Warning! This article contains spoilers for Gen V episode 7.

Summary

  • Gen V highlights the genius writing of The Boys by effectively mirroring Billy Butcher with Indira Shetty, a character who seeks revenge against Supes for personal tragedy just as Billy does, only by placing her as a villain whereas Billy is a morally questionable hero.
  • The show flips the status quo of The Boys by presenting the main cast as predominantly Supes fighting against "human villains," subverting the audience's expectations by adding depth to the conflict only by exploring the other side of the fight that The Boys depicts.
  • Through its exploration of morally gray characters and conflicts, Gen V solidifies the genius of The Boys' universe, proving that a spin-off can elevate and expand the original show's storytelling capabilities.

The Boys' spin-off, Gen V being renewed for season 2 ahead of becoming Prime Video's number one show.

By the time the Gen V's continued The Boys season 4 set-up, the true genius writing of the overall franchise has been highlighted. From the morally gray aspects of both shows and how they go hand-in-hand to how Gen V is perfectly flipping The Boys' status quo through its ensemble cast and even a Billy Butcher replacement, Gen V's strengths only allow The Boys' to shine brighter and vice versa.

Indira Shetty Is Like The Boys' Butcher - Except She's A Villain

Indira Shetty from Gen V next to Billy Butcher from The Boys

Firstly, concerning Gen V's Billy Butcher replacement, episode 7 made it clear this archetype fell to Indira Shetty. For much of Gen V's first six episodes, Indira Shetty was positioned as the show's primary antagonist; a villainous dean who is experimenting on innocent teenagers in deplorable ways to construct a virus capable of killing Supes. While Shetty's actions are still morally wrong, Gen V episode 7 revealed her true motivation. As it turns out, The Boys season 1's tragic plane crash at the hands of Homelander resulted in Shetty's young daughter and husband being killed.

This led her to vow revenge against Supes as, from Shetty's point of view, they have always left paths of destruction in their wake. Using Gen V's Godolkin University as a front to create a virus that will result in the genocide of superhuman beings, Shetty's plan led her to FBI agent Mallory who solidified the former as incredibly similar to The Boys' Billy Butcher. Both characters have been wronged by Supes, specifically Homelander, yet one is presented as a troubled hero (Butcher), and the other is presented as an evil villain (Shetty).

By the end of Gen V episode 7, Shetty is changed from this one-note villain to a sympathetic if morally incorrect victim meaning her death does not feel like the right thing. This is a very similar way in which Butcher is presented. Both characters' rage and pain inflicted by Supes have driven them to do horrible things, yet both are understandable in their motivations. Interestingly though, The Boys depicted Butcher's fall from grace whereas Gen V flipped this arc, starting Shetty off in season 1 as The Boys season 3 ended Butcher's journey - for now - and making for an excellently written dichotomy in character arcs

Gen V Flips The Boys’ Status Quo

Marie Moreau in Gen V with Butcher and Homelander The Boys background

Just as Gen V flips Butcher's arc through Shetty, the entire show flips the status quo of The Boys on its head. The primary way in which this happens is through the show's characters being predominantly Supes. From the core four of Marie, Jordan, Cate, and Andre to outside characters like Luke, Sam, and Emma, Gen V's main cast are all superheroes going up against "human villains" like Shetty and Clancy Brown's Richard Brinkerhoff. This subconsciously influences the audience to root for the Supes against the humans, something not commonly found in The Boys. With The Boys, the titular group consists of four humans: Hughie, Butcher, Frenchie, and MM.

The series begins with these four humans taking the fight to corrupted Supes, subliminally telling the audience that Supes are the bad guys which Gen V is now subtly turning on its head. Throughout The Boys, only Starlight, Kimiko, and arguably Maeve have been shown as "good" Supes, with even the latter two committing morally questionable acts at times. This allows The Boys to have a core conflict of "good humans vs evil Supes" while being aware enough to show that good and bad exist on both sides. Through Gen V, this exploration goes even deeper than The Boys, showing it from the "evil" side of the universe through teenage Supes.

Gen V Has Solidified The Genius Of The Boys’ Universe

The kids from Gen V and of The Seven from The Boys

These elements, from the duality of Shetty and Butcher to the reversal of the show's core conflict by showing it through the eyes of The Boys' enemies, have allowed Gen V to highlight just how genius the writing of the universe is. When franchises, be it through film, TV, gaming, or books, attempt a morally gray, unclear conflict in which both sides can be rooted for and against, the story of such can become murky. Stories, characters, and other aspects can be completely lost in controversy, unclear motivations, or the pressure the writers place on exploring morality.

With The Boys universe though, this problem has been expertly avoided through the very concept many thought would not work: a spin-off. If the flip side of The Boys' conflict had been explored too deeply in the main show, it would have run into these aforementioned issues. However, through telling an entirely different albeit connected story with a completely new cast of characters amid a new setting, Gen V has allowed The Boys universe to go deeper than many thought possible. In many ways, a spin-off thought doomed from the off has only elevated the main show with Gen V solidifying the genius writing of The Boys universe.