Sci-fi shows are a huge deal nowadays – all the biggest and best streaming sites seem to be competing for the same eyeballs with high-budget and high-concept series. While most people would probably accept that Apple TV+ is the market leader in the genre, Amazon has been taking a slightly different approach.
Prime Video used to have The Expanse as a more traditional sci-fi, but in recent years the standout show has probably been The Boys, which isn't quite as obviously sci-fi but has many of the required tropes. After all, superpowers and "what if" scenarios are textbook for the genre. Now the show's spinoff, Gen V, is getting a second season, and the first trailer just dropped.
It confirms that the show will start in a few months, on 17 September, and gave us a look at what promises to be an even higher-stakes time for its surviving characters, who are back out of detention but still very much under the thumb of Vought International.
The students we met in the first season are back in many cases, with their wide and often horrifying array of different superpowers, from being able to shrink to tiny sizes to the ability to manipulate people's blood. It's pretty clear that feelings about Vought are going to come to a head again, though, with conflict all but inevitable.
The show has already woven in some cameos from the bigger characters that appear more regularly in The Boys and it looks like at least Firecracker will be making another showing – but beyond that it's actually quite a well-judged trailer in terms of keeping the bigger questions up in the air.
While the first season of Gen V apparently did pretty well and obviously cleared the bar that Amazon set for earning another run, its showrunners will doubtless be hoping that it can come out of the shadow of The Boys. It can't be expected to actually eclipse that show, given its size, but becoming more well-known on its own merits could only be a good thing. We'll see if it can stick that landing when it comes out in September, I guess.
In the meantime, check out more streaming coverage this week as part of T3's Home and Entertainment month, which will bring a whole month of top-quality themed content to the site.
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