Does a teaser trailer for The Boys season 3 prove Black Noir has been replaced by a Homelander clone? Most superheroes in The Boys would punch their grandmother for 5 minutes of publicity, but that couldn't be further from the truth for Black Noir, who hides his face and makes Edward Scissorhands look chatty. Black Noir acts just as mysteriously in Garth Ennis' original comic book story, which eventually reveals the Seven's sneakiest supe as a clone of Homelander, who committed a series of unspeakable acts (including the attack on Billy Butcher's wife) that Vought's figurehead got blamed for.
Amazon's The Boys seemingly wrote itself out of pulling that same Black Noir twist. Not only has Antony Starr's Homelander been committing unspeakable acts of his own accord, but a brief glimpse underneath Black Noir's mask proved the man behind the costume was Black and, therefore, not Homelander's cloned twin. By the end of The Boys season 2, Black Noir is out of Vought's picture indefinitely after Queen Maeve exploited his Kryptonite - a tasty bar of Almond Joy. The last time The Boys viewers saw Noir, he remained within an allergy-induced coma.
Though the masked enigma himself doesn't appear, first footage from The Boys season 3 may tease Black Noir's comic book clone storyline. The brief trailer shows Homelander attending a press conference at Seven HQ alongside Erin Moriarty's Starlight, who now has her own chair right beside him at the table's head - a big hint that Homelander and Starlight will be sharing leadership duties in The Boys season 3. For a company that spent decades pampering and appeasing Homelander until he became the archetypal man-child, that's a rather bold move. Throughout The Boys' first two seasons, no Vought employee dared upset Homelander, fearing the world's most powerful man might snap, embarking on an apocalyptic rampage across the world. If Vought really has promoted Starlight to joint-leader, Stan Edgar clearly isn't worried about making Homelander angry. So, what changed?
According to a popular fan theory ahead of The Boys' return, the Black Noir of prior seasons will remain medically out of action in season 3. Vought, however, will utilize Homelander's DNA to produce an obedient, less emotionally fragile clone, and secretly put the copy inside Black Noir's suit. A Homelander clone could pull off Black Noir's powers easily enough, and since the original never spoke or removed his mask, not even the Seven would notice any difference. Having a second Homelander (that actually takes orders) would be the perfect fail-safe to bring down actual Homelander should he ever run wild, and certainly explains why Vought is taking the risk of irking their most powerful superhero by forcing him to accept Starlight's authority.
A Black Noir commercial shown in September's "Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman" spoof already suggested the nut-stricken hero has made a miraculous recovery since The Boys season 2 ended. Vought openly antagonizing Homelander lends even more weight to the theory that Black Noir has been subtly replaced in season 3. Though it's too late for The Boys to attribute Homelander's worst crimes to an impostor (like the comics), the clone could still take sinister delight in ruining his counterpart's life. Homelander finds himself more vulnerable than ever in The Boys season 3, with his influence and popularity stripped away. As Homelander's psyche cracks, being accused of crimes he didn't commit (for a change) could be enough to send America's hero straight over the edge.