The Boys Presents: Diabolical reveals exactly why Homelander doesn't have a problem with Black Noir in The Boys season 1. Amazon's adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys is packed with iconic moments, from Hughie losing his blood and guts virginity, to the "girls getting it done" against Stormfront. Spawning a thousand memes, however, is the scene from The Boys season 1 where Homelander gathers the Seven at Vought HQ and chews his group out for being "out of sorts... erratic... unreliable... downright sloppy." The punchline comes as he turns to Black Noir and admits, "Not you, Noir. You've been great."
An animated spinoff from Amazon's main series, The Boys: Diabolical recounts how Homelander was first introduced as a Vought hero in final episode, "One Plus One Equals Two." Shoved into the limelight by Stan Edgar and Madelyn Stillwell, Homelander embarks on his debut mission... and, predictably, leaves a bloody mess behind him. Homelander might've killed the hostages he was supposed to save, but The Boys: Diabolical's backstory does at least explain why he doesn't have any issues with Black Noir in The Boys season 1.
The Boys: Diabolical shows the day Vought publicly unveiled Homelander for the very first time... and reveals Stan Edgar assigned Black Noir as his mentor. Initially distrustful of his masked overseer, Homelander believed Black Noir wanted to steal the spotlight for himself, leaving some flecks of green among the red, white and blue. Stillwell even tells her milk-drinking project that he "should be f**king upset" about being overshadowed by the established Black Noir, and claims the silent hero is actually babysitting Homelander, not mentoring him. Spurred by Stillwell's warning, Homelander goes rogue during a mission, misguidedly wanting to prove himself superior to Noir on every level. Inevitably, he botches the whole thing, and Black Noir arrives to find the site covered with dead hostages and blazing fire. Much to Homelander's surprise, Noir agrees to cover the disaster up. He even tells Homelander what to tell reporters, and kills the last remaining eye-witness to what really happened. The Boys: Diabolical episode 8 ends with Homelander assuring Stillwell, "You were wrong about Noir... he had a few things to teach me after all."
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Black Noir helping a young Homelander on his path to becoming Vought's top hero explains the duo's respectful relationship in The Boys season 1. When Homelander lambastes his colleagues but stops to pay a compliment to Black Noir in that famous boardroom rant, viewers assume it's because the shadowy supe quietly and competently does his job without complaint. Noir being the least problematic member of the Seven (which, er... says a lot) certainly played its part, but that mentor-student relationship explored by The Boys: Diabolical likely means Homelander will always have Black Noir's back over the other Seven members. After all, it was through Noir that Homelander learned the darker arts of being a Vought hero in the first place.
This new dimension to Homelander and Black Noir's shared history could prove even more significant in The Boys season 3. Thanks to a candy bar-wielding Queen Maeve, Black Noir ended The Boys season 2 in a coma, but promos for season 3 suggest Noir is back in the Seven as if nothing ever happened. One theory suggests this is a completely different Black Noir who, like the original comics, is a clone of Homelander. If Vought has secretly replaced Black Noir with an impostor, Homelander might actually notice the difference, now that The Boys Presents: Diabolical has revealed how far back their history truly intertwines.