Gen V star Asa Germann, who plays the troubled and powerful Sam Riordan in The Boys‘ spin-off, appeared in a behind-the-scenes video to break down the practical effects used for a gory fight scene in Season 1.
The video, shared on the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Gen V, reveals the tools and methods used to craft a comics-inspired moment in which Sam punches through the body of a security guard. As Germann explains, a life-sized prosthetic of the actor was brought in, and fake blood — which apparently tasted like candy corn — was sprayed out from behind it. “Got any more blood?” Germann asks in the video’s opening clip.
The actor also remarked on the complications of filming the scene, such as the sugary blood getting into his eyes, but was clear about how much he enjoyed the experience. “That was one of the highlights of the season for me,” he concluded.
Asa Germann’s tragic character in Gen V
Gen V is the first live-action spin-off of The Boys, which is based on a series of comics of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The franchise is set in a world where superheroes are real, but paid and promoted by a megacorporation, Vought International, which engineered the drug that imparts powers.
In Gen V, the central characters are young “supes” who are attending Vought’s Godolkin University, already immersed in the corporation’s propaganda as they prepare for lives under the spotlight. Season 1 of the spin-off saw the main characters discover some dark secrets about Vought, including a lab called The Woods. Sam had been held captive there, with all records of his existence wiped from the rest of the world, so he could be used as a test subject.
Season 1 of Gen V and the first three seasons of The Boys are now streaming on Prime Video. The Boys Season 4 will premiere in 2024; a release window for Gen V Season 2 has not yet been revealed.
