- Releasing in mid-September
- Trailers revealed in June and July
- Season 1's main cast set to return
- Two characters from season 1 won't be back
- Characters from The Boys will cameo
- Story synopsis revealed
- Set between The Boys seasons 4 and 5
- Yet to be officially renewed for a third season
Gen V season 2 is just weeks away from being released. The Boys' first live-action spin-off is set to return on September 17 – and your attendance will be compulsory.
So, what do we know about Gen V's sophomore year ahead of release? Below, I'll reveal everything that's been, well, revealed so far. That includes its release schedule, trailers, cast list, story details, and how it might impact The Boys season 5's own narrative.
Full spoilers follow for The Boys season 4 and Gen V season 1. Potential spoilers are also discussed for this show's second outing.
Gen V season 2 release date
Gen V season 2 will be released worldwide on Prime Video on Wednesday, September 17. It'll return with a three-episode premiere, too.
As for its other five chapters, they'll drop weekly every Wednesday until the season 2 finale arrives on October 22.
Gen V season 2 trailer
Gen V season 2's first trailer was released in June and teased how the series' next installment will pick up events from its predecessor's finale and The Boys' fourth season. I'll get into these in more detail in this guide's plot section.
Amazon released season 2's official trailer in late July, and it nor only confirmed Gen V will further explore secrets within Godolkin University's walls, but also that a number of characters from The Boys are part of its cast. Speaking of which...
Gen V season 2 confirmed cast
Full spoilers follow for Gen V season 1.
Here are the actors (and their respective characters) who'll appear in Gen V season 2:
- Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau
- Lizze Broadway as Emma Meyer
- London Thor and Derek Luh as Jordan Li
- Maddie Philips as Cate Dunlap
- Asa Germann as Sam Riordan
- Sean Patrick Thomas as Polarity
- Hamish Linklater as Dean Cipher
- Erin Moriarty as Annie January / Starlight
- Chace Crawford as Kevin Moskowitz / The Deep
- Nathan Mitchell as Black Noir
- Valorie Curry as Misty Tucker Gray / Firecracker
- Ethan Slater as Thomas Godolkin
The first six actors – or, rather, seven, because the gender-swapping Supe student known as Jordan is played by Thor and Luh – featured in season 1.
Linklater will portray Godolkin's new Dean following the death of Indira Shetty in season 1 episode 7. Some of Jaz, Jordan, Emma, Cate, and Sam's fellow students are also expected to return, but Amazon hasn't announced which ones will yet.
Given this show's ties to the wider universe of The Boys, there'll be plenty of cameos from characters who populate the main series, aka one of best Prime Video shows. Indeed, season 2's first teaser confirmed Curry's Firecracker will show up, while its follow-up trailer also showed Crawford's The Deep and Mitchell's Black Noir will guest star.
Additionally, the latter revealed Moriarty's Starlight will enlist Moreau's help in digging into a mysterious Godolkin research project known as Project Odessa, which was spearheaded by the school's founder Thomas Goldolkin. He'll be played by Ethan Slater (Wicked).
One actor who won't be back is Chance Perdomo. He played Andre Anderson in season 1, but died in a motorcycle accident last March. 24 hours after that fatal incident, Gen V's creative team released a statement to confirm Andre wouldn't be recast. Instead, this season's narrative has been altered to reflect Perdomo's passing and, by proxy, Andre's in-universe death, which will occur off-camera between seasons 1 and 2.
Gen V season 2 story synopsis and speculation
Full spoilers immediately follow for Gen V season 1 and The Boys season 4.
Here's the official plot brief for Gen V season 2: "School is back in session. As the rest of America adjusts to Homelander's iron fist, back at Godolkin University, the mysterious new Dean preaches a curriculum that promises to make students more powerful than ever. Cate and Sam are celebrated heroes, while Marie, Jordan and Emma reluctantly return to college, burdened by months of trauma and loss.
"But, parties and classes are hard to care about with war brewing between Humans and Supes, both on and off campus. The gang learns of a secret program that goes back to the founding of Godolkin that may have larger implications than they realize. And, somehow, Marie is a part of it."
That's quite a spoiler-filled synopsis, but it doesn't explain the events leading up to this season. Outside of the fact that we now know season 2 takes place eight months after The Boys 4, you'll want to read my Gen V season 1 ending explained and The Boys season 4 ending explained articles to remind yourself what happened in those aforementioned eight-episode entries.
As season 2's blurb confirms, Cipher has been hired as Godolkin's Dean for one reason only – creating a new army of Supes for Homelander. The latter is, as of The Boys 4's finale, the shadow leader of the so-called Free World. Steve Calhoun may be the outward-facing US President, but he swore his allegiance to Homelander in episode 8 of the main series' fourth season. So, Calhoun is just a puppet ruler whose strings are being pulled by Anthony Starr's homicidal Supe.
