Why Tek Knight From Gen V Looks So Familiar

Throughout its inaugural season on Prime Video, "Gen V" has proven capable of being every bit as vicious, violent, witty, and wickedly insightful as the series that spawned it. And if you've seen even one episode of Amazon's grotesquely ingenious superhero satire "The Boys," you know that's saying quite a lot. As for the spin-off, it continues to populate the Compound V saturated world with a compelling slate of supes, many of whom have already leveraged their powers towards, shall we say, morally questionable ends. That includes the supe known as Tek Knight, who turned up as the host of the Vought International backed true-crime television series "The Whole Truth."

If Knight's name sounds familiar, it's because it was dropped on multiple occasions throughout the first three seasons of "The Boys." The character's "Gen V" spot marks the first time Knight appears in the flesh, however. And fans of the show can surely agree his first appearance was well worth the wait. But they might also have recognized the actor who played the Godolkin alum in the episode, because Derek Wilson has become a regular fixture in the film and television landscape over the past decade plus. And as it happens, he's hardly been a stranger to left-field dwelling sci-fi and comic book fare over that stretch. Here's where you've seen Tek Knight from "Gen V" before.

To be clear, Derek Wilson has essentially made a career of playing whacked out characters in way out there sci-fi and comic book projects like "Gen V" over the years. It's hardly a surprise he'd book such a gig in a series backed by the likes of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg either, because he's worked with that duo several times in his career. One might even say he's becoming one of their go to guys for such deviant roles. And as fans of their tragically overlooked adaptation of "Preacher" might recall, the first of those gigs found Wilson portraying Season 1 evil doer, turned not-entirely evil doer Donnie Schenck.

Nicknamed "Bunny Rabbit," Schenck appeared in the very first episode of "Preacher," doing so in the intricate Confederate Army attire required for his work as a Civil War re-enactor. Schenck, of course, also served as right hand man and enforcer to one of Season 1's big bads Odin Quincannon. Given the man's day job, Donnie was regularly at odds with Dominic Cooper's hard-hitting, and fully ordained titular anti-hero throughout. Though the two made an uneasy sort of piece by the end of the 10 episode run, Donnie still couldn't escape the explosion that razed the entire town of Annville at season's end, thus Wilson's memorable "Preacher" tenure came to an unceremonious end. 

While Derek Wilson didn't make it out of the first season of "Preacher," Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were obviously well-impressed with what he brought to the Season 1 mix. So much so that the duo helped book him for a lead role in one of their followup series, the madcap sci-fi adventure known as "Future Man." Rogen and Goldberg served as executive producers, and occasional co-directors on the show over its first two seasons. As for Wilson, he played the part of cracked-out creep with a rich emotional world to absolute perfection throughout its three season run.

Created by Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffier, "Future Man," followed a video game loving janitor (Josh Hutcherson) who life takes an unfathomable turn when he beats his favorite game. That action finds him being recruited by real-world versions of the game's central characters to fight a war waging years in the future. Yes, the story only gets whackier from there. And yes, Wilson's portrayal of the future warrior known as Wolf was regularly the highlight of the series, with the actor devoting himself to every blissfully demented aspect of the character's story with a winking eye, and steadfast resolve.

Though Rogen and Goldberg left "Future Man" ahead of its 3rd season, they clearly remained enamored with Wilson's work. And it's safe to assume "Gen V" will not be their final collaboration.

Derek Wilson has indeed gravitated toward wildly offbeat comic book fare throughout his career. That includes a brief, but memorable role in one of DC Comics' adaptations — 2020's Harley Quinn-centric crime caper "Birds of Prey." 

In the context of his adventurous career, Wilson's "Birds of Prey" role feels pretty tame. In fact, given the colorful cavalcade of heroes and villains that work their way into and out of the "Birds of Prey" narrative, his decidedly average, and slightly dim-witted Gotham City Police Department detective should hardly stands out. Yet Wilson makes Tim Monroe more than memorable in the film's early moments, which find the boot-licking, over-confident detective undermining the efforts of his more seasoned female partner, Rosie Perez's hard-nosed Renee Montoya. 

Again, Wilson doesn't have a ton of screen time in "Birds of Prey." He doesn't have a ton of dialogue either. But he makes the most of every contentious moment of screen time he can grab, peppering each with low-key comic flourishes often earned with little more than a sideways glance, or a quizzical look. One could argue Wilson brought the same mix of smarmy machismo and unearned hubris to the role of Tek Knight. And we're really hoping we get to see more if it in future episodes of "Gen V."