Gen V Character's Powers Nod to Stephen King's Book, And It's As Tragic As It Gets

The following contains spoilers for Gen V.

The anticipation for the fourth season of The Boys is fueled by the spin-off Gen V. And the new show is not inferior in quality to its predecessor.

The story about the students of the superhero university Godolkin develops the storylines of the main project, such as the arc about the Compound V, captivates with new interesting characters and turns the superhero narrative canon on its head once again.

On the Godolkin campus, there’s a group of immature teenagers, who are unable to control not only their own powers, but also their emotions. As expected, no one here cares about studying – the traumatized students are simply trying to find themselves. Instead of classes, there are constant competitions for the coveted place in the ranking of the best superheroes.

One of the students, Cate Dunlap, the girlfriend of the Golden Boy, has the ability to read and control other people’s thoughts when they touch her. To avoid using this ability, Cate wears special gloves.

At first, Cate seems arrogant, but over time she becomes a very deep and sad character who not only defends her own boundaries, but also the feelings of her friends.

However, few have noticed that Cate’s powers are actually a direct reference to one of Stephen King 's works, namely Firestarter. One of the characters in the book is Andy, who has the power to control other people’s minds, but the similarities don’t end there.

Andy acquired his powers as a result of experiments with "mild hallucinogenic drugs," namely Lot-6, which is backed by a government agency The Shop more secretive than the CIA.

Like Сate, Andy pays a price for his power – while Cate's eyes turn red with blood clots, Andy's nose bleeds. In addition, Cate and Andy even call the manifestations of their powers the same word – "push."

This reference shows a direct connection between the characters – Cate, like King’s character, is torn from within by contradictions and guilt due to the fact that she manipulates other people.

And it can be assumed that, like Andy, even if she tries to take the path of good deeds, then Vought, like The Shop, will not allow her to do so, since the corporation needs her push, which is quite a powerful force.