The following article contains spoilers for The Boys Season 3, Episode 7, “Here Comes a Candle to Light You to Bed,” which released Friday on Prime Video.
While the Injustice video game series couldn’t use Fatalities like Mortal Kombat, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and NetherRealm Studios still found unique ways to at least make the super moves memorable. Injustice 2, in particular, stood out with Superman, for example, punching folks through the sky and then choke slamming them to the ground, nodding to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
Aquaman also had a brutal one in the 2017 sequel, using his trident to stab up and submerge opponents, while summoning a leviathan to munch on them for a bit. These stayed true to the essence of the characters, which deserves commendation for how the creatives adapted. Another badass one that had a bit of humor in it was the super move Flash/Barry Allen deployed, proving the Scarlet Speedster truly could break the space-time barrier. Ironically, The Boys TV show just paid homage to this via a Fatality with its own speedster, A-Train — but in this case, it was bloodier and way gorier.
In Injustice 2, Flash tapped into the Speed Force, dragging a dazed opponent through a portal, slamming them into the Great Sphinx of Giza as it was being constructed, then into dinosaurs, and, lastly, into themselves in the past. It confirmed he was the Fastest Man Alive, able to get back to the past with consummate ease. More so, this spoke to the comics where Flash ran through time, as seen with Flashpoint when he dangerously altered history.
Admittedly, A-Train’s kill didn’t get so deep and scientific, but what it lacked in finesse and substance, it made up for in spectacle. In fact, it was a straight-up horror show that unfolded when he confronted Blue Hawk, the racist cop who beat up several Black people A-Train knew. Blue Hawk also injured his brother, Nate, so A-Train decided revenge was the best dish to serve. He confronted an unapologetic Blue Hawk at the Herogasm sex party, angry how himself also came off careless in the past, carelessly killing folks like Hughie’s girlfriend, Robin.
All the guilt built up, as well as rage over wanting the public to love him, which caused A-Train to snap. He grabbed the bigot by the neck and dragged Blue Hawk for miles through New York City. It splattered guts all on the road, remixing the Injustice 2 move as Blue Hawk grated away on the asphalt. When an exhausted A-Train stopped, it was just a track of blood and entrails, showing us what any Flash would do if they truly broke bad.
Sadly, A-Train had a heart attack, but the vengeance quest ended with a shot of dark irony. Vought International placed Blue Hawk’s heart inside a surviving A-Train to keep him ticking, creating a sinister transplant that he’ll now have to live with. Thus, even if he follows the heroic path like Barry or Wally West, A-Train knows he’s got darkness inside him, literally. Still, he felt good knowing he made it so that one less tyrant patrolled the streets and oppressed people.