You Won't Understand 'The Boys' Season 5 Without Watching This Underrated Gem
Prime Video’s wildly popular superhero satire series, The Boys, will conclude with a fifth and final season, set to premiere on April 8, 2026. Naturally, anticipation is high for the show, which attracted attention through its dark take on superheroes and over-the-top sex and violence. Based on the official teaser trailer, The Boys Season 5 will have quite the intense and shocking conclusion.
However, before diving into The Boys’ epic final season, there is another series you’ll want to watch first. A highly underrated but fantastic show has slowly established its importance in The Boys universe over two seasons, now making it vital to understanding Season 5. If you want to enjoy and understand The Boys Season 5 to the fullest extent, Gen V is a must-see.
How ‘Gen V’ Fits Into ‘The Boys’ Universe
Gen V is a spin-off of The Boys that premiered in 2023. Set in the same universe as The Boys, Gen V centers primarily on the younger generation of superheroes, also known as supes. It centers on Marie Moreau (Jazz Sinclair), a powerful young supe with blood-manipulation abilities who enrolls at Godolkin University, a special college for young adults with superhuman powers. While she quickly climbs the ranks at Godolkin University, she begins to realize that nothing is as it seems after a tragedy.
Not only does Gen V take place in the same universe as The Boys, but it also fits within its timeline: Season 1 occurs between The Boys Seasons 3 and 4, and Season 2 between The Boys Seasons 4 and 5. As a result, it serves as a bridge, filling in the gaps of what happens between seasons of The Boys. Meanwhile, Seasons 1 and 2 featured cameos and guest appearances from many of The Boys’ stars, including Butcher (Karl Urban), Starlight (Erin Moriarty), A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), Tek Knight (Derek Wilson), and Victoria Neuman (Claudia Domnit).
Gen V does an excellent job of filling the gaps in The Boys and exploring interesting story arcs that the main show may not have time for. I especially liked how Gen V expanded on The Boys’ Compound V reveal. While The Boys explored the fallout from supes learning that a higher power didn’t bestow their gifts, Gen V gets into the nitty-gritty of children and teens discovering that their parents chose to inject them with Compound V. It also continues The Boys’ exploration of what superheroes would truly look like in real life by showing the traumatic ways many children come unexpectedly into their powers.
Yes, ‘Gen V’ Is A Must-Watch Before ‘The Boys’ Season 5
Naturally, when Gen V Season 1 premiered before The Boys Season 4, the hottest question was whether you had to watch it first. The answer was slightly more complex back then. While Season 1 introduced a virus storyline that The Boys expanded on extensively, the Gen V characters don’t feature prominently in the season. If you weren’t overly interested in where the virus came from, you could probably get by without Gen V.
However, Gen V Season 2 is a different story. The series centers on Marie and her friends as they become suspicious of Godolkin U’s new dean and whispers of a mysterious “Project Odessa.” I can’t say too much without spoiling it, but let’s just say the cast teams up with an essential The Boys character and learns “Project Odessa” has surprising connotations for Homelander (Antony Starr).
Gen V’s season finale heavily hinted that its characters will play an essential part in The Boys Season 5. Most of the cast have since been confirmed to appear, although the extent of their roles is unknown. Also, The Boys and Gen V creator, Eric Kripke, has been firm about not merging the shows entirely. So the Gen V characters may not appear as much as viewers hope. Still, if you want to get a feel for the high stakes, tense atmosphere, and rumblings of resistance in The Boys universe, you’re going to want to watch Gen V.
‘Gen V’ Is The Perfect Spin-off Of ‘The Boys’
While Gen V is important to The Boys Season 5, you should also watch it because it’s a great show and the perfect spin-off for The Boys’ fans. The series is every bit as bloody, over-the-top, and wild as The Boys, constantly pushing boundaries and dialing up that shock factor. Although the vibes are very similar to The Boys, it also tells its own story. The college premise and the younger cast feel refreshing and intriguing. Of course, Gen V also contains some fan service, and one of the best parts of the series is holding your breath, wondering when another central The Boys character will pop up.
I also found Gen V slightly more relatable than The Boys. All of The Boys’ characters appear morally ambiguous, and most are seeking revenge. However, Gen V is more relatable in its portrayal of college-aged students unfairly drawn into a life they never asked for, yet still choose to do the right thing. They’re surprisingly easy to empathize with, and the premise gives Gen V a coming-of-age feel that The Boys doesn’t have.
The Boys is gritty through and through, but if you’re looking for a show that somehow manages to pull off similar levels of violence and sex but maintains a feeling of innocence in its characters, Gen V is the way to go.
