Gen V: God U review S1 E1
Did we need a spin-off for The Boys? Arguably some of the fun of the hard R-rated series is the brand’s aversion to watering down the franchise with inferior material. It doesn’t take long into Gen V’s series premiere, God U, to suggest that maybe there’s room for The Boys to welcome another member into the family.
The Boys is all about the finished product of the supers and the shock factor of seeing the deep levels of depravity humans can exhibit still carry over to those with powers. Gen V’s smart approach takes a look at the training grounds for heroes at prestigious Godolkin University.
If Marie (Jaz Sinclair, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) goes on to become a hero, she’s at least got the tragic origin story down pat. Marie’s powers manifest at the worst possible moment resulting in a horrific tragedy. Determined not to make that moment the most significant aspect of her life, Marie is thrilled to get accepted to God U with a full ride.
God U has been the home of some of some super standouts, some of which even went on to become members of The Seven. That’s the endgame for Marie and she is diligent in training to master control of her…unique blood controlling abilities. At God U, Marie quickly realizes this is a college experience like no other.
Her roommate, Emma (Lizze Broadway, Ghosted), can shrink to pickle size, but the transformation isn’t the easiest. Emma isn’t seeking to become a member of The Seven so it works out for Marie that God U’s high achieving standouts take a liking to her.
There’s matter manipulator Andre (Chance Perdomo), mind controlling Cate (Maddie Phillips), Jordan Li (Derek Luh and London Thor) who can shift between male and female forms instantly and Luke aka Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger, The Terminal List), who’s on the fast track to joining The Seven.
Only problem is Marie hasn’t been accepted to take the superhero track. Gen V president Prof. Brikenhoff (Clancy Brown, Ahsoka) doesn’t think Marie’s powers would make for a particularly popular addition to The Seven.
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The beauty of this premise is Marie can naturally go through all the normal college issues of not feeling like she’s fitting in, being pressured into taking a different career path while being supremely motivated to do more with her life. That would make for a pretty decent college drama on its own. Throwing in the superpower angle allows Gen V to be yet another refreshingly original take on the superhero/comic book genre.
Right away the cast establishes their characters well eliciting the desired emotional response from viewers. Sinclair has the strongest performance capturing that optimism of a badly needed fresh start with the frustrations of her dreams getting derailed prematurely. Schwarzenegger is also solid as the model example for his peers while carrying some secret burden.
God U is more about establishing the players, but Director Nelson Cragg does excel at the episode’s two action sequences as well as Marie’s terrifying origin. A treat is watching Jordan in action and swapping genders with every strike.
Gen V wouldn’t fall under The Boys‘ umbrella if there weren’t a number of non-family friendly moments. Some involving male genitals and copious amounts of blood. This is probably going to be a bloody ride – Boys style — but if God U was any indication, Gen V is going to be an unpredictable and wholly entertaining experience.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Photo Credit: Amazon
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