. Much the same tends to hold true when it comes to an entire series, particularly when going from its debut season to the next. The standard has been set, the expectations are higher, and writers somehow have to pull off the impossible. Give viewers more of the same ... but even better than before. No pressure.

And then there's "Gen V." Compared to much of its competition, season 2 of the Prime Video series might've had even greater odds stacked against it. Not only does the superhero satire have to function as both a spin-off to its mothership show "The Boys" and a sequel story to that season 1 cliffhanger, which saw our main quartet of student heroes betrayed, scapegoated, and incarcerated in one fell swoop. At the same time, the franchise comes with the added challenge of navigating the steady decline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the onset of superhero fatigue as a whole — an ill-timed combo that could've easily rendered this property as collateral damage. Worst of all, however, the cast and crew also had to grapple with the tragic death of recurring star Chance Perdomo, an irreplaceable loss that fundamentally altered the course of this story. With so many plates spinning in the air and so much potential to come crashing down to Earth, the phrase "Back to school" may never have felt more ominous.

Fortunately, "Gen V" returns from hiatus with a bit of a makeover. No, there's no getting around all the usual hallmarks of "The Boys" universe that hardcore fans have come to expect: head-popping violence as gruesome and gratuitous as ever, visuals specifically designed to feel shocking and provocative, and a mean streak that stops just short of outright cynicism. Taken together, there are just enough thrills and twists to keep things moving at a breakneck pace — though more casual audiences may find it a big of a slog to get through some iffy plotting, a parade of cameos, and seemingly an entire writer's room hoping to beat "South Park" at their own headline-making game. But, this time around, returning showrunner Michele Fazekas and her creative team add a new weapon to their arsenal. As a result of some deft narrative improvisation, the loss of Perdomo's Andre Anderson and the impact this has on our other protagonists brings a much-needed emotional heft to these zany proceedings. A little sincerity, as it turns out, goes a long way.

By the end, an occasionally bumpy journey can't stop "Gen V" from delivering a sophomore semester worth enrolling in.

A lot has gone down since we last saw our so-called Guardians of Godolkin. When season 1 of "Gen V" came to an abrupt close, our main leads Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), Jordin Li (played by both London Thor and Derek Luh), Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway), and Chance Perdomo's Andre Anderson had uncovered the sinister plot at the heart of Godolkin University. Exposing this plan to concoct a superhero virus capable of wiping out the super-abled community came at great cost, however, leading to the defection of the mind-reading Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips) and the super-strong Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) while our heroes found themselves locked up and blamed in the public eye. Season 2 resets the status quo almost immediately, skipping ahead several months and walking back its boldest choice in order to bring things, well, back to school. (Note: critics were able to screen all eight episodes of "Gen V" season 2.)

This status quo reset almost feels symptomatic of the season as a whole. It's an inelegant way to kick off the season, admittedly, even as it helps bring the show back to its original premise of superheroes on campus. But as much as the writing strains to return to normalcy — there's another mysterious and obviously villainous new Dean named Cipher (Hamish Linklater), a re-emphasis on each hero's rankings, and the creeping sense that more secrets are just waiting to be found – it comes with the inescapable feeling that nothing can be the same again. Season 2 addresses Perdomo's passing by writing off the character between seasons, quickly revealing that Andre died under mysterious circumstances while the surviving friends are left to deal with this tragedy as best they can. Like "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and the late Chadwick Boseman, it's a deeply touching tribute to a young talent taken far too young. Unlike the MCU sequel, however, "Gen V" isn't derailed by a dozen different subplots distracting us from what really matters. Both the character and the actor's loss drives every main emotional arc throughout the season — whether it be Marie struggling with survivor's remorse, Emma taking Andre's belief in her own heroism and passing it forward, Jordan losing themselves to grief and anger, or Cate and Sam reckoning with the full magnitude of their traitorous actions. Even Andre's father Polarity, portrayed once again by Sean Patrick Thomas (arguably the season co-MVP alongside Sinclair and Linklater), plays an integral role in a storyline that pays off brilliantly.

Watching the cast address such painful circumstances head-on makes for an unexpectedly moving experience, both in terms of the ongoing story and from a metatextual perspective. Either way, "Gen V" offers no easy answers to such trauma, instead turning it into a core strength of the overall season. Though born out of the most unimaginable tragedy, the final result is a more mature, heartfelt, and introspective season — one that handles subjects like self-harm and mental illness with grace and empathy, while coexisting seamlessly with some of the nastiest and borderline exploitative subject matter currently streaming.

That inevitably leads to the other side of the "Gen V" coin. There's no denying the instant impact that "The Boys" had on pop culture overall upon arrival in 2019, taking full advantage of the superhero movie craze and bringing Garth Ennis' satirical comic series to viscera-filled life. But, with each passing season, it's also fair to say that all the endless gore and boundary-pushing imagery have contributed to a sense of diminishing returns. As "Game of Thrones" discovered with its Red Wedding, there's just no way to constantly recreate the highs (and lows) of its biggest and most divisive moments — in this case, the nightmare-inducing "Herogasm" from season 3. But perhaps the spin-off show is finally falling prey to the pitfalls of its parent series.

"Gen V" managed to avoid this with its mostly well-received freshman season, but the cracks begin to expand in season 2. As much as "The Boys" creator Eric Kripke helped define the entire property's irreverent tone and sharp political claws, the actual level of insight behind this parody has fallen somewhat short of its own standards. We can all likely agree that reality has officially become more bizarre and logic-defying than fiction could ever hope to be, but it takes more than lazy 1:1 recreations of our most absurd political headlines and the occasional jab at superhero media to remain relevant. "Gen V" unfortunately returns to the well of these surface-level politics, relying on passingly clever riffs on obvious targets as stand-ins for saying anything genuinely meaningful about our current climate. "Make America Super Again" signs, "Resist" imagery, a suped-up version of the "Trad wife" trend, and Amazon product placement fill the frame in each and every episode, but it all serves as mere window dressing in the absence of a narrative equipped to legitimately wrestle with such heady topics.

Making matters worse, the show's approach to worldbuilding details and crossovers with "The Boys" has now become indistinguishable from Marvel or DC. The first season of "Gen V" generally used its cameo ammunition with restraint and tact, saving its most heavy-hitting surprises for maximum impact. Season 2, meanwhile, makes an unwelcome pivot to excess early and often — many times in ways that detract from the story at hand, rather than enhancing. Gone are the days when this property could coast on the goodwill of providing a rebellious counterpoint to its IP-driven brethren on the big screen. There are now five shows in this universe in various degrees of release or development, proving that even the most niche and edgy alternatives to major studio tentpoles aren't safe from the money-grubbing gears of the Amazon machine.

Still, "Gen V" does just enough to provide thrills and twists galore to keep its core audience happy, including one heck of a killer finale that helps redeem much of the lower points of the season — even if it ultimately feels like yet another bridge to the next season of "The Boys," when all's said and done. Taken on its own merits, the spin-off series graduates to a sophomore year that's more confident, more ambitious, and more earnest than what we've come to anticipate. That's enough to give this a passing grade in my book ... though maybe a little extra credit work wouldn't have hurt.

/Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

The first three episodes of "Gen V" season 2 premiere September 17, 2025 on Prime Video, followed by a weekly episodic release every Wednesday.