Creators say ‘Gen V’ developed real penis for explosive sex scenes
Spoiler alert: This article contains mild spoilers for “Gen V” Episode 4, which is currently available on Prime Video.
It wouldn’t be “The Boys” world without an exploding penis, right?
Prime Video’s spin-off “Gen V” manages to surpass “The Boys” in the number of on-screen penises in its first four episodes, and features the first “coxplosion” seen on TV. It was also the forerunner of “. Naturally, we got to talk to executive producers Eric Kripke and Michele Fazikas about it.
In episode 4, Marie (Jaz Sinclair) searches for her missing roommate Emma (Lize Broadway), who has shrunk to a tiny size while investigating the mysterious Woods Super Program. To get answers about her whereabouts, Marie turns to a classmate named Rufus (Alexander Calvert). Rufus is a creepy psychic who offers to find his girlfriend, Emma, but she suggests that Marie pay for Emma’s services in a sexual way. Marie considers dumping Rufus, but he refuses and gives her information about his girlfriend Emma.
However, suddenly Marie loses consciousness and wakes up in Rufus’ room to find the psychic standing naked in front of her, clearly planning to attack her. Marie gets caught up in the chaos when her friend Jordan (London Thaw) knocks on the door, and she accidentally uses her bloodbending powers to inflate Rufus’ penis to an uncomfortable size. It ends up. The moment Jordan breaks down the door, the power of her Marie’s blood reaches its peak and Rufus’ penis explodes, covering her with blood.
There was another penis gag in the first episode of “Generation V,” albeit a less brutal one, mirroring a similar super-sized sex scene in last year’s “The Boys” season 3 premiere. During sex in their dorm room, Emma shrinks at the request of Liam (Robert Bazocchi), a classmate who has a fetish for shrinking heroes. In the sex scene, super-petite Emma climbs on Liam’s penis, which makes her look hilariously gigantic in comparison.
and varietyKripke and Fuzzykas reveal how they filmed the giant penis scene, dissect “Coxplosion,” and reveal the secret meaning of Rufus’ name.
We have to start with penis explosion, but there’s probably a better name. What did you all call it?
Michele Fazzikas: I think it’s a coxplosion.
Eric Kripke: Yes, it’s a coxplosion.
Aside from that and the giant penis in the series premiere, this is comparable to “The Boys” in terms of on-screen genitalia. Did you intentionally try to go beyond the main series?
Fuzzy Cas: I realized I met Eric and Evan when I was on the show. [Goldberg], straight men love penises. They love talking about them and watching them.
Kripke: very interesting. They are endlessly interesting. Those are the strangest looking ones. They’re just funny.
Fuzzy Cas: “We never told this story because we wanted to surpass ‘The Boys.’ That scene, yes, is about an exploding cock, but that’s in my writers’ room. That was from a lot of women who went to college.”I had bad experiences with guys in college that made me think, “Is this guy a predator?” I feel dangerous. That’s where the story of young women going to college came from. We never start with something outrageous, we always start with a story.
The moment right before the cock explodes when Marie suddenly finds herself in the room with a naked Rufus is extremely jarring. What would have happened there if she hadn’t woken up and used the power of her blood?
Fuzzy Cas: A man who resembles the human Rufenal. Maybe he intended to sexually assault her, and is quite satisfied even if it doesn’t go his way.
Kripke: It’s intentional that his name is Rufus. We always talked about him and how he was a man who walked on rooftops.
How did you try to balance heavy themes like self-harm and eating disorders with this over-the-top, darkly funny world?
Kripke: It’s the same process with “The Boys,” where you have to lead with character. You have to approach the characters with empathy and humanity. Life has gallows humor and people tell jokes to cope. The person may be funny, but what they’re going through isn’t funny, so you can never play it off as a joke. You have to play how the character actually feels about it. You can touch on real events that real people are experiencing. Is there any mean dialogue on the show? Yes, but the world of “The Boys” is not like Joss Whedon, where everything is fun and bright and poppy.
Fuzzy Cas: We treated those things very seriously. We wanted to talk to experts in the field and find out everything there is to know about people who cut themselves, people with eating disorders and mental disorders. Because you need to know that and be careful before you start. We’re not just joking around and saying, “Eating disorders are funny.” The first time we see Emma vomit, she’s carrying her go bag and she’s going through this whole ritual that she does every time, and it’s very real. We don’t take it lightly.
At the end of the episode, we learn that Emma can not only shrink, but also grow to a gigantic size by eating food. How did you film that huge scene?
Fuzzy Cas: Shooting her involves a little bit of forced perspective on how to make her look bigger, but mostly just shooting her and putting her in a huge spot in the scene.
Kripke: Yes, this is all bluescreen stuff that she shot separately and carefully added to what she’s shooting with Sam.
Going back to the premiere episode where Emma ends up with Liam, was the giant penis real or CGI?
Fuzzy Cas: We have a working five-foot penis and we’ve enhanced it with visual effects.
Kripke: CG penises are not our style. I think it’s important to actually create these penises for authenticity. When we were writing the pilot, that scene, while shocking, was about Emma’s self-esteem. It’s about her being instigated or pressured into doing something sexual that she’s uncomfortable with, and it’s really costing her something. Again, we never say, “We made a big deal about ‘The Boys,’ so let’s have a little guy climb a big hole in this one.” We always talk about “she’s going through a hard time,” and this was a bold way to dramatize that.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
