After a blood-soaked, emotionally resonant, and overall surprising sophomore year at Godolkin University, Gen V ends on a cliffhanger that, oddly enough, speaks more to The Boys’s upcoming final year than a potential third for the college-set spinoff. In fact, it is unclear if Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), Emma Meyer (Lie Broadway), Jordan Li (London Thor and Derek Luh), Cate Dunlap (Maddie Phillips), and Sam Riordan (Asa Germann) will carry on their education in any sort of formal institution — both because of The Boys’ impending endgame and Amazon not yet announcing a Gen V renewal.
For comic book veterans, this sort of storytelling is nothing new. Ideas seeded in a short-lived comic or miniseries can (and often do) produce fruit elsewhere. In the 1980s, Marvel’s X-Men books thrived on that interconnected narrative. Across town, a key chapter in the “Death of Superman” storyline occurred in the pages of Justice League of America. Even The Boys comics benefited from telling certain stories in specials or short-run comic books. But for the emerging fictional reality, Amazon intends to continue after The Boys concludes, the status of Gen V itself may be more of a cliffhanger than the one set up in its season 2 conclusion.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at where the series left viewers and what it could mean for The Boys and Gen V’s potential future.
Is Marie the Key To Ending Homelander?
While Homelander (Antony Starr) was prominent on posters around campus, he was a seemingly distant presence throughout Gen V’s second year. It’s clear more groups than The Boys recognize the threat he presents, but with pressure already on Annie January (Erin Moriarty), and her supporters, others have to act more covertly. This is the seeming motivation of Cipher (Hamish Linklater)/Godolkin (Ethan Slater) through most of the season. Granted, Godolkin reveals a more deadly aim heading into the season finale.
But all of his machinations center Marie as the key to defeating Homelander because she is at the same god-tier power level as the notorious — yet hugely popular — Supe. She was literally created to be a fail-safe should Vought ever lose control of him. And now that she has the chance to join up with Annie and A-Train’s (Jessie T. Usher) resistance cell, could she be leveraged as the weapon that will end Homelander once and for all?
To hear overall Boys producer Eric Kripke tell it, the answer is no. In the wake of the finale, he told various outlets the same thing: Marie is not “Neo at the end of The Matrix.” But like that Keanu Reeves character, she still has a lot of learning to do. That is the key reason why she may not be the magic bullet needed to defeat Homelander. At the same time, The Boys’ final season reportedly picks up six months after the Gen V conclusion, which suggests Marie might’ve been training in the interim. Could Kripke be fibbing for the sake of keeping the main series’ final act a mystery?
Possibly. But would it be narratively fulfilling for Marie to be that weapon? Those who only watch The Boys would say no, with Annie, Hughie (Jack Quaid), and Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) as more obvious choices. They are all on the same show while Marie is, to an extent, an interloper from a spinoff. A somewhat unfair analogy to that would be Aaron Taylor-Johnson appearing as Kraven the Hunter in Avengers: Secret Wars to deliver the deathblow on Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr).
It would equally be a disservice to Marie in the context of Gen V as she spent most of season 2 being groomed as a weapon and decided, in the end, not to be that. Sure, she popped Godolkin in the midst of that choice, but it’s easy to see her bristling against anyone who would suggest doing the same to Homelander.
Then again, Marie continuing to assert her personhood could make for great drama on either show. But the bulk of her character development should be reserved for her own show.
What Did Sister Sage See?
We have to hand this one thing to Sister Sage (Susan Heyward): She knew exactly when to give up on Godolkin and that Polarity (Sean Patrick Thomas) would be key in defeating him. She is a pre-cog, after all. But her conversation with Polarity has one curious aspect to it. First, she tells him he won’t die todaybut then pauses as though The Boys series finale is already playing in her head. What did she see?
It is possible she already knows the outcome of the final conflict and is trying to angle a way to not just survive, but remain on top at Vought. Then again, she could be seeing something far more apocalyptic.
Alternatively, she might be glimpsing a Gen V season 3 in which Polarity ends up the new dean and cracking under pressure. Will Marie have to end him, too? Considering he bumbled into being a father figure for the whole group, losing him to the madness that seems to infect God-U’s chief administrators could be devastating.
