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Gen V season 1

Season of television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gen V season 1
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The first season of the American satirical superhero television series Gen V, the third series in The Boys franchise, based on The Boys comic book story arc We Gotta Go Now by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023.

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The season stars Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway, Maddie Phillips, London Thor, Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn. The story follows several students with superhero abilities who attend a superhero university to become part of The Seven. However, they must decide what superheroes they would become when the university's secrets are revealed.

In October 2023, less than a month after its premiere, it was renewed for a second season.[1]

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Episodes

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Cast and characters

Further information: List of The Boys characters

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Recurring

Guest

Special guests

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Production

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Development

On September 20, 2020, a spin-off of The Boys was announced, with Craig Rosenberg writing and executive producing the series with Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Michaela Starr, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Sarah Carbiener, Erica Rosbe, Aisha Porter-Christie, Judalina Neira, and Zak Schwartz.[9] On September 27, 2021, Amazon gave the order for the series, and Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters were set as showrunners and executive producers of the series.[10] On October 2, 2020, Kripke stated the Hunger Games-inspired series would focus on the G-Men team mentioned in the first season of The Boys, originally created as a parody of Marvel Comics' X-Men for the fourth volume of Ennis' and Robertson's comic book story arc We Gotta Go Now, from which the series is "loosely inspired".[11]

Casting

On March 11, 2021, Lizze Broadway and Jaz Sinclair were cast in the series.[12][13] On March 19, Shane Paul McGhie, Aimee Carrero, and Maddie Phillips were cast in the series.[14] On April 15, 2021, Reina Hardesty was cast in the series.[15] On March 10, 2022, Carrero and McGhie exited the series.[16] A few days later, Chance Perdomo joined the main cast in a recasting, replacing McGhie.[17] On April 25, 2022, Hardesty left the series.[18] On May 9, 2022, London Thor was cast to replace Hardesty. Derek Luh, Asa Germann, and Shelley Conn also joined the cast as series regulars.[19] Two days later, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Marco Pigossi were cast in recurring capacities.[20] In November 2022, Clancy Brown joined the cast as Richard "Rich Brink" Brinkerhoff.[4][5] In December 2022, Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie, and P. J. Byrne were confirmed to be reprising their roles from The Boys, in guest appearances, as Reggie Franklin / A-Train, Ashley Barrett, and Adam Bourke, respectively,[21] while in September 2023, Derek Wilson was confirmed to have been cast as Robert Vernon / Tek Knight.[6]

Filming

Filming began at the University of Toronto Mississauga campus in May 2022 and the Claireville Conservation Area, Brampton in July, intended for an October wrap, under the working title of The Boys Presents: Varsity.[22] Other filming locations include Sobeys Stadium, and the Stardust Drive-In Movie Theater.[23] In July 2022, it was announced that the series would officially be titled Gen V.[24] In September 2022, members of the cast announced on social media that production had wrapped.[25]

Music

In October 2023, it was revealed that Matt Bowen and Christopher Lennertz had composed the score for the series.[26]

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Release

Gen V premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 29, 2023, with its first three episodes, with the rest of the episodes debuting on a weekly basis.[2]

Reception

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Audience viewership

According to Whip Media's TV Time, following its 3-episode premiere, Gen V became the fifth most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week of October 1, 2023.[27] During the week of October 8, the series rose to fourth place.[28] It then rose to second place during the week of October 15 and remained in the position for the weeks of October 22 and 29, as well as November 5.[29][30][31][32] Meanwhile, Nielsen Media Research reported that Gen V ranked at number 8 on its Top 10 Streaming Originals chart with 374 million minutes viewed.[33]

According to ReelGood, which tracks real-time data from 5 million users in the United States across subscription and advertisement-based video on demand services for streaming programs and movies, the series topped the all streaming content chart during the week of October 12.[34] Meanwhile, JustWatch reported that the series became the most streamed TV show in the United States during the weeks of October 1 and 8.[35][36]

Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 97% approval rating with an average rating of 7.65/10, based on 110 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Just about as gruesomely subversive as its origin series, Gen V builds on The Boys in occasionally chaotic but overall inspired fashion."[37] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[38]

Writing for the first three episodes, Matt Donato of IGN gave the series a score of 9 out of 10, praising the writing, humor, characters, and performances of its cast (particularly Broadway), and wrote, "Gen V does a tremendous job expanding on themes from The Boys that beg for deeper analysis, like the disgusting reality of Compound V injections. [...] [It] feels uniquely mapped as a spin-off that doesn't rely on cameos from [its predecessor] to assure relevance or importance."[39] Alec Bojalad of Den of Geek gave it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and said, "Ultimately, Gen V doesn't appear to be striving for greatness but for something just as elusive. Successfully franchising a concept as antagonistic to franchises as The Boys is no small feat. By embracing the youthful energy of its cast and some solid TV storytelling fundamentals, [the series] is able to somehow make it all work."[40] Lauren Milici of GamesRadar+ rated it with 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote on her verdict: "Despite its flaws and bumps, Gen V is a good time. It's a hot mess, but it's a damn good time". She then praised Germann's performance, calling it "the standout of the season".[41]

Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times also praised the characters and Broadway's performance and stated that the series "expands upon the hit superhero satire with a new cast and storyline that stands on its own as a sharp, snarky commentary on the billion-dollar business of hero worship."[42] Reviewing the first six episodes, The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg called the series "uneven but entertaining", lauding the performances of Broadway, Sinclair, Phillips, Schwarzenegger, Germann and Thomas, but criticizing the pacing and some of its writing, saying that "[the series] lacks patience. It's so eager to charge forward that it can't be bothered giving most of its main characters personalities, much less building believable relationships among them. It tries filling in gaps as it goes along, but episodes get shorter and shorter, and when it comes to the choice between characters and plot, [it] chooses plot every time. [...] [But] whenever it's able to pause and breathe, the writing is clever, the effects are polished and the cast is good."[43] Michael Boyle of /Film rated the series a score of 8 out of 10, criticized the "bluntness of its writing", but praised its characters and performances, especially Broadway's.[44] For the penultimate episode, TVLine gave Sinclair and Phillips an honorable mention for the "Performer of the Week" for the week of October 28, 2023, stating that the two "delivered strength and heartbreak on behalf of their characters" and calling them "a dynamic duo".[45]

In his review for the season finale, IGN's Matt Donato, giving the episode a score of 8 out of 10, opined that "[the series] cleverly shows what happens when supes who've been branded as outcasts find a sense of camaraderie and community in redirecting that hatred. [...] [It] firmly establishes [the] supe-killing virus as an apocalyptic threat for The Boys next season, but also ensures [that it] works as a standalone collegiate mystery with supercharged conflicts", and that the episode "closes [the season] by answering enough lingering questions to make its storytelling journey feel complete."[46] Vulture's Ben Rosenstock, rating the finale with 4 out of 5 stars, concluded his review by saying, "[Gen V] remains an imperfect show, at times a little emotionally simplistic and contrived. But while I often wanted it to take its time and develop the characters more, I had a really good time watching this solid debut season. It's a welcome complement to The Boys, helping fill in more details of the world.[47] Meanwhile, in a mixed review, The A.V. Club's Manuel Betancourt criticized the "deus-ex-machina machinations" but commended the characters and performances of Germann and Broadway, naming them "two of the strongest cast members in the show's ensemble".[48]

Gen V was named among the best TV shows of 2023 by several publications.[49]

Awards and nominations

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Notes

  1. As depicted in The Boys episode "The Female of the Species".
  2. The listed year refers to the date of the ceremony.

References

External links

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