Gen V season 2 opened with a lot of changes, but the biggest was the loss of a major character. How did the show address the sad departure of Andre?
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Gen V season 2
There are few things more challenging for a TV show than having to write out a major character without warning. But a bigger challenge is how to handle a major character they had plans for when the actor suddenly dies.
That was the obstacle for Gen V season 2, as the hit spinoff of The Boys was deep into planning season 2, which would have had a prominent role for Andre. The magnetic-powered meta was among the students who fought off a wild riot on the campus. However, he, Emma, Cate, and Jordan ended up being blamed for it and thrown into prison.
Tragically, everything changed when Chance Perdomo died in a motorcycle accident in March of 2024. The producers made the decision not to recast the role and rewrite the opening episode. Showrunner Michele Fazekas told TVLine how they had to find a way to honor the actor while still doing justice to the character.
“We wanted to honor him, and in order to honor the person that Chance was, we have to treat this like what it is, which is grieving someone who is gone. But knowing that you’re doing a television show about superheroes at college, how do you fit that very real, very serious emotion into the world of this show? The answer is that you just fit it into the world of the show, like people fit grief into their lives. Sometimes people are inappropriate, sometimes people are cracking jokes and sometimes people are angry.”
That came out in the episode itself, which did offer the best explanation possible for Andre’s absence.
How did Gen V explain Andre’s loss?
The season 2 premiere opened a year later and followed The Boys finale, where Vought and the Seven effectively staged a coup on the United States. Emma and Jordan were being brought in a transport van to what they assumed was another prison. Instead, they found themselves back at Godolkin and welcomed by a bright and cheery Cate who asked them where Marie and Andre were.
Cate was taken aback by the two yelling, “as if you don’t know.” Reading Jordan’s mind, Cate was devastated to realize Andre was dead while Marie had managed to escape.
Cate confronted Cipher (Hamish Linklater), the new dean of Godolkin, who brushed off not telling her about Andre. He also threatened to cut off her hand (again) if she pressed the issue further. Emma and Jordan were blackmailed into acting as if they had “reformed” as good press.
The episode ended with Emma and Jordan finding Marie on the run and breaking it to her that Andre was dead. Jordan explained that after Marie escaped, Andre became convinced he could follow her. Finding a steel door sealed off, Andre kept using his powers to pull out until the effort overwhelmed him.
Fazekas praised the work of actors Jaz Sinclair, Lizzie Broadway and London Thor and Derek Luh for selling the entire moment.
“We really did try, in a show about superheroes at college, to make [this loss] as real as possible. I think it really worked, and I think the actors are so good at it. Lizze [Broadway] and Jaz, they all really sort of showed a piece of themselves in the show.”
The following episodes had Marie join Godolkin herself to get answers about Andre. Cipher had a file claiming Andre suffered the same health problems as his father and Marie and Emma even speculated that Andre had committed suicide. This will play more into season 2 as the series managed to address the loss of the actor in a way that honored the character going out fighting to please fans.
Gen V season 2 streams Wednesdays on Prime Video.