Prime Video’s The Boys is one of the most surprising hits of the streaming era, turning a little-known comic property into a household name. The popularity of the main series previously led to a largely non-canon animated series and now, the franchise is growing through the release of Gen V, a live-action show based at one of the most preeminent Vought-owned universities in the country.
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Prime has now dropped the first three episodes of the series, and we have full and complete recaps for each of the three premiere episodes. As you might expect, this post has full spoilers for the first three episodes of The Boys: Gen V, so proceed with caution if you’ve yet to see the series.
Flashback 8 years ago, we see news coverage of a superhero draft. In it, A-Train is selected as a member of The Seven, making the character the first Black hero to join the group.
We’re taken to a family home and introduced to a younger version of Marie Moreau, the show’s main protagonist. The pre-teen begins exhibiting symptoms of her first period and in the ensuing scene, she accidentally kills her parents as it’s revealed she’s a blood bender and can manipulate blood.
In the present day, Marie wakes up in her dorm room and we’re quickly introduced to some students at the Red River Institute, the orphanage for supes that’s been seen in both the first and third seasons of the show. During a montage here, we reveal the show takes place immediately following The Boys Season 3 as students discuss Starlight leaving The Seven.
Marie heads to the institute’s gymnasium and cuts her hand open so that she can bleed and train using her powers. We see that she can manipulate her blood all kinds of ways, including turning it into a rope to “choke” a mannequin with. The powers quickly drain energy from her and she has to sit down to gain her composure. On her way back from the gym, she sees a fellow student being hauled into an armored vehicle with a decal that reads Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Center.
Shortly thereafter, she checks her e-mail to find out she’s been accepted into Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, the world’s premiere university built around superheroes. We find out it’s Marie’s dream to become to first Black woman to ever join The Seven, ambitions quickly dashed by her advisor who warns her that if she messes her admission up, she’ll be imprisoned at Elmira.
An admissions video is packed to the brim with references to the main series. The university has named its various schools after familiar heroes, such as the Crimson Countess School for the Performing Arts and the Lamplighter School for Crimefighting. Queen Maeve, A-Train, and The Deep are all shown as alumni of the latter.
Moments later, Maria arrives at the campus of “God U” and stares in wonder at a statue of Homelander. In her initial walk through the dorm, she finds that it’s heavily fortified with security. Viewers see a quick glimpse as if someone’s scrolling a TikTok-like app and are treated to even more nods to the original show including a news clip suggesting Russians are responsible for the Seven Tower attack at the end of Season 3 and others paying tribute to Queen Maeve’s “passing.” We see that Marie’s roommate is Emma, a supe not unlike Ant-Man. Emma explains that she’s an influencer and became famous for fighting her pet gerbil on YouTube.
Marie, Emma, and the rest of the students at God U begin assembling at the campus stadium. It’s here we’re introduced to Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Golden Boy, a fire manipulator that’s effectively the campus heartthrob. He’s approached by Cate Dunlap, an empath that can sense he’s not been getting sleep and we find out he’s been having recurring nightmares about some place in the woods. The stadium is home to the university’s “Combat Arts” and Golden Boy quickly shows why he’s the top-ranked fighter on campus, “flaming on” and ripping the arms of his opponent.
Emma gets a notification that class schedules are out and Marie finds out she didn’t get into “Intro to Crimefighting,” a requirement for any student wanting to get into the School for Crimefighting and, in turn, get drafted to The Seven or score a city contract. After a brief argument with Jordan Li, the second-ranked supe on campus, Marie’s able to directly speak with Clancy Brown’s Richard Brinkerhoff, a professor on campus that’s become famous for his books on training superheroes. Marie reveals she’s been rejected from the class because she doesn’t have enough Instagram followers, and tries to convince Brinkerhoff she deserves to be a crimfighter. Instead, Brinkerhoff tries to convince her that she’s alright joining the performing arts school.
