The Boys: One Gen V Character Is More Powerful Than We Thought

Gen V has premiered a new episode and The Boys spinoff has already revealed that it's full of surprises. Not only did key characters get killed in the first episode of Gen V, but the subplot about The Woods has slowly started to come into focus. The first episode of the series also revealed its new cast of characters and their various super powers. Jaz Sinclair's Marie Moreau is capable of manipulating blood, both her own and the blood of others; while her roommate, Emma Meyer aka Little Cricket (played by Lizze Broadway) has the power to shrink in size. Now we know that's not all she can do. Spoilers for Gen V follow!

Unlike Marvel character's like Ant-Man who have the ability to shrink in size using just technology, Emma's super powers in Gen V are the result of Compound V. The first episode of Gen V confirmed that Emma is only able to utilize her shrinking abilities after purging food (aka throwing up). Episode 4 of the series reveals that the opposite is true too though. In a critical moment as the episode nears its end, Emma, Marie, Jordan, and Andre have tracked Sam to the home of one of the doctor's from The Woods. They begin to use their powers to try and stop him, but instead of engaing in the fight, Emma turns around and starts eating spaghetti. As you can probably guess, by eating food, Emma actually grows in size, and user her giant form to press Sam down and contain him.

This moment not only reveals how powerful Emma is in a bigger sense, but also gives the viewer context as to why she shrinks when she grows. The Boys and Gen V have firmly established that characters injected with Compound V begin to show their powers around puberty. Assuming that the same is true for Emma, it's likely that she learned her initial super power (growing) came about as a result of eating, and only realized after becoming self-conscious of her appearance that purging would make her shrink. We can only assume a flashback or explanation will come at some point showing a giant-sized Emma throwing up and realizing it makes her regular size again, then pushing that to its limit to become small.

Gen V release time

The first four episodes of Gen V are available right now. There are eight episodes in total for Gen V season 1, with a new one premiering weekly until the season finale on Friday, November 3rd. As Prime Video subscribers know though, new shows on the streaming platform actually premiere at 8 PM ET the Thursday night before, so Gen V episode 5 will premiere at 8 PM ET on Thursday, October 12th.

How many episodes will Gen V have?

Like the flagship series The Boys, Gen V's first season will consist of eight episodes. The first three episodes of Gen V premiered on Prime Video this week, meaning five are left in the show's first batch. One new episode of Gen V will premiere weekly on Prime Video until season finale in November. As Prime Video subscribers know though, new shows on the streaming platform actually premiere at 8 PM ET the Thursday night before, so Gen V episode 4 will premiere at 8 PM ET on Thursday, October 5.

Gen V is the first live-action spinoff of The Boys, the hit Prime Video series based on the Dynamite Comics series. Set in Godolkin University, originally a parody of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters from Marvel's X-Men comics, the series is described as "Hunger Games" at a college and the cutthroat world of young supes trying their best to get on one of Vought's super teams, including The Seven. Former Marvel's Agent Carter showrunners Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters showrun the new series, which is executive produced by The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg.