When we think of live-action, superhero TV shows, our minds jump tend to straight to Marvel — and how could they not? Disney+ has been flooding our screens with endless superhero content that ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, such as WandaVision, Loki, and Moon Knight. But for once, Marvel actually has some competition. And no, we’re not talking about DC Comics.
We’re talking about two little shows on Prime Video: The Boys, and its recent spin-off, Gen V. Based on the eponymous comic book series by Dynamite Entertainment, The Boys is a depraved, over-the-top, ultra-violent superhero series that makes the MCU look infantile — and it’s so much fun. It’s a glimpse at how the world would look if superheroes really did exist: the “supes” wouldn’t always be heroes — they’d be flawed, selfish, and even horrible people — and they’d be backed by a billion dollar media empire.
The Boys
- Release Date
- July 26, 2019
- Seasons
- 4
- Studio
- Amazon Studios
Gen V, meanwhile, takes us inside superhero college Godolkin University, where tons of teenage superhero wannabes are all vying for a place among the legendary Seven. You don’t need to watch The Boys first in order to enjoy Gen V. However, during the eight episodes of its first season, Gen V makes numerous references that only fans of The Boys would understand and appreciate. Here are ten references to The Boys that you might have missed while watching Gen V.
10 Love Sausage Cameo
Episode 3
Love Sausage is a character that appears briefly in seasons two and three of The Boys. His superpower? Well, he has a very powerful and enormous, uh, member. The thing’s like a boa constrictor. Love Sausage has a cameo in episode three of Gen V, “#ThinkBrink”, where he appears in a flashback at a psychiatric hospital. Well, some of him appears. We see only a piece of Love Sausage in this episode, slithering around through the window of his cell. Go ahead and guess which part.
9 Adam Bourke Cameo
Episode 5
Gen V features several cameos from characters in The Boys, such as the high-strung CEO of Vought International Ashley Barrett (Colby Minifie), Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles), and the series’ most iconic supe, Homelander (Antony Starr). But one cameo that you might not have realized you were watching is this one.
Adam Bourke (P.J. Byrne) is a comedic, minor character from The Boys that casual fans might have trouble remembering. He’s the director of Vought’s blockbuster movie, Dawn of the Seven. In Gen V, he’s seen working as a guest professor at Godolkin University, begrudgingly teaching an acting course. Fun fact: Bourke is based on DC Comics superhero director Zack Snyder.
8 Termite’s Overdose
Episode 2
Emma Meyer (Lizze Broadway) is one of the lead characters in Gen V, a young woman with the ability to shrink or augment her size. Her classmate, Justine Garcia (Maia Jae Bastidas), recounts a story about Termite, a supe who can also shrink his size — and appears in one of the most outrageous explosions in TV history.
“I went to these huge parties he’d throw with Bryan Singer in the Hollywood Hills. It was gross. I think he just OD’d,” Justine says of Termite. This line refers to another ridiculous scene in The Boys, where Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) throws the pint-sized hero into a bag of cocaine and shakes it up, forcing Termite to ingest the drug. A lot of the drug.
7 Mesmer Reruns
Episode 5
Short for the Mesmerizer, Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment) has a brief role in season one of The Boys. He’s a telepathic supe who was the star of his own TV series, The Mesmerizer, when he was a kid. Although Mesmer was killed in The Boys, Gen V found a cool way to give him a cameo. While our heroes are watching TV, they catch a rerun of Mesmer’s old ’90s show.
We don’t see Haley Joel Osment, though we do catch a glimpse of young Mesmer on the screen (it would’ve been funny if the showrunners used real footage of Osment as a child star here). Our heroes reminisce about their fallen friend Luke/Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger) and his funny commentary while watching this very show. “He hated that kid,” says Cate (Maddie Phillips) of the young Mesmer.
6 Victoria Neuman’s Head-Popping Joke
Episode 7
Here, we have yet another cameo. Throughout season two, we see people’s heads spontaneously explode, thought to be caused by an unseen and mysterious supe. The finale of season two reveals this culprit to be Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit), a secret and powerful supe who’s become a primary antagonist on The Boys. Neuman appears in episode seven of Gen V, “Sick”.
While riding in an elevator, she tells main character Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair), “We’ll hide out in the green room until it all blows over out there. Otherwise, they might take off my head.” It’s a subtle, comedic line if you’re familiar with Neuman’s history on The Boys.
5 Reference to Grace Mallory’s Tragedy
Episode 7
Oh look, another cameo. And unless you’ve seen The Boys, then you’d have no idea who this is or what’s going on in this scene. Grace Mallory (Laila Robins) is the former Deputy Director of the CIA and the founder of The Boys, the ragtag team of non-superhumans who’ve made it their life’s work to take down corrupt supes and Vought International. Mallory appears in episode seven of Gen V, “Sick”. She has a brief chat with the Dean of Godolkin University, Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn), who approaches Mallory with a surprising proposal to rid the world of supes once and for all.
But even Mallory is taken aback by the idea and calls it a war crime. “No matter how many of them you kill, none of this is going to bring your husband and daughter back,” Mallory tells her sadly, referring to the tragedy that sparked Shetty’s desire for revenge on supes. “Or your grandchildren,” Shetty hits back. This line is a reference to Mallory’s own horrific tragedy, which led to the creation of The Boys, and is mentioned often throughout the show.
4 “Girls Get It Done” Lock Screen
Episode 5
Gen V features plenty of visual references to The Boys, such as superhero posters hanging in bedrooms, dormitories, and even prison cells. But one of the coolest visuals comes in the form of a cell phone. In episode five, “Welcome to the Monster Club”, Marie receives a phone call from her roommate Emma.
We’re offered a quick glimpse of her cell phone’s lock screen, which features a blurry image of Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) with the feminist slogan “Girls Get It Done”. This refers to the marketing campaign throughout season two of The Boys, highlighting and promoting the female members of the Seven — a dig at the feminist assembly in the finale of Avengers: Endgame. Even the most eagle-eyed viewers might overlook this reference.
Gen V
- Release Date
- September 29, 2023
- Creator
- Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg
- Seasons
- 1
3 News Coverage on Seven Tower Attack
Episode 10
The Seven Tower, also known as the Vought Tower, is a New York City skyscraper that serves as the headquarters for both the Seven and Vought International. It’s also the setting for an epic, superhero brawl in the season three finale of The Boys, “The Instant White-Hot Wild”. Maeve tackles Soldier Boy out of the building, just as he releases an energy blast.
The battle and explosion leaves the Seven Tower damaged. In Gen V, we catch a glimpse of news coverage that’s reporting an update on the situation. Apparently, “evidence” has been presented to pin the blame on Russia and cover up what really happened, a move that was no doubt orchestrated by Vought themselves.
2 Maverick Is Translucent’s Son
Episode 1
Did Maverick in Gen V remind you of anyone? Sure, you can’t see his face, but the character’s invisibility should’ve reminded you of Translucent (Alex Hassell), a supe and a member of the Seven during season one of The Boys. Although it’s never explicitly stated in Gen V, Maverick is actually Translucent’s son. He’s briefly mentioned and shown during Translucent’s funeral in The Boys.
After getting injected with Compound V, Maverick developed his father’s ability to bend light, make himself invisible, and create a protective outer layer (emphasis on “outer”). It also seems like he’s inherited some of Translucent’s voyeuristic perversions. Like father, like son.
1 News Coverage of Homelander on Trial
Episode 2
Another major thing to come out of the season three finale is Homelander’s blatant murder of a Vought International protester, who heckles the superhero’s son in front of him. Homelander uses his laser eyes to blow the guy into oblivion — right in front of a crowd of witnesses.
Although the crowd cheers in response, it seems like things have gotten a little rough for Homelander since the incident. During Gen V, we see another flash of news coverage with a headline reading: “HOMELANDER ON TRIAL.” Apparently, the supe’s trial will be a major storyline in season four.
Stream The Boys and Gen V on Prime Video
