Gen V boss ‘excited to explore’ Jordan and Marie’s fan-favourite queer romance

Michele Fazekas, executive producer of Prime Video’s The Boys spin-off series Gen V, has explained why show bosses wanted rivals Marie and Jordan to become lovers.

The brand new series, set between season three and four of The Boys, sees a legion of young supes (that is, superheroes) perfecting their trade at superhero training institution Godolkin University.

As the students attempt to prove themselves as the very best of the next generation of superheroes, the pressure can sometimes take its toll as they uncover dark secrets about their school.

A pair of characters who have experienced the stress bubble over are series lead, hemokinetic supe Marie Moreau (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actress Jaz Sinclair), and non-binary gender-shifter Jordan Li (played by both musician Derek Luh and singer London Thor).

At the start of the season, there is evident tension between the two, with Jordan banning Marie from attending the crimefighting class held by Professor Brink (played by Promising Young Woman star Clancy Brown).

Then, Marie gets praised for fighting off Golden Boy (The Terminal List star Patrick Schwarzenegger), despite it being Jordan who truly saved the day.

While the superpowered pair were at each other’s throats when the series began, by episode five, they’re in the throes of a passionate relationship – much to the Gen V fandom’s delight.

Speaking to Collider about the decision to bring Marie and Jordan together for a queer romance, producer Fazekas said they wanted Marie to have a new experience she can learn from.

“As we were breaking out the entire season, we really liked the idea of Marie and Jordan starting out where they really dislike each other, but they’re also very similar,” Fazekas explained.

“They both are these hard-charging characters who see the world in black and white and have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. They’re a lot more alike [than different]. And I really liked exploring that with Marie.

“It is a queer relationship, and it’s something that Marie hadn’t experienced before, so what meaning does she draw from that? It’s a really delicious, rich area that we were excited to explore,” Fazekas added.

Though the Jordan and Marie romance might be a surprising one, for fans of The Boys, it might not be so shocking to see Gen V embrace queerness.

The Boys, which first aired on Prime Video in 2019, has had several LGBTQ+ characters and plots, including bisexual character Maggie Shaw/Queen Maeve played by Dominique McElligott, and a queer sex scene that went terribly wrong in the opening episode of season three (featuring a very large penis).

Gen V is streaming now on Prime Video.