Spoilers for The Boys season five episodes one and two follow.
The fifth and final season of The Boys has kicked off explosively with the shock death of one of its original Supes. The two-episode premiere of the show saw A-Train (Jessie T Usher) brutally murdered by Homelander (Antony Starr) after defecting from Vought and swapping sides to help The Boys.
A-Train sacrificed himself to save Hughie (Jack Quaid) during his confrontation with Homelander at Freedom Camp, fleeing the scene shortly after.
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However, A-Train's superspeed is no match for Homelander, who gains on him and snaps his neck, killing the character who has been in the show since its very first season.
A-Train has been a key character in The Boys since its first episode, with the careless use of his superpower leading to the death of Hughie's girlfriend Robin and kickstarting his quest for vengeance.
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Speaking with Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke explained the decision to kill off one of The Boys' fan favourite characters at this point in the show.
"We talked for a really long time about having A-Train hang around at least until the third episode," he began.
"But the writers had a good point and said, 'Eric, you keep saying nobody’s safe: Put your money where your mouth is. We have to drop someone really important in the first episode, so people will go the rest of the season truly feeling like nobody is safe.'
"And they were right. A-Train had a really great redemption arc, and a lot of that is due to the job Jessie did. He made the character so nuanced, human, and soulful. He’s the villain who starts the entire story in motion and then ends his run by saving Hughie."
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Kripke continued: "The moment that I love the most is when he dodges out of the way of this woman, whereas he ran through Robin without thinking twice about it the very first time we saw him.
"Now in the last time we saw him, he saves this woman’s life, because he has so much more concern for other people and their lives. It’s just a really lovely signpost of what a hero he’s become."
A synopsis for the final episodes teases the mayhem that is set to ensue, reading: "It’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie (Jack Quaid), Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), and Frenchie (Tomer Capone) are imprisoned in a ‘Freedom Camp’.
"Annie (Erin Moriarty) struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher (Karl Urban) reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it."
It continues with the promise, "It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen, and it's gonna be f*****n' diabolical."
The Boys seasons one to four and spin-off Gen V are streaming on Prime Video. Season five premiered on 8 April.
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