By Danielle Broadway and Rollo Ross
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Breakout star Lizze Broadway revels in her TV show “Gen V,” the spin-off of Emmy-nominated Prime Video series “The Boys,” because it has the courage to go where many shows won’t by touching on political and social issues.
“Not only is it a superhero show, we’re telling a story of humans, and I think that’s the most compelling thing – that people can see themselves in these characters,” said Broadway, who plays Emma Meyer, a character who can dramatically change her size by eating or purging.
The blood-soaked series arrived on Amazon.com’s Prime Video in September, but promotion was delayed by the Hollywood actors’ strike.
“Gen V,” based on the comic book of the same name, was renewed for a second season in October.
Developed by the team behind “The Boys” – Eric Kripke, Craig Rosenberg and Evan Goldberg – the show follows young adults at Godolkin University who aspire to be ranked top students for the chance to join “The Seven,” the most elite superhero team.
However, when corruption surfaces at the school, the students must decide where their loyalties lie.
“I feel like it really does bring superheroes to the real world, and what would it be like? It’s dark,” said London Thor, who shares the role of Jordan Li with Derek Luh as a superpowered gender-shifter.
Along with Luh, the show also stars Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau, who has the power to manipulate blood; Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son Patrick Schwarzenegger, who plays Luke Riordan, who has super strength and can manipulate fire; and Asa Germann as Samuel Riordan, Luke’s brother with super strength.
For Schwarzenegger, the show has a different tone than other superhero projects in Hollywood.
“I think that’s what makes “The Boys” and “Gen V” so unique is it’s completely the opposite, and kind of at some points, makes fun the superhero world and norm that we’ve been accustomed to the last few years, and especially this year,” he said.
(Reporting by Danielle Broadway and Rollo Ross; Editing by Mary Milliken and Nick Zieminski)
