While The Boys Season 4 keeps the mystery of Black Noir’s identity alive, showrunner Eric Kripke answers whether the show will adapt one of the biggest comic book twists regarding Noir’s connection with Homelander.
The following article contains SPOILERS for The Boys comics.
The Boys Season 4’s Black Noir and Homelander changes discussed by Eric Kripke
Fans of The Boys comics will know the big twist about Black Noir’s identity. He was revealed to be Homelander’s clone, which set up the final confrontation between Butcher and Homelander. While this twist worked well for the pages, series creator Eric Kripke confirmed that it will not be used in The Boys Season 4 and beyond.
In an interview with Variety, Kripke was asked about the changes the live-action show makes to Black Noir. On turning him into Homelander’s clone, Kripke confirmed that the narrative element never interested him. He said:
“In the comics, he’s [Black Noir] a clone of Homelander this entire time and is actually the one doing all these horrific things. And again, it’s a hell of a twist. But it’s like, well wait, the villain I’ve been following isn’t really the villain. And mileage varies, and I’m sure fans are mad I’m not going that way, but that felt not as satisfying to me.”
He continued to explain why removing the cloning element and turning Black Noir into a different character made sense:
“I’m like, if I’m going to follow this villain, I want this guy to be the villain. So I was never really into the clone idea. Plus, cloning feels like too – I’m going to sound silly – but cloning feels too magical for the show. We try to say that superheroes are the only slippery banana, and that everything else we try to make as grounded as possible.”
The Boys uses sci-fi tropes to introduce superheroes but Kripke seems to be mindful of avoiding narrative pitfalls while moving toward the show’s final season.