This post contains major spoilers for The Boys season five premiere. Yes, we’ll potentially be talking plot points, deaths, shocking moments, and more. So if you want to outrun this information, you can instead read our non-spoiler season five The Boys review.
The Boys‘ final season didn’t wait long to deliver a shocking death. Reggie Franklin, better known as A-Train, didn’t survive the season five premiere. The fastest Supe in the world saved Hughie’s life during the breakout of Freedom Camp 47. Reggie’s heroism cost him his own life, though, as he died in a truly full-circle moment that showed just how much he had changed over the years. It was a final, redemptive act by someone who once seemed incapable of caring about anyone but himself. A-Train’s death also made clear that The Boys is not holding back.
Starlight’s original plan to get Hughie, Frenchie, and M.M. out of the Vought concentration camp was to have Reggie run each of them out. He initially said he wouldn’t because he knew Homelander would be there. It wasn’t about being afraid, but about staying alive so he could protect his own family. A-Train had reunited with his estranged brother and had been hiding his family in France for the last year. That was until The Deep, who promised not to give up looking for them, tracked them down, and Reggie had to relocate his family.
When the camp rescue went awry, though, Reggie—not A-Train, as he wasn’t wearing his famous super suit—was there. He helped save Mother’s Milk before rescuing Hughie from getting a fatal laser-fueled hole in his head via a furious Homelander. After that, the chase was on. Reggie sped off as a flying Homelander followed wildly, firing more lasers at the former member of the Seven.
The world’s fastest man was exactly that, as he outpaced Homelander. But when A-Train avoided a young woman crossing the street at the last possible moment he stumbled and crashed into the woods. Homelander then found him. What he didn’t find was a scared man. Even though he knew he was going to die, Reggie Franklin laughed in Homelander’s face. He called out the world’s most powerful Supe for the loser he is. A-Train called Homelander an empty suit who has nothing but the powers given to him. This enraged Homelander more, but that just made Reggie laugh again. That was until Homelander snapped his neck, killing him. And so, A-Train met his death in The Boys season five’s first episodes.
A-Train’s death isn’t just memorable because of how he faced his final moments or for saving his former enemy’s life. It’s the reason he got caught. The Boys began with Maeve and Homelander acting like true heroes. They stopped a bank robbery and saved the lives of two boys. Viewers only learned the truth about Supes in the next scene, when A-Train, high on Compound V, sped through Robin Ward. The impact turned her into a cloud of blood and bones as her boyfriend Hughie held her hands, the only thing the speedster left intact as he sped away without an apology.
Eventually, A-Train did sincerely apologize for what he’d done. He also saved Marvin’s life, provided the Boys with useful intent, quit Vought, and joined up with Starlight to fight back against Homelander. He went from being a selfish Supe to a more caring person. But his full redemption didn’t come until he instinctively avoided that innocent pedestrian. In that moment, he showed no ego or self-preservation. He was completely selfless. He was a true superhero.
When A-Train’s story began on The Boys that seemed impossible. His final moment showed it’s never too late to change and to do the right thing. But while Reggie’s story is over, the show is not. And A-Train’s death, the death of a major Supe, proved no one is safe during The Boys final season.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He thinks A-Train’s death is an all-timer. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.