Only real The Boys experts can tell which Black Noir is the old one and which is the new one. Image source: Amazon Prime Video.
Since the beginning of the fourth season of The Boys, there have been big question marks hanging over the successor to Black Noir. Who is he? What superpowers does he have? How can you take him out? Is he stronger than the old one? Even several episodes later, many questions remain unanswered, but the seventh episode has finally shed some light on Noir.
Spoiler warning: This article contains information about the seventh episode of the fourth season of The Boys, so if you haven’t seen the episode yet and don’t mind spoilers, you might want to skip reading this article.
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Who is Black Noir II?
After the first Black Noir was murdered by Homelander, a Supe had to be found as a replacement to bad luck
to keep it secret from the public. He is also called Black Noir by the other members of the Seven, although there is now a new person under the black costume.
The name and age of the new Black Noir are unknown, but not his actual profession: the stage. Even though he is a gifted actor, he has massive problems finding his way in the role of the dark assassin. According to his own statement, despite all his efforts, he simply cannot find a connection to Noir’s character and motives.
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The Boys: There’s now a new teaser for season 4 in the form of a… campaign video?
Old and new in comparison
Apparently Vought has cast the replacement for Black Noir well, because they have some similarities – especially in terms of their weaknesses. But they are by no means the same. We are taking this as an opportunity to take a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two Supes and compare them with each other.
Superpowers and abilities
- Black Noir
- superhuman strength, endurance, durability, agility and speed as well as enhanced hearing and cat-like reflexes
- Improved self-healing, but unable to regenerate organs and bones
- perfected martial arts
- perfected stealth
- Reduced pain sensation or extremely high pain tolerance
- There is evidence that Black Noir ages more slowly
- Making music (piano)
- Black Noir II
- Ability to fly
- Superhuman strength and durability as well as enhanced hearing
- Acting
weaknesses
- Black Noir
- Brain damage that has left him constantly seeing cartoon characters, limiting his ability to speak, causing amnesia and turning his mind into that of a toddler
- Nut allergy (potentially fatal)
- Sensitivity to high frequencies
- Black Noir II
- Severe narcolepsy, which can lead to uncontrolled sleep attacks even during a fight
- lack of combat experience
- Sensitivity to high frequencies
Black Noir is not known for deep conversations – not even with his colleague The Deep. Image source: Amazon Prime Video.
Who is stronger now?
Training makes the difference: This question is difficult to answer. Black Noir II does have a clear advantage over his predecessor due to his ability to fly, but the latter is significantly better trained in combat and stealth and, above all, much more experienced. Accelerated regeneration and the intrinsic joy of killing are also massive advantages in combat.
Fatal weaknesses: The most important thing the two Supes have in common is that they have a truly fatal weakness. Although both can take the entire magazine of a minigun without batting an eyelid, Black Noir dies from a mixture of nuts and Black Noir II can fall asleep uncontrollably at any time, leaving him temporarily defenseless.
Black Noir at least has the advantage that his nut allergy is only known to Vought and not to the public, whereas his successor’s weakness is served up on a silver platter. However, if Noir’s nut allergy becomes public knowledge, he will most likely come up short in an equal duel. The secrecy is therefore unbreakable.
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The Boys and Gen V show in the official video how the two Amazon series overlap
High potential: Black Noir II may not have as strong a martial arts skills, but he was able to keep up with Butcher. His ability to fly also gives him the potential to become an even more dangerous and unpredictable assassin and fighter than his predecessor – at least with the necessary training.
This could be made possible by his new position as part of the Seven. Furthermore, it is quite likely that Black Noir II has other abilities that we have not yet seen.
Conclusion: In summary, Black Noir is currently the stronger Supe, at least in combat. However, Black Noir II has the potential to change that in the future and outshine its predecessor.
The latest episode of The Boys introduced a new antagonist, an identity thief. In the box above, the director tells you how to recognize her, even though she has changed her form. There you will also find an explanation of Homelander’s extensive superpowers, which have recently caused more and more confusion.
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