The Boys were back in town for the second season of Eric Kripke’s brutal superhero brawler, where those spandex-clad heroes are never as wholesome as they look on the surface.
All bets were off as The Boys put the head-popping cat among the pigeons, and the ranks of The Seven were once against at each other’s throats while Billy Butcher and his band of merry mercenaries were hot on their tail.
Everyone had their own arc in the season, and before the final credits rolled, we saw A-Train back on the team, Starlight and Maeve finally put Homelander in his place, and The Deep was once again left adrift.
As the finale came to a close, there was a big question mark over the fate of Black Noir, which had already led to some major deviation from the comic book source material. So, what does season three have in store for the silent supe?
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Warning: major spoilers for both The Boys show and comics lie ahead!
For those unfamiliar with Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s series of the same name, Kripke’s show is just as violet as its comic book counterpart.
Most of the gang is here thanks to everyone from Hughie to Starlight, Billy to Homelander making the leap from page to screen.
Black Noir also has a part to play in both worlds, and if the show is anything like the comics, a major twist is on the horizon.
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In the comics, Black Noir is eventually revealed as a clone of Homelander. Noir was sent into The Seven to keep an eye on the OG Homelander, but it turns out he was even more unhinged than the man he was based on.
This leads to a fist-bump moment and Homelander’s final fate when he was slain by Black Noir in a bloody showdown at the White House during The Boys #65.
Season two’s penultimate episode seemingly blew Noir’s comic story out the water when Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott) pulled back his mask and shoved an Almond Joy down his throat. Black Noir apparently suffers from a severe nut allergy and was left for dead by Maeve and Starlight as they escaped Vought Tower.
Alongside showing Noir as a scarred Deadpool-esque figure, our first real glimpse at him revealed actor Nathan Mitchell under the mask – definitely not Starr.
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The last anyone heard of Noir, Homelander referred to him as being a “vegetable” and seemingly discounted him from being on the full-time roster of The Seven in season three.
Or so you’d think.
The issue of Noir’s fate obviously came up during a Twitter Q and A with Kripke. Discussing the future of the stoic superhero, the showrunner confirmed: “Absolutely, Noir will be back. And we’re actually going to learn more about him in season three. You know, there might even be an opportunity for him to take off his mask.”
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Kripke implies that Mitchell will be back in action at some point in the next run of episodes, but that viewers will also get to find out how he ended up doing a Wade Wilson impression.
That being said, an altogether more devilish twist could see Black Noir return in a completely different capacity.
Even though the show is known for mixing things up with the likes of a gender-flipped Stormfront and altering the backstory of Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy in season three, the core of the comics is still there.
It would be a shame to discard arguably the biggest twist in The Boys’ 72 issues, so a clever workaround would fit the bill.
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Picture the scene where the OG Noir remains in his vegetative state while Vought International introduces a new one – played by a Homelander clone.
It would only be Stan Edgar and a few at the top that would know the truth, leaving Maeve to think she’s back on the team with the man she tried to kill. Homelander would also be none the wiser that his nefarious doppelganger is hiding in plain sight.
Yes, this would mean we’d probably gloss over how the first Black Noir got his scars, but that story could be wrapped up in a simple flashback episode.
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Starr already told Collider that he’s been warned Homelander will be a “homicidal maniac” in season three, suggesting that Vought and the rest of The Seven will struggle to wrangle him in.
Well, with his girlfriend having been charred and his own teammates turning against him, Homelander angrily masturbating over the New York City skyline will be the least of our worries.
The other idea is New Noir would be the puppet of Edgar and forced to do unthinkable tasks as a way to discredit the original Homelander and set him up for being removed from the squad further down the line.
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Mitchell himself gave a typically Black Noir response when he told CinemaBlend it’s up to audiences to infer what they want from the character’s race reveal and what’s next.
Discussing THAT big moment, Mitchell told the site: “I think that there are obvious things you can infer from that reveal. But Noir is first and foremost about mystery, and as far as what the future holds, I will leave that up to people to guess and develop theories on. Yeah, I gotta, pull a Noir on this one and stay silent.”
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When the nut allergy scene first played out, it originally looked like the Noir twist was tossed out the window, however, thanks to that throwaway line in the finale, the show is on track to deliver a twist that will leave everyone’s jaws on the floor.
Guessing that The Boys will play out for a fair few seasons yet, it would make sense that the Homelader clone arc is kept a secret.
That being said, it doesn’t mean Kripke can’t pepper a few clues throughout. Here’s betting we’ll see Homelander chomping down on an Almond Joy in season three to give the twist a subtle nod.
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Whatever is going on with Black Noir and the potential of an army of sadistic Homelander clones, it’s clear the usually silent member of The Seven still has a role to play.
Whether it’s a Deadpool-inspired merc with a nut allergy who’s out for revenge, or an unhinged Homelander homage, expect to see plenty more of Black Noir when The Boys returns.
The Boys will return for season three, for which there is currently no release date..
