The Boys' Creator: Why A-Train Was Killed Off in Season 5 Premiere The Boys kicked off its final season with a major character death, as one of The Seven was mercilessly murdered by Homelander. In the first episode of season five, A-Train a.k.a. Reggie Franklin (Jessie T. Usher) was killed off in the episode’s final minutes. Homelander chased down the Fastest Man Alive after A-Train, having newly grown a conscience, swerved to avoid killing an innocent bystander — a callback to when the character accidentally killed Hughie’s (Jack Quaid) girlfriend in the series premiere. Furious with A-Train’s repeated betrayals, Homelander executed his formerly close colleague. Series creator Eric Kripke has previously said that the final season would have a real death count, and we asked why A-Train had to be the first to go. “I was initially resistant to killing him off that early,” Kripke told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was a little scary to kill him off so soon. We had actually broken out [an alternate storyline] that was like: Where is he now, what is he doing, and how can he help The Boys? — all that stuff was in process, so it’s not like we didn’t have it. We knew that he was going to be the first big death. At the time, I think we were thinking maybe episode three.” Kripke admitted the decision was influenced by the writers’ push for a bold move. “And it was the writers who really campaigned for it — it’s their fault,” he continued. “They campaigned. They were like, ‘You keep saying that nobody’s safe, and that it’s going to be a season where anything can happen at any time. So with all due respect, put your fucking money where your mouth is and show that you’re willing to drop a major character in the first episode. Because if you do that, then for the rest of the season, no one is going to feel safe.#the_hollywood_reporter #the_boys #homelander #eric_kripke #jessie_t_usher
