The Boys creator Eric Kripke has explained why one major death in the first episode of season five had to happen. The show’s final season opened with a huge moment, and fans are still talking about it.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first two episodes of The Boys season five.
Episode one sees several long-running storylines finally pay off. Kimiko speaks again, the Flight 37 footage is released, and A-Train is killed by Homelander in one of the episode’s biggest scenes.
A-Train, played by Jessie T. Usher, has been part of the show since the very start. He began as one of its most hated characters after killing Hughie’s girlfriend, but over time he changed and became one of the few supes trying to do the right thing.
Speaking to IGN, Kripke said the writers made the decision about A-Train a long time ago. He explained that Homelander’s anger towards him had become so strong that it was hard to imagine the story going any other way.
Kripke also said it was important that A-Train died as a hero. In a full-circle moment, the character who once ran carelessly through an innocent woman ends the series trying to avoid hitting someone, even though it costs him his life.
That bookend was clearly important to the writers. Kripke said it showed how much A-Train had grown and how much more human he had become by the end of his story.
Usher also revealed that A-Train laughing in Homelander’s face before dying was improvised on set after a conversation with Antony Starr. Many fans have praised the scene, with some calling it the perfect ending for the character.
The first two episodes of The Boys season five are streaming now on Prime Video.
