The Boys season 5 won't repeat the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most annoying mistake

There’s no homework required before The Boys season 5 The Boys regularly mocks the bloated superhero franchises DC and Marvel have created with references to the Vought Cinematic Universe and its many in-universe movies and streaming shows. But now that The Boys has two spinoffs and another on the way, showrunner Eric Kripke is making sure to avoid creating the kind of homework that has made keeping up with Marvel such a chore. That means there's no need to watch the spinoff series Gen V ahead of The Boys season 5, even if the series does sneak in a reward for hardcore fans. “I try to strike a balance where obviously I want you to watch them all, but I don't want them to be required viewing,” Kripke tells Polygon. [Ed. note: This article contains major spoilers for Gen V season 2] Two major The Boys characters, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) and A-Train (Jessie T. Usher), showed up in season 2 of Gen V to recruit Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and her friends from Godolkin University in the fight against Homelander (Antony Starr). The college heroes don’t make an appearance in The Boys season 5 premiere, but A-Train mentions Marie has been helping their cause in the background. “If you had