The much-anticipated fifth season of The Boys premiered on April 8, 2026, with two episodes. And it didn’t take long for Homelander to commence his brutal killings. A pivotal character in his team, A-Train, breathed his last as he continued his reign of terror. In a recent interview, Antony Starr, who plays Homelander, got candid about his character’s impulsive actions in the context of A-Train’s death.
Homelander is damaged, says Antony Starr
In The Boys Season 5 premiere, Homelander kills A-Train by catching him and breaking his neck in the woods following a high-speed chase. The leader of the Seven had sniffed out A-Train’s betrayal and loyalty to The Boys and killed him, as he saw him as a liability.
In the buildup to Season 5, A-Train starts questioning Homelander and shows signs of guilt and moral conflict. The character was on a redemption arc and was secretly helping the resistance movement against Homelander, which makes his death heroic.
During an interview with ScreenRant, Starr revealed that his team member’s death signifies a loss, and that a moment of weakness made him commit a violent act, which ultimately didn’t do him any favors.
“It’s a loss. He doesn’t win anything. The moment is actually a moment of weakness. Even though it’s a moment of physical strength, he loses,” Starr stated. He further said that Homelander can never be “happy” because he is too “damaged.”
“This is a guy… he’s never going to be happy. Guy can’t be happy. He is too broken. He is too damaged,” he added.
Furthermore, Jessie T. Usher, who plays A-Train, was sitting alongside Starr and explained what was happening behind the scenes of the speech that his character delivers before his death. The interviewer, picking up the cue, asked if A-Train’s words got under Homelander’s skin, and Starr replied, “Of course, yeah. And, you know, whenever someone tells you the truth — and it’s the truth you don’t want to hear — that was it. Like I say, he won. It’s just a huge loss for Homelander. It just accentuates how weak he really is.”
However, the story continues, and it remains to be seen how long Homelander can sustain his campaign of terror through fear and control while The Boys find a way to eliminate him once and for all.
