The Boys showrunner explains why Black Noir is not a clone of Homelander in the series

The Boys has made a return to the screens with its fourth season, which is also set to be the penultimate one. The series has already aired half the season as of today. With things getting grimmer and more gritty, it is worth wondering how the subtle changes in the series from the comics have resulted in this.

Eric Kripke, the creator and showrunner for The Boys, recently commented on one such big change- the story of Black Noir. The character of Black Noir had been very interesting from the very start, with an air of mystery surrounding him. His character arc came to an unfortunate end in Season 3 when Homelander (Anthony Starr) murdered him for hiding Homelander's origin from him.

In the comics, Black Noir is Homelander's clone and possesses insane amounts of power. He is also the shadowy figure pulling the strings all along.

However, Kripke never considered bringing this storyline into the series because he wanted to stick to one villain, Homelander. He also thought that bringing this clone storyline into the picture would cut off some of the realism The Boys had established. Kripke discussed this in a latest interview with Variety.

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What did Eric Kripke say about changing Black Noir's story in The Boys series?

Of course, there are many other changes in the acclaimed comic's adaptation, but making Black Noir a completely distinct character was a big gamble that was always in the books for Kripke. He explained in the latest interview why they went with this storyline in the latest interview with Variety when he was asked why they changed Black Noir's story.

"No, and I don’t mind saying it. In the comics he’s 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,

"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."

So, with all the limitations this storyline brought with it, The Boys went in a different direction, which ultimately proved to be working for the show.

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The first four episodes of The Boys season 4 are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.