Notice! Spoilers for the finale of The Boys comic series!
Black Noir’s death at the end of The boys revealed the critical weakness he shared with Homelander and, essentially, the “supers” who terrorized the story’s fictional world under the guise of protecting him. As readers of the series know, even the franchise’s most super-powered characters could only resist a certain brutal force aimed in their direction.
The boys #65 – written by Garth Ennis, with art by Russell Braun – featured the climactic deaths of both series’ antagonist Homelander and his secret clone Black Noir, and how their final moments emphasized what Billy Butcher and his allies would need to do in order to take down any of the imposing “heroes”.
As the final fate of the characters made clear, although they could be super strong, neither Homelander nor Black Noir had the durability to withstand sustained attacksespecially each other.
The boys’ “supes” are only superficially strong – but they can only take so much
The boys #65 – Written by Garth Ennis; Art by Russ Braun, John McCrea and Keith Burns; Color by Tony Avina; Lyrics by Simon Bowland.
One thing that becomes evident throughout the The boys is that while the external strength of most supers initially appears to offer them protection, their interior is not as durable. A notable example of this came in the miniseries Butcher, Baker, Candlestick; in a scene where Butcher shot a super several times, the super was immune to the bullets, until Butcher stuck the barrel of the gun in the super’s mouth, which resulted in a fatal shot.
In The boys #65, this even extends to the franchise’s most powerful super, Homelander – as well as his deranged double, Black Noir. Specifically, Butcher was able to take down Noir by exploiting an existing wound. Although it took another super-powered individual to cause external damage, Butcher was able to exploit this to get to the super’s vulnerable innards – killing him by destroying his brain.in a horrible but expected way.
Neither Homelander nor Black Noir could resist internal damage
The key to defeating supers
Black Noir was one of the strongest Supes in The boys Universe, and Butcher still managed to kill him with exactly that same tactic. After Black Noir’s intense fight with Homelander, Black Noir is left with serious injuries, with several organs exposed. It is here that Butcher sees his chance to strike and orders the military to open fire, specifically targeting Noir’s exposed organs and other body parts. This proves effective, as Black Noir is further injured to the point where he can no longer fight back.
The fact that Butcher was able to crush Black Noir’s brain with his bare hands is further evidence that it’s only a super’s skin that’s truly durable.
With Black Noir seriously injured, he is unable to defend himself, as Butcher approaches. Using a crowbar, Butcher opens the top of his skull and manages to remove some brain matter and crush it. The fact that Butcher was able to crush Black Noir’s brain with his bare hands is further evidence that it’s only a super’s skin that’s truly durable. It is clear, in turn, that Homelander’s physiology worked the same way – suggesting this tactic could have been exploited beforeif the boys had managed to seriously damage the super somehow.
Supes can be eliminated if their weaknesses are targeted
The boys “Heroes” were never as powerful as they seemed
Since Black Noir can be killed by attacking his organs instead of his skin, this means there’s no reason to assume the same couldn’t be done to Homelander. He was the biggest threat in The boys universe, but if Butcher could figure out a way to get in his eyes or shove something down his throat, it would have been an incredibly easy victory. While this may seem like an impossible question, Butcher and The Boys are a government agency, they had the full support of the US military, so it’s not like they didn’t have the resources to do it.
Ultimately, Butcher needed someone much more powerful to take Homelander down, and the only reason Black Noir didn’t immediately become a threat was because Homelander hurt him so much that Butcher was able to finish the job. It was an incredibly risky situation, but if Butcher had simply remembered how he killed his first Supe and used his brilliant mind to come up with some plans, it’s possible that The boys Homelander could have been killed much sooner.
The boys #65 is now available from Dynamite Comics!
The Boys is a gritty and subversive take on the superhero genre, focusing on a group of vigilantes who face powerful superheroes who abuse their abilities, exploring themes of corruption and moral ambiguity in a world where heroes are not always the what they look like.