In the massive world of comic book adaptations, filmmakers and showrunners make a wide variety of changes for good and for ill. Some comic book movies have completely revolutionized their source material, but others deviate for more self-contained narrative reasons. TakeThe Boys, which uses a cast of familiar characters like Black Noir in a ton of interesting new ways.
Eric Kripke’s adaptation of Garth Ennis’s 2006 comic book seriesThe Boyshas the benefit of 15 years of new superhero culture. The series is awell-received takedown of the genrethat also happens to be one of its strongest entries. Kripke has made several big changes to the story, but he captured the spirit of the source material.
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How is Black Noir Portrayed in the Show?
Black Noir seems to be the mostsimplistic member of The Seven. He doesn’t speak, his notebook scribblings are never more than a sentence or two, he unfailingly follows Vought’s orders, and he rarely exhibits his personality beyond his violence. The first two seasons keep his identity under wraps, always covered by his full suit of armor and featureless mask. He’s a master assassin, but the first season depicts him using a teddy bear to calm a child and playing piano at a party. There’s something more to him, but the show is reticent to show it off.
When themask finally comes off, Black Noir reveals himself as a semi-normal man named Earving. Earving trained with an unnamed master martial artist to become a living weapon, leading him to a career as a costumed superhero. He worked with the particularly edgy group Payback in the 80s, but things went downhill after he attempted to branch out on his own. When Vought conspired toreplace Soldier Boy withHomelander, Black Noir was part of the operation to take him down. Noir was grievously injured in the brawl, leaving him with permanent brain damage. Noir stuck around after Payback disbanded, but he joined The Seven and remained a popular Supe. He swiftly became a close friend and confidant of Homelander, a relationship that would reference his comic book origin story.
How is Black Noir Portrayed in the Comics?
In the early issues of Garth Ennis’sThe Boysseries, Black Noir is basically identical to his on-screen portrayal. However, Noir’s identity is one of the biggesttwists of the original story, and that aspect of his character is left out of the show. The comic version of Black Noir is a perfect clone of Homelander, built by Vought in case the original Supe ever got out of line. Noir’s purpose was to eventually slay Homelander, but that goal was put on hold for years. As it turns out, Homelander was actually a decent man, so Noir never got the order to kill him. Noir went mad, losing his purpose in a world that refused to call upon him. To kill his target, Noir framed Homelander for a series of gruesome crimes.
In the comics, Black Noir is the one who assaulted Becky Butcher. The comic book version of Butcher’s wife did actually die in childbirth, but the father of the powerful baby was Noir. Noir used photographs of the event, along with a variety of other heinous acts, to convince Homelander that he was guilty. This leads Homelander to lose his mind and become the monster most fans are familiar with. Once Homelander snapped and attacked the U.S. Government, Black Noir was finally allowed to kill him. In the comics, Noir is the architect of almost all the evil in the series. The series ditched that concept, preferring to let Homelander be responsible for his own actions andgive Black Noir hisown narrative direction.
Is Black Noir Returning inThe BoysSeason 4?
Black Noir died near the end of Season 3. Homelander horrifically disemboweled his former friend after discovering the truth about Soldier Boy. Despite his bloody demise, a version of Black Noir will appear in the next season.Showrunner Eric Kripke hasreferred to a “replacement” version of the character. Just like the earlier iteration of Black Noir, this replacement will be portrayed by Nathan Mitchell. Fans have speculated that the clone aspect of his character may emerge in his new appearance. Since Homelander is the one who killed him, Vought might seek to resurrect Noir to seek revenge. This would fulfill his purpose from the comics, but it’s very unlikely that Black Noir will replace Homelander as the main antagonist. Homelander is just too popular to be replaced.
Black Noir is aninteresting case of adaptational alteration. If one were to watch all his scenes in season one and examine the character’s early appearances in the comics, the character would seem almost identical. However, this silent assassin’s secret identity was one of the biggest changes in the series.