On her way home from class, she’s passed by a student that’s being chased by cops. She joins the pursuit as the cops say the student is “tweaking on meth,” and she stops him with one of her blood ropes. The student yells out that he’s not “going back to the woods” before being knocked unconscious by security. He’s then taken to a holding cell where the wallpaper includes trees.
The next day, Marie and Emma go to the School for Performing Arts, where they meet up with some other students outside. After a discussion with what shows and movies the students have been on, Marie storms out of the discussion realizing she’s not fit to act.
We go back to Brinkerhoff’s office, where we find out he’s close with Golden Boy. He shows Golden Boy a mockup of his super suit and informs him he’ll become a member of The Seven upon graduation and has his choice of taking the apartment of either Maeve or Starlight. After the two hug, the camera pulls in on Golden Boy’s face to show he’s apprehensive of the move.
Heading back to her dorm, Marie is stopped by Andre Anderson, a popular metal bender on campus and close friend to Golden Boy. Andre reveals he witnessed Marie stop the student the previous night and he invites her to break curfew as he, Golden Boy, and a few others “go on an adventure.” Later that night, the group is spotted partying on the roof of Seven Tower while Marie largely stands by herself. Golden Boy notices her by her lonesome an the two strike up a conversation, where Marie goes through her “origin story.” Her parents gave her Compound V as a child, but it didn’t take effect until she hit puberty. She reveals her parents are dead and Golden Boy reveals his brother has passed, creating a bond between the two and their career aspirations.
With Marie off, Emma stares at her computer and reads all of the negative comments on her YouTube videos, which reduces her to tears. At the same time, one of the students she met at school earlier texts her. The two begin hooking up when Liam, the texter, says he’d prefer if she shrunk herself. We then find out she can only shrink herself after making herself vomit and inducing great pain.
Marie and the group of popular kids head to a night club where Cate uses her powers to mind-control a bouncer into letting them into the club. The group starts doing drugs and though hesitant, Marie eventually caves to peer pressure and takes ecstasy. She and Cate go off to dance while Golden Boy, Andre, and Jordan Li talk about their future careers.
High out of his mind, Golden Boy hits the dance floor and has a quick vision of being stranded in the woods. Andre tries picking a girl up with a bar trick, only it goes very wrong, very fast. He turns a coin into a metallic bird and tries to launch it across the room, but he’s bumped and the bird accidentally slices a bystander’s artery. Most of the group decides to leave, leaving Marie behind. She uses her powers to stop the person’s bleeding, saving her life. Those at the club upload videos of the incident, which goes viral.
The next day, Brinkerhoff calls Marie into his office. After a monologue about what it takes to be a hero, “Brink” informs Marie she’s being expelled in order to save face for Golden Boy, Andre, and Jordan Li. He then goes on to say Marie’s powers don’t have any value in the realm of crimefighting, and she’s being forced to go back to the orphanage.
Golden Boy wakes up very hungover and begins to hear a voice. He opens the door to his dorm and sees the woods once again. This time, he’s greeted by a younger version of his brother Sam, who requests he help before he’s teleported back into his dorm.
As Marie walks her way back campus, we see the day Marie accidentally killed her parents and how her sister called her a monster. In the present, cuts herself to look at her powers again, throwing a splatter of blood at a nearby garbage can out of anger.
Marie heads back to Brink’s office and walks in on Golden Boy burning Brink to death. Golden Boy alludes to “The Wood” and wishes Marie didn’t witness it. He then chases Marie through the school before the two run into Jordan. Golden Boy and Jordan scrap, allowing Marie to escape. While running out of the school, Marie tells Andre what happened and moments later, Luke busts through the windows.
A crowd has surrounded the trio and Golden Boy breaks down crying and apologizes. After hugging Andrew, Golden Boy powers up and flies into the air where he makes himself explode, sending blood and bodily fluids onto the people down below.
The episode ends with a “post-credit” scene featuring a video from Vought CEO Ashley Barrett, who calls Golden Boy’s death an “isolated incident.”
The first three episodes of The Boys: Gen V are now streaming on Prime Video. New episodes of the series will be released on the service every Friday.
