‘Gen V’ Reveals a Surprising Connection to ‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Episodes 1-4 of Gen V

Though it may offer a biting satire of superhero media, The Boys has taken a page from other caped and cowled endeavors by slowly building out its own universe. Last year saw the debut of The Boys Presents: Diabolical, an animated anthology exploring every corner of The Boys‘ world. This year, it’s Gen V , which follows a group of superpowered students as they attend Godolkin University while struggling with hormones, parental pressure, and sinister secrets.

Both spinoffs have their own general theme while sticking closely to the raunchy humor and bloody violence that made The Boys a big hit. Diabolical is a series of loosely connected shorts that were never meant to officially tie in with The Boys. In fact, The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke stated on Twitter that only three installments, “One Plus One Equals Two,” “Nubian VS Nubian,” and “John and Sun-Hee” were canonical to the flagship show. The most recent episode of Gen V, “The Whole Truth,” features a rather surprising connection to Diabolical — especially one segment in particular.

Ironcast Exists in Both ‘Gen V’ and ‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’

“The Whole Truth” finds Robert Vernon, aka Tek-Knight (Derek Wilson) attempting to solve the murder of Golden Boy (Patrick Schwarzenegger). Though he doesn’t have the same bulky power armor that he does from the comics, Tek-Knight possesses an uncanny ability to detect the truth and uses that ability to force confessions out of the people he’s interrogating — often with fatal results. When Tek-Knight confronts Dean of Godolkin, Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn), about his intentions to interrogate the students, Shetty hits back with some hard facts. She trots out a list of his victims, including a fellow superhero named Ironcast who apparently committed suicide after a talk with Tek-Knight.

Ironcast made his official appearance in the third segment of Diabolical, titled “I’m Your Pusher.” While the bulk of the episode focuses on Billy Butcher (Jason Isaacs) blackmailing a drug pusher into slipping a superhero some cocaine, the results of that lead to said superhero flying into the atmosphere — and then bursting through Ironcast at supersonic speed. Like most of the “Supes” in The Boys universe, Ironcast is meant to be a parody — in this case, specifically of the X-Men’s Colossus due to his steel skin and superhuman strength. The parody part comes from the fact that he has a rotund belly…and even though he’s a literal man of steel, he still has internal organs as well as blood. The fact that Ironcast not only exists in Diabolical but Gen V as well is a testament to how The Boys‘ popularity lets it put different spins on the source material — especially since co-creator Garth Ennis wrote “I’m Your Pusher” to take place within the world of The Boys comics.

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Ironcast Isn’t ‘Gen V’s First Connection to ‘The Boys’ Universe

In fact, this is not the first time Gen V has been connected to the larger world of The Boys. In Season 3 of The Boys, Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) goes undercover to find out the origins of his boss, Congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit). In the process, Hughie visits an adoption center for young Supes and downloads a list of their inhabitants. Eagle-eyed viewers noticed that list contained the name Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) who serves as Gen V‘s protagonist. Marie’s powers to manipulate blood manifested during her first period and led to the tragic death of her parents, orphaning her until she got accepted into Godolkin University. It’s the first of many connections that Kripke said the two shows would share. “Look, they exist in the same world and one of the joys of the shows is that the shows can sing to each other,” he told Collider in an exclusive interview. It looks like Diabolical is humming that same tune, as well.

Seasons 1-3 of The Boys and The Boys: Diabolical are available to stream on Prime Video, while new episodes of Gen V premiere on Fridays.