Time For The G-Men?
But assuming The Boys ends with Homelander’s defeat even as Vought carries on and Supes are still a reality — indeed, Amazon wants to continue in that world via the Vought Rising prequel series and other planned spinoffs — how could Marie and the others carry on in a potential Gen V season 3?
One option is a return to God-U. Despite two insane deans in as many years, Vought would have a vested interest in keeping the school open. Sure, it is a university with so much corruption that it literally infests the roots of the institution, but it is also easy to see the company rebrand it with a new name and a new mission: making sure Supes never turn out like Homelander. And part of that rebrand would be giving the Gen V kids a free ride for the remainder of their studies.
Well, provided any of them are in a state for that following The Boys finale.
The spinoff itself is based on a Boys comic book storyline in which Hughie infiltrates God-U to learn more about the G-Men, Godolkin’s hand-picked superhero team. Yes, it is a more direct parody of the X-Men, but it could prove an interesting way to re-frame what the school does and you could see a new dean — maybe even Polarity — picking Marie and the others to be the face of that new initiative. Vought would even have an interest in positioning that team as a replacement for the Seven.
Would the kids go for it, though? God-U has let them down at nearly every turn and with just about every authority figure looking to prey on them, it’s possible their escape from the school in the season 2 finale represents the end of their formal education.
Pivoting to the “what now?” of post-grad life could be an interesting way to carry on, but would that mean losing side characters like Harper (Jessica Clement) and Greg (Stephen Kalyn)? Right now, that’s the biggest reason to return to campus.
According to Kripke, a plan is in place should Amazon ask for another season, so clearly the production teams know what’s next for the school and the characters.
Will Annabeth Carry On With The Group?
In either The Boys or Gen VMoreau sibling Annabeth’s (Keeya King) status will have to be clarified. Living her life as Supe in hiding — and regretting the time her powers would’ve saved her parents — she is only now starting to embrace her truth. That could lead to a backslide and a reason not to include her in The Boys’ fifth season. But can she be separated from the group now that she and Marie have reconnected?
Further development of their mended relationship definitely serves Gen V in the long run. It also adds something new to the dynamic. We’ve only seen Annabeth under stress. What does a more relaxed environment mean for her and potential friendships with the others?
If the group returns to God-U, it’s safe to say Annabeth would start attending classes to attune her pre-cog powers. Putting someone as seemingly studious as her in the party atmosphere of the school could prove an interesting contrast. Meanwhile, she would still have to face residual discomfort around Marie because of what happened all those years ago. Of course, that last element could find space in a third season where the kids try to start their lives as contracted superheroes.
Either way, the addition of the characters means no takebacks going forward. She and Marie have been reunited and Gen V needs to spend time with that should it continue.
Will Justine Ever Get Her True Viral Moment?
Self-styled social media maven Justine (Maia Jae) is always just behind the moment and just behind the trends. Sure, she has a following, but it feels like she built that off being second string. Sometimes, it even feels like she knows that. But should the series return to God-U, there may finally be a time for her to shine.
Or, perhaps, establish a truer personality. Since we’ve only seen her in passing or to service a joke, she isn’t a well-rounded character. Sure, that could be a joke about media-obsessed young people, but both TV and The Boys can only keep people as punchlines for so long. And with Cate seemingly finishing her villain arc, it is possible Justine could take her place as an antagonist.
This is also true of Rufus (Alexander Calvert), Ally (Georgie Murphy), and even Greg. Each are still on the periphery and have the potential to become more compelling central characters. Perhaps that is the pivot for a season 3: what will these characters do in the absence of our main quintet?
At that point, though, is it even Gen V?
It is possible to lampshade such a drastic change by featuring jokes about the time The Dukes of Hazzard replaced them Duke Boys with their cousins, or when Scrubs tried to introduce a new cast. But since these characters, and the handful of others who populate the campus, are not as developed as the main cast, could they carry a third season?
For the moment, though, we’ll presume Gen V will return to its established setting with its core characters — if it returns at all — and at least some of the questions asked here will have to wait until season 3 for resolution.
Gen V is now playing on Prime Video.
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