Black Noir’s Death Revealed the 1 Weakness of Homelander’s Powers, Including Exactly How to Kill Him

Warning! Spoilers for the end of The Boys comic series!

The death of Black Noir at the end of The Boys revealed the critical weakness he shared with Homelander, and essentially of the “supes” who terrorized the fictional world of the story under the guise of protecting it. As readers of the series know, even the franchise’s most superpowered characters could only withstand so much brutal force being directed their way.

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 as their final moments emphasized what Billy Butcher and his allies would’ve needed to do in order to take down either of the imposing “heroes.”

As the characters’ final fates made clear, while they might have been super-strong, neither Homelander nor Black Noir had the durability to withstand sustained attacks, especially from one another.

The Boys’ “Supes” Are Only Superficially Strong – But They Can Only Withstand So Much

The Boys #65 – Written By Garth Ennis; Art By Russ Braun, John McCrea & Keith Burns; Color By Tony Avina; Lettering By Simon Bowland.

One thing that becomes apparent over the course of The Boys is that, while most supes’ external strength seems to offer them protection at first, their insides are not nearly as durable. One stand-out example of this came in the miniseries Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker; in a scene where Butcher shot a supe several times, the supe was impervious to the bullets, until Butcher stuck the barrel of the gun in the supes’ mouth, which resulted in a killing shot.

In The Boys #65, this is shown to extend even to the franchise’s most powerful supe, Homelander – as well as his deranged duplicate, Black Noir. Specifically, Butcher was able to put down Noir by exploiting an existing wound. While it took another superpowered individual to cause external damage in the first place, Butcher was able to exploit this in order to get at the supe’s vulnerable insides – ultimately killing him by destroying his brain, in gruesome but expected fashion.

Neither Homelander Nor Black Noir Could Withstand Internal Damage

The Key To Defeating Supes

Black Noir was one of the strongest Supes in The Boys Universe, and Butcher still managed to kill him with this exact same tactic. After Black Noir’s intense fight with Homelander, Black Noir is left with massive injuries, with several organs exposed. It’s here that Butcher sees his chance to strike and orders the military to open fire, specifically attacking the exposed organs and other parts of Noir’s body. This proves effective, as Black Noir is injured even further to the point that he can no longer fight back.

The fact Butcher was able to crush Black Noir’s brain with his bare hands is another bit of evidence that it’s only the skin of a supe that’s actually durable.

With Black Noir badly wounded, he isn’t capable of defending himself, as Butcher approaches. Using a crowbar, Butcher cracks open the top of his skull and manages to pull out some brain matter and crush it. The fact Butcher was able to crush Black Noir’s brain with his bare hands is another bit of evidence that it’s only the skin of a supe that’s actually durable. It is clear, in turn, that Homelander’s physiology functioned the same way –suggesting this tactic could have been exploited earlier, had the Boys been able to seriously damage the supe in some way.

Supes Can Be Taken Out If Their Weak Points Are Targeted

The Boys “Heroes” Were Never As Powerful As They Seemed

Since Black Noir can be killed by targeting his organs instead of his skin, this means there’s no reason to assume that the same couldn’t be done to Homelander. He was the biggest threat in The Boys universe, but if Butcher was able to figure out a way to target his eyes or get something down his throat, it would’ve been an incredibly easy victory. While this might seem like an impossible ask, Butcher and The Boys are a government agency, they had the full backing of the US military, so it’s not like they didn’t have the resources to do it.

Ultimately, Butcher needed someone far more powerful to take down Homelander, and the only reason Black Noir didn’t immediately become a threat right after is because Homelander injured 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 that brilliant mind of his to come up with a few plans, it’s possible that The Boys’ Homelander could’ve been killed much sooner.

The Boys #65 is available now from Dynamite Comics!