Now effectively the commander-in-chief of the western world's greatest superpower, Homelander wants Godolkin's students to become superpowered enforcers to maintain his autocracy of the United States. To that end, Godolkin's pupils will be forced to train and hone their superhuman abilities by battling one another. We catch a glimpse of this in season 2's trailers, with Marie preparing to duel Jordan in an audience-filled arena.
It's possible, though, that Homelander's plan may backfire. Indeed, this season's story brief also alludes to a "secret program" – the previously mentioned Project Odessa – and that Marie is a part of it. This season's official trailer also suggests she could be a more powerful Supe than Homelander himself.
That raises three big questions, the first of which being: what is Project Odessa? It was briefly teased in The Boys season 4 episode 4, i.e. the one where Homelander returned to the Vought laboratory he was created at, so we know little else about it.
The Boys' showrunner and the franchise's creative lead Eric Kripke won't say but, teasing its importance, he told Entertainment Weekly (EW): "It's not really a spoiler to say that the whole reason he [Thomas Godolkin] started Godolkin was to pursue Project Odessa. It's the origin story of the entire school."
Could it hold the key to defeating Homelander, then? If not, could Marie be the one to stop him once and for all? After all, her blood manipulation powers means she should be the most powerful Supe that the world has ever seen.
"I was always hoping that they would write me to kill Homelander," Jaz Sinclair, who plays Marie, told EW. "I always really liked the idea of taking him out 'cause he's such a royal ass, you know? I like that she's a Black woman, too. This super sexist, patriarchal bad guy. I would love to see him get his ass handed to him by a Black woman."
Understandably, Kripke was less forthcoming with answers to the above. Instead, he indicated Gen V season 2 would, in fact, turn the spotlight back onto Marie and purposefully poke fun at individuals labelled as 'The Chosen One' in multimedia endeavors.
"If she can control everybody's blood, then what can't she do? How is she not the most powerful superhero on the planet?" he suggested. "Just because she has the potential to be, doesn't mean that she is. It felt like a very organic adolescent problem, which is these expectations are placed on you to be this truly great thing, but you're not quite ready to step up to be truly great."
These aren't the only questions we need answers to.
We should learn more about what happened to Andre between seasons 1 and 2, and the events that led to his off-camera death. I suspect we'll also see how Andre's death will lead his father, Polarity, to side with Marie, Emma, Jordan, and any other allies they may accumulate this season, to lead a rebellion against Cipher and, by proxy, Homelander.
There's also the mystery surrounding the students' return to Godolkin. Marie, Emma, and Jordan were imprisoned at the end of season 1, while Cate and Sam helped Homelander put a stop to their peers' Godolkin insurrection last season and round up members of The Boys in the main show's fourth outing. Outside of developing their powers, then, why are all of them sent back to God U to continue their studies? And, if Marie is asked to head back there by Starlight, how long has she been on the run for after seemingly escaping prison?
Then there's the mention of the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Center, aka the organization that Cipher worked at before he was appointed as Godolkin's new Dean. What role did he have at Elmira? And, as this is the place that Marie and company were incarcerated at the end of the last season, is it possible other individuals (Supes or otherwise) who aren't loyal to Homelander, such as the members of The Boys who were captured in The Boys 4, are being held there? And what potential role could it have in Project Odessa or other experiments being conducted using the titular Supe-based serum?
Lastly, Gen V's sophomore season will set up events to come for The Boys' fifth and final installment. Kripke confirmed as much to EW, saying: "There's a lot in Gen V that really helps set up the climax of this final confrontation in The Boys." In short: if you want to know as much as possible about The Boys 5 before it arrives in 2026, you'll need to watch Gen V season 2.
Has Gen V season 3 been announced yet?
Not yet. Truth be told, Gen V's future largely hinges on three things: how well its second season is received, whether people tune in to watch season 2, and how The Boys' story ends.
Where the last of those points is concerned, The Boys season 5 will be the mainline show's last hurrah and is likely to bring Homelander, Butcher, Hughie, Starlight, and many other characters' stories to a close. If season 5 wraps up every major plot thread, including any outliers from Gen V's second outing, Amazon could decide to call it quits with its reimagining of The Boys there and then.
That said, The Boys is one of the biggest and most-watched Amazon TV Originals of all time, so I'd be equally surprised if Prime Video executives don't want it to continue in some form. Should that prove to be the case, Gen V might be renewed for a third season.
Of course, The Boys' universe has plenty more stories to tell. Other spin-off projects, such as a rumored Mexico-based one that'll reportedly star Andor's Diego Luna, could be developed alongside, or instead of, Gen V season 3 Until The Boys' final season debuts on Prime Video, we don't know what the future holds for this franchise.
For more Prime Video-related coverage, read our guides on The Rings of Power season 3, Invincible season 4, Fallout season 2, and Mr and Mrs Smith season 2.
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