He’s coming back, we just don’t know how, so now it’s theory time.

Black Noir is officially returning for the fourth season of Prime Video‘s ‘The Boys’, despite the fact that he was killed off by Homelander in the eighth episode of season 3. So how is the masked member of ‘The Seven’ still alive? Is this all just one big cover-up to prevent the public from finding out, or is something else at play here?

If you have read the comics, you will know some things about Black Noir that may surprise quite a lot of non-comic fans of the show, such as the original face reveal that is completely different to the live-action counterpart.

Now, let’s dive into all the only probably possibilities I can think of.

Black Noir Cloned

The first, out of many, ways that Black Noir could be reintroduced to the show is similar to the comics but with a minor twist of who and why.

In the comics, it was revealed that Black Noir was secretly a superior clone of Homelander, designed to take Homelander down if he ever needed to be stopped. However, it is highly possible that Vought will just clone Earving, the man behind the mask, who is played by actor Nathan Mitchell, and maybe he will be the new superior version of Homelander; in a way.

This would indeed be a shock to Homelander in the show, not that Black Noir’s return, in general, won’t be a shock to those who knew about his demise.

Staying True To The Comics

So with that being said, what if the series just stayed true to the source material, and went forward with the Homelander-Clone being the supe donning the Black Noir attire?

Many comic fans would have been expecting this to be the case throughout the show until the reveal that Black Noir was a man named Earving, who fought alongside Soldier Boy decades prior. Although this was revealed, there is nothing really stopping Vought from doing this now and just lying to Homelander about it.

How funny would it be if they told Homelander that they had just either cloned or somehow saved Earving, but secretly made a clone of Homelander himself that could wipe him out if he ever got the chance?

What If… Soldier Boy Was Black Noir?

Now bear with me on this one, because it might just be the most important theory I have on this matter, what if Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy ended up being put into the Black Noir suit?

If you think back to the finale of season three, you will remember that Soldier Boy ended up being put back under by Lieutenant-Colonel Grace Mallory after he nearly blows up a whole building using his powers.

Homelander makes it pretty clear during the final moments of the third season that he doesn’t really care about what the public thinks about him anymore, showing his true colours to the world once and for all. This is a problem, both for Vought and Mallory… and to be quite honest; the world.

Has the supe-hating Lieutenant-Colonel Mallory finally found a way to stop Homelander, once and for all, after all, it has been her mission for a very long time. Who would she tell about this plan, however, would also be an important question to ask, as she has been known for keeping quite a few secrets in the past.

When Does Season 4 of The Boys Come Out?

The release date for the fourth instalment has yet to be announced, as of writing this article, however, it is expected to release sometime in mid-late 2023.