Based roughly on a plot arc meant as a satire of Marvel’s X-Men (called the G-Men in Garth Ennis’ original comics), Gen V is Amazon’s college-set spin-off of The Boys.

The link is very obvious given the concept of superpowered teenagers living together in a school, but the show’s plot and premise really encourage a closer examination that points out a feature that the MCU is currently lacking.

The way the superpowers of Gen V characters—which seem to evolve during adolescence in a manner akin to Marvel’s “x-gene”—reflect their psychology and personal history is what makes them so interesting.

For instance, Marie Moreau can control blood, a power she discovers during a deeply traumatic experience during her first period. Marie’s relationship with blood, and the role it plays in her life, also acts as a metaphor for her strained relationship with her one remaining blood relative, her sister.

Emma/Cricket’s eating disorder, and the way she reclaims her power over the course of the show, allows the writers to approach the topic with nuance while also making sure that every superpowered interaction also provides interesting moments of character development.

Golden Boy is his family’s favourite son, an overachiever and the top of his class, who ends up quite literally burning too bright. The show’s most interesting character, in some ways, is Jordan. Their nonbinary/bigender identity is literalized through their ability to ‘switch’ bodies at will, allowing for the show to ask interesting questions about gender presentation and the way it affects how we move through the world.

And most recently, in episode six we go inside the head of Kate, the show’s powerful telepath. Kate’s story is a classic mind-reading fable and the episode works hard to unpack her trauma and the way her personal history and powers combine to keep people away.

We see how she was manipulated by Dean Shetty, and the show uses telepathy and our journey through her mindscape to explore how power dynamics within relationships can make people betray each other, keep secrets, and hold on to grudges.

It presents her power as scary, as it would be in real life. It focuses on how hard it would be to be confronted by the thoughts of everyone around you at all times, and also shows how terrifying mind-control powers would be in the hands of someone nefarious.

The layered approach that Gen V takes to superpowered storytelling is also key to what makes Marvel’s X-Men (particularly in comic form) so compelling. Journeys of self-discovery, working out who you are and seeing that reflected in the powers and abilities you have are classic cornerstones for the merry mutants.

Think about a character like Wolverine, whose powers literally mean that nothing can hurt him and whose pointy claws keep people at a distance almost as much as his gruff personality.

Speaking of keeping a distance, the character of Rogue (infamously played by Anna Paquin in the Fox movies) is another great example – her powers stop her from physically being close to anyone, a trait that keeps her isolated and closed-off from people who try and help her.

Characters who can teleport, like Nightcrawler or Magik (played by Anya Taylor-Joy in 2019’s New Mutants), are often characterised by a desire to escape or run away from something in their past.

And so, as we approach the release of Deadpool 3 and consider Ms Marvel‘s revelation that Kamala Khan is a mutant, it seems clear that Marvel should be paying attention to the way Gen V is adapting these themes.

Unfortunately, Disney’s output so far hasn’t really suggested it’s ready to tackle this type of story. Instead of thinking about mystical powers and innate abilities as extensions of a character’s personality, the MCU tends to use them purely as plot devices.

What do Sam Wilson’s metal wings say about him? How does Ant-Man’s ability to get really small reflect Scott Lang’s history? Those powers help them accomplish their goals, sure, but they don’t necessarily reflect any truth about who they are as people. Instead, the story is built elsewhere – in both Sam and Scott’s case, it’s about legacy and being given a super-suit and the responsibility that comes with that.

You could make the case that Bucky’s metal arm is a visual reminder that he was compromised by outside actors, but beyond that, it’s hard to point at a single example of a character whose superheroic abilities truly reflect any internal conflict.

And that’s fine. It’s just that, in our opinion, the former mode of storytelling is much more effective and often provides the canvas to tell a more interesting kind of superhero story.

That remains even more true for characters like the X-Men, and mutants generally, whose genetic powers make them different and often marginalised. In this way, the Gen V comparison doesn’t quite fly. Supes in the world of The Boys are elevated to godlike status, are the result of experimentation, and really aren’t persecuted as a result of their uncanny abilities.

However, like Gen V expanded the franchise’s roster of characters, the world of Marvel is about to get a whole lot bigger. The possibility of telling a million different stories is exciting – we just hope the House of Mouse spends some time focusing on that perfect synthesis of character and power.