Johnny Depp joke in The Boys spin-off Gen V has divided opinion

Amazon's spin-off of the hit series The Boys is now streaming on the platform, and one reference in the show has got people talking online.

The teen spin-off of the gritty superhero series has already received great reviews, with critics praising how it manages to skewer the social pressures facing young people both online and in reality.

Gen V follows a group of young superheroes and their journeys through a superhero school run by corporation Vought. Superheroes have powers which reference topics such as eating disorders and gender identity, as well as showing how issues such as race and class even effect superheroes.

But among the current topics references in the Amazon show is a throwaway line by one character which has sparked extensive debate online.

Discussing how to get a public answer for a character's suicide, he is asked: “You’re going to blame an innocent student for Luke’s hysteria?”

To which he replies: “I’m gonna Johnny Depp someone so hard they’re gonna want to crawl into a hole and die.”

Prime Video

This appears to be a veiled reference to the defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which saw the US court ultimately settling in Depp's favor.

Since the case concluded in June 2022, it's fair to say that people have had some very strong feelings about the result. Fans and supporters of Depp saw it as a vindication, while others criticised the way the case turned into a media circus.

Needless to say, people had some very strong opinions about it on social media. So strong, in fact, that not many of them were suitable for us to repeat here.

One person wrote: "It was HILARIOUS! They knew exactly what they were doing."

Another highlighted that maybe the argument was the point, writing: "It's almost as if they're throwing his name in there to spark outrage and get clout."

Prime Video

A third person waded in to suggest that it may been a clever way to get the show doing numbers on social media, writing: "Calm down, everyone. 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."

What does seem clear is that while the line does reference the case, it's very carefully worded so as not to explicitly take a side.

Viewers who have strong opinions on the matter will hear the line and comfortably be able to make it fit into their views about it, regardless of where they stand.

UNILAD has reached out to representatives of Johnny Depp and Amazon Prime for comment.