The Boys spin-off Gen V returns for s2 but will it be as popular as Billy and the gang?
Fans of satirical superhero show The Boys can fill the void as they await season 5 with a new offering of college-based spin-off Gen V.
But will it be as popular as its record-breaking parent show?
Gen V drops today on Amazon Prime and is set in the same universe where Billy Butcher and the Boys are fighting to take down the corrupt Vought International that turned superheroes into a corporate money-making machine.
Gen V returns for season 2
The spin-off series, that debuted in 2023, follows a group of young adult “Supes” as they navigate university life and bid to join The Seven, Vought’s elite team of heroes.
Season 2 picks up after the finale of season 4 of The Boys, when Billy and the gang tried to stop evil Homelander once and for all by having him killed by his son Ryan.
Gen V’s main character Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and the others return to Godolkin University School for Crimefighting, where the dean wants to turn Supes into soldiers on the brink of a war with the humans and they soon discover a programme that could change everything.
Hughie, Annie (Starlight) and Billy in The Boys
And a trailer has teased even more of a crossover, with Starlight (Erin Moriarty), as well as some other familiar faces, making an appearance.
Warning – the following trailer includes some bad language so watch at your own discretion:
The Boys was the most in-demand action and adventure TV show in the 2024-25 period, according to data-science firm Parrot Analytics.
It had a global demand rating 67.8 times greater than the average TV show.
The Amazon Prime series has held this record before, first claiming the accolade in 2023, before losing it the following her to Disney+’s The Mandalorian, which also held the record in 2021.
Homelander and his son Ryan in The Boys
This title was also previously held by Marvel series WandaVision in 2022, The CW’s The Flash in 2020 and medieval drama Vikings in 2019.
The Boys is also the most in-demand superhero TV show for 2024-25, another title it has won, lost and reclaimed.
It was The Flash that claimed the top spot when we first monitored it in 2019, keeping the title for two years before Billy and the Boys took it in 2021.
In the following years, the record went to WandaVision, back to The Boys, to Loki, and then back to The Boys once more.
The below chart from Parrot Analytics shows that demand for the first season of Gen V was on par with the second and third seasons of its parent show - around 90-100x more than the average series demand.
The fourth season of The Boys, which was the first to drop after the premiere of Gen V saw a notable increase in demand for it. That season had a demand rating of around 150x higher than the average.
Experts at Parrot Analytics say that's a "great example of how expanding a franchise with a new title can provide more entry points for audiences and help boost the performance of the entire franchise".
The chart shows that in the days leading up to the release of Gen V's second season, demand was tracking in the 20-25x range, showing that audiences were engaged and excited about it.
A representative for Parrot Analytics told us: "While this is still below pre-season premiere demand that we have seen for The Boys, it is a positive indicator for audience interest in the new season of Gen V."
Tragedy followed the first season of Gen V when star Andre Anderson, who played Chance Perdomo, died in a motorcycle crash at the age of 27.
It was reported he was on his way to Toronto to begin filming the second season when it happened. Out of respect, his character was not recast and the season was rewritten.