Could A-Train From The Boys Beat Flash In A Fight?

Super speed is an enviable ability: Just imagine being able to visit friends in other cities in the blink of an eye. Or reaching the last cookie in the cookie jar before anyone else. When it comes to A-Train, envy is indeed the name of the game. As he grows older, he makes it his life's mission to retain the title of the world's fastest man in the face of up-and-coming speedsters, and he'll do anything in his power to keep it that way.

As athletes have done in real life, A-Train abuses a performance drug to keep one step ahead of the competition — but not just any performance drug. He shoots up the dangerous (and experimental) Compound V on the regular, the very drug used to grant Supes their powers in the first place. In doing so, A-Train boosts his already insane speed to the max. It's thanks to his addiction that he defeats Shockwave (Mishka Thébaud) in a highly publicized race to see who's fastest.

Of course, drug abuse comes at a price. The excess Compound V coursing through A-Train's veins isn't ideal for his body long term, and his heart suffers for it. A heart attack nearly kills him toward the end of season 1, and the ramifications of that cardiac injury ripple throughout season 2. Fastest man alive or not, A-Train is slowly but surely becoming more of a sprinter than a long-distance runner, as Compound V-induced heart palpitations cause him to constantly need breaks.

Regardless, just how fast is A-Train at peak performance? Fast enough to break the sound barrier, according to his results in the race against Shockwave; he crosses the finish line at 371 meters per second, or about 830 miles per hour. No one short of Homelander could spot A-Train while he's on the move, since he appears as a blur. In his eyes, however, the world stands still as he charges ever forward, heedless of the obstacles (and occasionally people) in his path.

Compound V also grants strength, endurance, and durability to its users, all of which A-Train boasts in spades. He can knock people through walls, and trains his muscles by pulling actual trains behind him (though, notably, he cannot run while strapped to such immense weight). A-Train's also shown that he can take what he dishes out, taking punches from the powerful Starlight (Erin Moriarty). Still, he's not as durable as Homelander; Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) is able to shatter his leg without much trouble, though he does recover quickly thanks to his Compound V addiction. His greatest strength, it seems, is irrevocably tied to his greatest weakness.