Warning: SPOILERS for The Boys comics.

Amazon Prime's The Boys won't be able to repeat the original comics' shocking reveal of Black Noir's secret identity. While the show has already gone out of its way to avoid retreading the exact same territory as its source material, there are several reasons why the show's storyline has already made reenacting this particular scene impossible.

Black Noir is the most mysterious member of The Seven in both The Boys comics and the The Boys series. With his dark costume and grim demeanor, the character is clearly meant to parody Batman in the same way that Homelander is a send-up of Superman. The key difference between them, however, is that show's version of Black Noir has yet to display any overt superpowers, apart from somehow managing to survive a fight with the super-strong Kimiko. By contrast, the comic book version of Black Noir was eventually revealed as one of the most powerful superhumans on the planet.

Related: The Boys: Liberty's Real Identity & History Explained

Black Noir's secret identity was exposed in The Boys #65. It was here that The Boys learned that Black Noir was a clone of the Homelander, created by Vought-American as a contingency if Homelander ever crossed the line or went insane. The irony is that it was Black Noir, who knew he was a clone and that he had no purpose for existing other than awaiting a disaster that might not happen, who ultimately went insane from years of living and working with a man who was essentially him while having to hide who he was from the world. This prompted a resentful Black Noir to begin committing various atrocities while dressed as the Homelander, in the hopes of being seen and finally being given the kill-order. One of these crimes was the rape of Becca Butcher, which pushed her husband Billy to join The Boys and launch a crusade to kill Homelander by any means necessary. While this was an amazing twist, there's no way that Amazon Prime's The Boys can replicate it since so much has changed between the comics and the TV adaptation.

The Boys Black Noir Revealed To Be Homelander Clone In Comics

The show has given Becca Butcher a drastically different background as a Vought-American marketing executive, who was raped by Homelander while at work. She then went to the company and made arrangements to disappear, giving birth to a super-baby in secret and raising him in a small town under Vought-American's control where they would be protected. She did this largely to protect her husband Billy (whose temper she knew would cause him to seek revenge on anyone who hurt her) but also to ensure that her son would not be raised by a team of scientists who saw him as a test subject instead of a child. The twist at the end of The Boys season 1, which revealed that Becca was alive and raising Homelander's son, would retroactively lose all impact if it turned out she had been raped by Black Noir impersonating Homelander.

Another issue is that Homelander readily accepted that Becca's son was his. While the comics' version of Homeleander was a habitual womanizer who feared that he was having blackouts and doing bad things without remembering them later thanks to Black Noir's manipulation, there's nothing about The Boys' version of Homelander that would suggest that he's raped so many women that he wouldn't remember Becca Butcher. It's also notable that Vought-American's response to Homelander learning about his son's existence in season 2 and insisting on regular visits was to advise Becca to keep him happy and just wait for him to get bored, rather than giving Black Noir the kill order once Homelander returned to base. Finally, Homelander noted in an interview in The Boys season 2, episode 4 that Black Noir did not identify as a member of any one race when discussing the team's diversity, suggesting he's something other than a clone of Homelander. What that ultimately means is anyone's guess, but it's also been made clear that Black Noir is not playing with a full deck, whoever he is.

Next: The Boys Season 2: Why Becca Was Right About Butcher