The Boys showrunner promises that fans don’t need to watch Gen V to understand season 4

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Exclusive: Eric Kripke says Gen V is optional viewing for The Boys season 4

Anthony Starr in Gen V
(Image credit: Prime Video)

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke says fans don't need to watch Gen V in order to understand season 4.

"When it comes up, we’re very careful to say, 'Here’s where the virus came from, and here’s the story of it,'" Kripke tells SFX magazine in the new issue, which features The Boys season 4 on the cover.

The spin-off series, based on The Boys comic book story arc 'We Gotta Go Now' introduces a dangerous virus that threatens the lives of supes all across the globe. A group of college-aged supes then stumble upon the virus after learning that their time at Godolkin University isn't really all that it's cracked up to be. Gen V season 1 took place after the events of season 3 and sets up season 4. From what we've seen in the latest The Boys season 4 trailer, the shows do cross over – if only for a brief moment. 

"The rule is, if it’s a story that you can just tell on The Boys then you don’t need to do a spin-off. What I like about Gen V is that those stories wouldn’t work on The Boys. So, with any other spin-offs – and we’re talking about a couple of them – we’re only going to do them if they tell stories that we couldn’t tell in the other shows, because there’s no other reason to do it."

The fourth season of Prime Video's wildly successful superhero show (that acts as the antithesis to the more lighthearted stuff that Marvel provides) sat in limbo for a while due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. A fifth season has been confirmed and is currently being planned, and we can only imagine how much bloodier and whackier it can get from here.

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The Boys season 4 hits Prime Video on June 13. The above is just a snippet from our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX magazine, which features The Boys season 4 on the cover and is available from Wednesday, June 12. Check out what you should look for on newsstands below...

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Lauren Milici
Lauren Milici
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.