We're currently between seasons of The Boys, Prime Video's subversive superhero show about a world where superheroes are both real and completely awful. The fifth and final season of The Boys will likely air in 2026, wrapping up the story of the conflict between sociopathic superman Homelander and nigh-sociopathic superhero-hater Billy Butcher.
But Amazon has no intention of letting that be the end of things. It's already aired a first season of one spinoff show called Gen V, set at a college where young superheroes are trained to use their powers and avoid moral accountability for their actions. There's also a Spanish-language spinoff planned called The Boys: Mexico.
Finally, there's Vought Rising, a prequel series that will explore the foundations of Vought, the massive corporation behind a lot of the superheroes we come to meet and loathe on The Boys. Vought Rising will revolve around two characters we met on the original series: Soldier Boy, a callow war veteran played by Jensen Ackles; and Stormfront, a Nazi played by Aya Cash. Both characters are morally reprehensible people, but The Boys has always taken an ironic, openly political approach to its storytelling; they may be the main characters, but they will definitely not be the good guys.
Speaking to ComicBook, Cash said that she doesn't know when Vought Rising may begin filming, but is very excited about what she's seen of the series so far. “I’ve read two scripts and they’re absolutely insanely good. But that’s about all I can tell you.”
Can The Boys sustain so many spinoffs?
The budding Boys Cinematic Universe has a pretty good track record so far. The original show has remained very consistent and people like the spinoff Gen V; the animated side series Diabolical was also pretty fun.
Still, I get nervous whenever a studio goes this hard on a franchise. The first season of The Boys aired in 2019, and already there are two spinoffs out and two more on the way. Is there enough interest to sustain this kind of push or is the whole thing doomed to collapse under its own weight?
Again, so far, so good, but there are some cautionary examples even within Amazon itself. The idea of doing a foreign-language spinoff like The Boys: Mexico reminds me of Citadel: Diana, a new Italian-language series on Amazon Prime Video spun off from the spy drama Citadel; not a lot of people watched the original Citadel when it aired on Prime Video in 2023, even though Amazon reportedly spent $300 million on it and probably didn't make that back. And yet the spinoff went forward anyway because creators Joe and Anthony Russo sound dedicated to keeping things going and it's hard to stop a train when it's already barreling down a track.
The Boys spinoffs are in a better position — at least people know and like the original — but there's still cause for caution. We'll see how all the spinoff shows do as they release, and will definitely be watching the fifth and final season of the original show.
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