This Johnny Depp joke in ‘The Boys’ spin-off is dividing opinion

A joke in The Boys spin-off Gen V has sparked debate online over a reference to Johnny Depp’s trial against Amber Heard.

In June last year, a jury ruled in favour of Depp after he sued his ex-wife for defamation over a 2018 op-ed in The Washington Post. Heard initially stood to pay Depp $8.35million (£6.82million) in damages, but this was reduced to $1million (£817,730) after she decided to settle an appeal in December.

In the third episode of Gen V, Tek Knight (Derek Wilson) visits Godolkin University for his true crime show. During a conversation with the dean of the university, Indira Shetty (Shelley Conn), Knight explains that he’s looking to pin the blame on someone for Luke aka Golden Boy’s suicide.

After Knight says he’s going to conceal the truth by “misdirection” and “obfuscation”, Shetty asks: “You’re going to blame an innocent student for Luke’s hysteria?”

After laughing in response, Knight says: “I’m gonna Johnny Depp someone so hard they’re going to want to crawl into a hole and die.”

The clip has since been shared online, with many arguing over whether it’s supporting or mocking Depp.

“Calm down, everyone,” one X user wrote. “They probably made it deliberately vague to be open for interpretation and cause discourse, and draw attention to the show. Everyone arguing over whether it is pro or anti Depp is what they probably wanted.”

NME has reached out to Amazon Prime Video for comment.

Created by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg and Eric Kripke, Gen V follows a group of young adult superheroes at a university run by Vought International. It’s the second spin-off from The Boys, following the animated series The Boys Presents: Diabolical.

In a four-star review of Gen V, NME wrote: “Despite Marvel introducing enough teen superheroes to launch a Young Avengers and the success of Stranger Things, Wednesday and The Umbrella Academy, Gen V is confidently its own thing.

“It’s comfortable sitting in the shadow of The Boys for the time being and while the gory humour might feel familiar, this smart, sleek spin-off is never less than exciting.”