One of the biggest changes between The Boys live-action series and its original comic book version is Black Noir’s character. On the show, he is a ninja-assassin supe that always wears a mask because of his deformity. However, in the comics, he is portrayed a lot differently. But while Black Noir may be different in the comics, is he good in his comic book version?
Black Noir is a lot worse in the comics than he is in the show. If Homelander was already an asshole on the show, Black Noir is a more deranged and unhinged version of him because the comic book version of the character is a clone of Homelander. As such, he is simply an eviler version of Homelander.
Changing Black Noir’s story on the show is a welcome change that a lot of fans loved because of the fact that the Black Noir version in the comics makes the flow of the story in the series predictable. But if you already hate the Homelander on the show and in the comics, we have 10 shocking facts that will make you see that Black Noir is the worst version of Homelander.
1. Black Noir Hates Homelander
In the comics, the biggest secret was that Black noir isn’t just any other supe because the fact of the matter is that he is the clone of Homelander. The reason why he was even created was the fact that he needed to be the fail-safe option for Vought in case Homelander were to go rogue. That means that he was meant to be the backup plan for the company.
Considering that he was merely created for one single purpose, Black Noir develops a hatred for Homelander because he struggles with an identity crisis. All he wants to do is to kill Homelander because that is his very purpose in life. And it is this hatred for Homelander that eventually led him to do almost all of the different heinous actions that he committed.
2. The Sexual Assault On Starlight
In the live-action series, we saw that Starlight was sexually assaulted by the Deep when she first became a member of The Seven. He basically blackmailed her into it. However, in the comics, the Deep is actually a stand-up guy and is one of the nicest people on The Seven. But Starlight was still sexually assaulted in the comics.
Instead of the Deep assaulting Starlight, it was Homelander, A-Train, and, of course, Black Noir who assaulted her. The trio forced themselves onto her as a form of hazing as the gullible and innocent Starlight had no choice but to get on with it. And while it was a trio of supes that assaulted her, this was still one of Black Noir’s worst actions.
3. This Ninja Eats Children For Fun Whenever He’s Bored
As stated, Black Noir is basically Homelander wearing a black jumpsuit. His main purpose in life is to be the backup plan in case Homelander were to go rogue. But because his role is quite limited to being a fail-safe option, there were plenty of times when he ended up getting bored. And that was when he did some of the worst things.
In the comics, Black Noir actually assaulted mothers with their children and even ate young kids just because he was bored. This is probably the worst thing that anyone can do, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for someone as depraved and as corrupt as the comic book version of Black Noir.
4. Homelander Wasn’t The One Who Raped Becca
Billy Butcher’s main reason for wanting to kill Homelander and the supes is the fact that his wife died after she was raped by Homelander. On the show, Butcher presumed that she died after Homelander raped her. Meanwhile, in the comics, he presumed that Homelander raped her and impregnated her, which eventually led to her death.
However, the truth of the matter was that it wasn’t really Homelander who raped Becca in the comics. Instead, it was the depraved and mentally unstable Black noir that raped her. This eventually led to her death as Butcher blamed everything on Homelander. And this helped the flow of the story because it led Butcher to mount his own crusade against Homelander and the supes.
5. Black Noir Blackmailed Homelander
As mentioned, Black Noir is Homelander’s clone and was created for the purpose of killing him in case he were to go rogue. However, in the comics, Black Noir got bored in his life because Homelander got on Vought’s good side and managed to maintain a very good standing with the company, albeit he was still corrupt. Nevertheless, Homelander was maintaining a good image with Vought, and that drove Black Noir mad because he couldn’t fulfill his only purpose in life.
To that end, he does a lot of crazy things dressed as Homelander so that people would think that it was Homelander that did all of those things. He basically blackmailed the powerful supe into going rogue so that he could fulfill his purpose of finally killing Homelander. That was how depraved Black Noir was in the comics.
6. Gaslighting Homelander
We did mention that Black Noir did a lot of crazy and heinous actions dressed as Homelander so that he could finally have a reason to kill him. He went around killing people and doing things as Homelander, and that led the real Homelander to believe that he was losing his mind and was no longer in control of his life.
Basically speaking, Black Noir gaslighted Homelander into thinking that there was something wrong with him, but it was actually Black Noir that did all of those heinous acts. This eventually led to Homelander taking over the White House in an effort to find some sort of control over his life.
7. Homelander’s Death
When Homelander’s mental state reached its boiling point, that was when he finally went rogue. He attacked and took over the White House as he was about to enter into battle with Billy Butcher. But guess who comes butting into the picture? Yes, Black Noir inserts himself into the affair.
Black Noir took his mask off and revealed himself to be Homelander’s clone all along as everything started to make sense to Homelander. This led to a fight between the supes as it was ultimately Black Noir that ended up winning when he punched through Homelander’s jaw. Nevertheless, he was already too injured as Billy Butcher took the opportunity to finish Black Noir himself.
8. Becca’s Death
In the live-action series, Becca was presumed to have been killed by Homelander after raping her. But the truth was that she got impregnated by the supe, and that was what forced Vought to hide her and fake her death. However, she still ended up getting killed near the end of season 2 as Butcher finally found a reason to hate supes even more.
However, in the comics, it was Black Noir dressed as Homelander that raped and impregnated her. The fetus inside Becca was so powerful that it ended up killing her before she could deliver it. She died due to the fetus as Billy Butcher beat it to death due to his anger.
9. Black Noir Enjoyed Everything He Did
As you can see from the things that we have outlined above, Black Noir was a depraved maniac that did some of the most heinous things in the comics. In the series, he does have some sense of morality because he only did the things that he was asked to do. But in the comic books, he just did those heinous acts because he wanted to.
The worst part was that Black Noir enjoyed everything he did. He found joy in doing all of the different heinous acts that he committed because they brought him closer to his true purpose of killing Homelander. This makes him the most corrupt and morally depraved character in the comic books despite the fact that the other supes themselves are corrupt as well.
10. Black Noir Is The True Main Antagonist
When it was all said and done in the comics, the true main antagonist was Black Noir, after all. Readers were made to believe that a mentally unstable Homelander was responsible for all of the morally depraved actions that he was allegedly committing. And even Homelander himself believed that he was the one behind all of the things that were happening.
However, it was Black Noir all along that drove Homelander to the brink of madness while setting off Billy Butcher’s crusade against Homelander and the supes. Everything that happened in the comics happened because of Black Noir’s actions, and that is why he was the true villain all along. Nevertheless, Butcher got his revenge when he finished him off after Homelander’s death as he was able to finally have his revenge.