The big reveal of Black Noir’s true identity contains a supposed plothole, since Homelander has x-ray vision, but The Boys comic already fixed it.
The Boys series is no stranger to shocking moments, though arguably nothing was more of a shock than the reveal that Black Noir was a clone of Homelander programmed from his creation to kill him. While that reveal was unexpected for readers, it didn’t really answer why Homelander was surprised. He has x-ray vision, after all – why didn’t Homelander just use it to see Noir’s face? That’s a pretty damaging plothole. At least, it would have been, if The Boys hadn’t already fixed it.
In The Boys #65 by Garth Ennis, Russ Braun, John McCrea, and Keith Burns, Black Noir reveals himself to be a Homelander clone. He then proceeds to brutally murder Homelander, thus fulfilling the purpose of his very existence. This was the fruition of a sinister plan that had been secretly building in the background of the series since practically the first issue. Black Noir would dress as Homelander, commit vile atrocities, and make Homelander think he was doing those things. This drove Homelander crazy – crazy enough to give Black Noir permission to kill him.
Black Noir was created to act as a safety net for Vought-American, as he was the only person strong enough to kill Homelander if he ever stepped out of line. Unfortunately, the inherent desire to kill Homelander made Black Noir lose his mind, so he effectively turned Homelander into a villain just to kill him. It’s a creative twist that no one saw coming, but it still doesn’t answer why Homelander didn’t just use his powers to see the face under the mask. That wouldn’t be answered until the release of The Boys Omnibus.
The Boys’ Artist Russ Braun Confirms Why Homelander Didn’t Know Who Black Noir Was.
In the back matter to The Boys Omnibus
The Boys Omnibus editions offer fans some insight into the making of the comic book series that they wouldn’t find anywhere else. From original pitch ideas (including a potential Justice League crossover) to initial sketches of characters and panels, the back matter to The Boys Omnibus is a treasure trove of The Boys content. That includes an explanation from The Boys artist Russ Braun about the supposed aforementioned plothole – as he answers that question with one of his own.
Russ Braun: do you really think he had the wherewithal to differentiate between a millimeter of cloth and layers of flesh, muscle, bone, and brain to see a face?
The artist acknowledges that Homelander could, indeed, see through Black Noir’s mask, but the image he’d see upon using his x-ray vision wouldn’t necessarily be a face. Braun points out how precise Homelander would have to be with his x-ray vision to actually see that Black Noir was his clone, and explains that not only would Homelander have practically no interest in using his powers so precisely just to see Black Noir’s face, he might not even be able to.
The Boys’ Homelander Is As Apathetic As He Is Undesciplined
Throughout The Boys comic series, from the incident on the plane in The Boys #21 to the argument at hand, Homelander has shown that he may be all-powerful, but his skills are not refined in the least. Homelander’s powers are real, but they’re just for show. In practice, he has little control over his powers (proven true by the plane hijacking), and in all honesty, he doesn’t care to. Indeed, Homelander is as apathetic as he is undisciplined, and in the end, that’s what kills him.
At the end of the day, this supposed ‘plothole’ isn’t one at all. Sure, Homelander probably could have trained himself how to use his powers to their fullest extent, and got good enough with his x-ray vision that he could have peered behind Black Noir’s thin cloth mask, but that’s not who Homelander is. Homelander doesn’t care enough about being a hero to master his powers, and he definitely doesn’t care enough about Black Noir to take the time to find out who he is – something Russ Braun and the entire The Boys series make perfectly clear.
