After the Gen V Season 2 premiered, fans are wondering whether Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Golden Boy returned for the second season. While his character died in Season 1, viewers were speculating if the show would bring him back to life or at least show him in a flashback sequence. With the first three episodes of Season 2 available to stream, fans finally got their answer.
Here are the details on whether Golden Boy appears in Season 2 or not.
Why Patrick Schwarzenegger is not in Gen V Season 2
Patrick Schwarzenegger, who played Luke Riordan, aka Golden Boy, is not returning for Gen V Season 2.
In Gen V Season 1, Episode 1, the show established that Golden Boy was a popular and powerful student at Godolkin University (God U). He possessed the powers of fire manipulation, super strength, and the ability to fly. However, he killed himself after murdering Brink. Nonetheless, he continued to appear in the season through flashbacks and other characters’ memories.
Fans were hoping that something similar would happen in Season 2 as well. Sadly, it doesn’t.
During an interview with Screen Rant earlier this year, Schwarzenegger confirmed his absence in Season 2. He said, “I wish, but I was, we were actually filming White Lotus at the same time that they were filming Gen V. So it didn’t work out. But maybe season three or some other time.”
Despite his confirmation, there were rumors about his return after the actor retweeted a Gen V Season 2 post. Furthermore, he teased his followers by adding a caption, “I’m not in this (or am I???) but it looks great!! Congrats to the Gen V team. Excited to watch!”
This proved enough for the fans of the franchise to speculate that he could return for the second season.
After Season 2, Episode 1-3, premiered on September 17, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, it was confirmed that Schwarzenegger did not return for the season. At least, not in the first three episodes. Whether he’ll appear in future episodes is yet to be seen.
