How Mesmer's Powers Might Be Different If He Took Compound V
Haley Joel Osment was a notable child star back in the day, his breakout role being Cole in M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 thriller "The Sixth Sense." Osment has remarkably made a name for himself throughout his dynamic career. His role as Mesmer, aka Mesmerizer, in the Amazon Prime Video series "The Boys" is no different, serving as a meta role for the actor. The show harnesses a violent, dark, and subversive view into the chaotic existences of media-injected, demoralizing celebrity Supes in modern-day America.
In the first season, Mesmer continues to relive his successes as a young actor in the massive television hit "The Mesmerizer," in which he played the main role of a kid with psychic powers who helps the police force catch criminals. Part of Mesmer's ability includes seeing a person's life story and being able to read them through touch. This power comes in handy when Mesmer is asked by Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso) to do a reading session with Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) in hopes of uncovering important information about a terrorist organization in exchange for one-hour supervised visits with his daughter, Cleo (Zoe Ambrose).
Mesmer's special abilities are ultimately used for deceit, but what might be different if he had taken Vought International's super drug, Compound V?
Compound V could potentially alter Mesmer's powers
Manufactured by Vought International and created by scientist Jonah Vogelbaum during World War II, Compound V is a super drug that endows Supes with the powers of superhuman strength, physical resilience, and other roll-of-the-dice abilities. Supes can also take Compound V recreationally — or in some cases, illegally — to enhance their current powers, and if it's taken by a non-superpowered individual, they will receive powers for only 24 hours.
Mesmer has varying levels of telepathy — he can read minds through physical contact, manipulate memories, and on some level, use the power of hypnosis. Redditor u/Suitable-Newspaper36 wondered how Mesmer's powers would have been altered if he had been injected with Compound V. Pondering the proposed question, u/kloeckwerx wrote, "Probably pushing thoughts instead of just pulling? Or maybe on V he wouldn't need physical contact?" On the other hand, u/Calm-Ad9795 commented, "I mean, Popclaw's powers weren't enhanced, she basically just got somewhat stronger. So Mesmer would probably be amped up to upper human levels of strength but that's it."
While Mesmer would most certainly be stronger with Compound V, we don't know enough about the super drug to determine exactly how it would affect him. Mesmer was killed by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) at the end of Season 1, Episode 7, so we may never get the answer, but it's still intriguing to wonder what would have changed if he had been tempted or forced to inject himself with the drug.