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Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Boys season 5 and the original comic books.
Naturally, many are hoping The Boys does not repeat this trend. As a TV adaptation of source material with a definitive ending, though, The Boys has somewhat of an advantage. Although the Prime Video show is different from The Boys comic books in many ways, the overarching plot of Homelander essentially becoming the President of the United States as Billy Butcher tries to stop him remains.
Prime Video's The Boys expands on this, however, meaning the ending that transpired in the comic books is all but impossible to adapt now. This ending links to Black Noir, who was revealed as a clone of Homelander in the final moments of The Boys' comic books, thus being able to kill the latter.
Noir does so before Butcher comes along and finishes off the Homelander clone, who was the real perpetrator behind Becca's sexual assault. In early episodes of The Boys season 5, many wondered what was going on with Black Noir II, who was revealed in season 4 to be an actor hired to pretend to be the original Noir after Homelander killed the latter.
In The Boys season 5, this actor's face wasn't seen, nor was he heard talking, like in season 4. There were also lines hinting that Noir was sneaking off somewhere, leading many to wonder if The Boys was setting up its comic book ending after all. However, The Boys season 5, episode 5 makes this impossible, revealing that Noir II's actor was simply method acting in earlier episodes, and that he was only sneaking off to act in a theater production.
The Boys Is Right To Avoid The Comic Books' Homelander Clone Ending
Credit: Jasper Savage/Prime Video
While the Noir/Homelander clone ending worked in the comic books, the show has gone in so much of a different direction that The Boys is right to avoid it. For instance, the comic books reveal that it was Black Noir, posing as Homelander, who was responsible for many of the story's inciting events, such as the sexual assault of Becca Butcher.
In the comics, Black Noir framed Homelander for most of the atrocities the latter was accused of in an attempt to make him go crazy. Noir was created as a contingency by Vought to kill Homelander should the Supe ever go off the rails. Driven crazy himself over the wait to fulfill this mission, Noir orchestrated Homelander's downfall so that Vought would finally order him to do what he was made to do.
If this entire plotline were crammed into The Boys season 5, it would simply have been unsatisfying. There was potential to reveal as much had the original Black Noir survived, but Prime Video's show went in a different direction with that character. Now, it would not only be literally impossible but also narratively underwhelming for this twist to take place.
As explained, Noir II is simply an actor, not a Homelander clone. Moreover, if it were revealed in the final moments of The Boys that Homelander never assaulted Becca or committed any of his other biggest crimes, the entire show up to that point would be undermined. Homelander is one of TV's best modern villains, thus making his rivalry with Butcher incredibly compelling.
Ending the show in any way other than having the two come to blows over their shared hatred would be a massive mistake. So, too, would be removing any villainous agency Homelander had throughout the entire show. Thankfully, The Boys has changed the comic books in narratively impactful ways that have resulted in a better story and a better ending than the one from the source material, with the latter now impossible to adapt.
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