This Is How A-Train Joined The Seven On The Boys
On Amazon Prime's "The Boys," the super team the Seven heavily mimics the Justice League, if they were corrupted by capitalism; where there's Superman, there's Homelander (Antony Starr). In place of Wonder Woman, they have Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott). And of course, it wouldn't be complete without the guy who runs real fast: A-Train.
Played by Jessie T. Usher, A-Train is best known among viewers for being the guy who ran through Robin (Jess Salgueiro) in the first episode, thus inspiring her boyfriend Hughie (Jack Quaid) to join up with the titular group of anti-supe disasters, the Boys. At the time, he was out of control due to injecting himself with the drug Compound V — a dangerous performance enhancer that gave all the supes their powers.
From there, his story turns into an insecure drugged-up athlete narrative as he uses the Compound V to ensure he's the fastest guy on the planet to keep his spot in the Seven, kills his secret girlfriend to keep her quiet about it, and gets kicked off the team for heart issues induced by the drug abuse. A-Train's entire story has been about maintaining the title of "fastest person in the world," but how did he get into the Seven in the first place?
Speedsters compete to be the best
Before there was A-Train, there was Mr. Marathon. While most of the supes on "The Boys" have seemingly unique powers, there are at least a handful of speedsters to go around, so they're effectively replaceable. In the Amazon series, Mr. Marathon is only mentioned twice, when hero manager Ashley (Colby Minifie) says A-Train was in the Seven for four years longer than him, and when Lamplighter (Shawn Ashmore) reminisces about sneaking teen girls into Vought tower with him.
In the comics, Mr. Marathon died when the Seven messed up a rescue during 9/11, but on the show, we don't know why he left the team. Since Homelander and Maeve's tragic plane rescue in the Amazon series replaces the comic's 9/11 narrative, it seems possible that Mr. Marathon didn't die that way. In fact, considering how concerned A-Train is about losing his title, it's likely that Mr. Marathon was overtaken by A-Train — perhaps losing some speed with age. Maybe A-Train raced against Mr. Marathon and won, but for now, it's still a mystery.
We do know that A-Train started out as a member of the small-time superhero team Teenage Kix, along with his now-deceased girlfriend Popclaw (Brittany Allen) and the telepathic supe Mesmer (Haley Joel Osment), before being promoted to the Seven. However, his position on the team is tenuous, as the speedster Shockwave (Mishka Thébaud) challenges him to a race for the title of the "fastest person in the world." Partway through Season 2, Shockwave does replace A-Train. In what must be a weird coincidence, this episode aired on September 11, the same day Mr. Marathon died in the comics.
However, when A-Train leaks info about Stormfront being a Nazi to the press, he gets accepted back into the Seven. Still, fans are concerned that his Compound V abuse will have lasting effects on his speed, but we'll just have to wait until Season 3 to see.