SPOILERS for the season 2 premiere of Gen V. Chance Perdomo played Andre Anderson in the first season of Gen V, but he tragically died in a motorcycle accident at just 27 years old. The production made it clear that they would not recast the role for the second season, instead choosing to honour Chance and his legacy another way. The second season premiere opens with a simple message, “For Chance.”
“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,” showrunner Michele Fazekas told TVLine. “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.“
The last we saw of Andre, he was taken to the Elmira Adult Rehabilitation Center along with his fellow young Supes. The season 2 premiere reveals that Andre discovered a maintenance pipe through which he and Marie could escape, but he refused to leave his other friends behind and returned to get them. He attempted to use his powers to rip open a huge steel door, but the overexertion caused him to collapse and die.
“We really did try, in a show about superheroes at college, to make [this loss] as real as possible,” Fazekas said. “I think it really worked, and I think the actors are so good at it. Lizze [Broadway] and Jaz [Sinclair], they all really sort of showed a piece of themselves in the show.“
In his review of the second season, our own Alex Maidy said, “Gen V continues to develop into a series all its own, extending the world of The Boys without being indebted. Gen V incorporates both major plot elements from both series while also moving forward with exploring the same themes… I enjoyed season two more than the first and possibly a bit more than the last few seasons of The Boys. While The Boys may be ending, there is a robust case to keep Gen V going in one way or another for many seasons. Once you reach the finale, Gen V does something that will have fans of both shows on the edge of their seats until the season premiere of The Boys hits the airwaves.“
