Which Members Of DC's Bat Family Could Defeat The Boys' Black Noir?
Since its debut on Amazon Prime in July 2019, The Boys has taken the world by storm and breathed new life into the superhero genre. Its journey to answer the question of "What if the Justice League was made up of the worst people imaginable?" has provided some top-notch television and truly shocking moments that the likes of Marvel and DC wouldn't dare tread. Of course, without the Seven — the series' main group of awful superhumans — leading the charge, The Boys wouldn't have reached the heights that it has across its two, soon to be three, seasons.
It's no secret that some of DC Comics' biggest names laid the groundwork for the Seven, such as Superman, who provides the basis for Homelander (Antony Starr) and Aquaman, who's responsible for The Deep (Chace Crawford), but Black Noir is arguably the most on-the-nose of the bunch. The mysterious ninja is a clear riff on DC's Batman, as evidenced by his black and grey costume, his martial arts combat style, and his reputation as someone to fear by the criminal community. Given the Dark Knight's popularity, many have wondered whether or not he could hold his own against Black Noir, and vice versa.
Out of similar curiosity, CBR recently broke down how 10 of DC's biggest names would fare against Noir, detailing victories by Flash and Wonder Woman, as well as the crushing losses handed to Green Arrow and Beast Boy, to name a few. To expand on this concept, here's a look at the few Bat-Family members that could get the better of the Seven's stealth master, and how they'd pull it off.
The Batman would give Black Noir a run for his money
Batman's reputation speaks for itself: he's a master tactician, a proficient hand-to-hand combatant, the world's greatest detective, and has taken down some of the DC universe's most powerful entities, including Superman and even Darkseid. With that in mind, how exactly would he stack up against Black Noir, if they were to come to blows? Speaking solely on what's known about the television version of Noir, as of this writing, and omitting any details that don't carry over from the page to the screen, the face-off could go either way — but the Dark Knight surely has some tricks up his sleeve to walk away with his life.
One of Batman's biggest strengths is his analytical mind, and his world-class combat training makes it so that he can see things before they happen, and react accordingly. Despite Black Noir having a clear biological edge over his opponent, thanks to the genetic enhancements that make him faster and stronger, that doesn't mean much of anything to Batman. He's built a legacy off of fighting — and defeating — bigger, stronger, and faster adversaries. With quick thinking and smart tactics, he would gladly add another name to the list.
Black Noir is no slouch either in this regard, but it's unlikely that he could outmaneuver the Bat-Family patriarch.
Red Hood can take a licking and keep on ticking
The second person to take on the Robin mantle, Jason Todd, is one of the most well-known characters to come out of the Batman mythos. He has cheated death via the Lazarus Pit, reinvented himself as the anti-hero Red Hood, and has even taken his former mentor, Batman, to his physical limits in battle. He's the very definition of peak human performance. Coupling that with his ruthless and sometimes bloodthirsty attitude definitely makes the proposition of a fight between him and Black Noir a highly intriguing one.
Both of these individuals are at their highest level in regards to their strength, power, and combat abilities, but Jason's time in the Lazarus Pit gives him a slight advantage over Noir. Not only did it bolster his already impressive resilience, which allowed him to endure days of torture at the hands of the Joker in the infamous Death in the Family comic story, but it gifted him an accelerated healing factor. Those two elements would seriously inconvenience Noir if he was looking for a quick and easy fight, especially because the longer it goes on, the more time that gives Jason to come up with a winning strategy.
It would be a slugfest, but the Red Hood has the wherewithal to reign supreme by the final bell.
Batgirl's tech savviness would be her saving grace
While her father, Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon, wouldn't necessarily approve, a pre-Killing Joke Barbara Gordon would gladly step up to face Black Noir under her Batgirl persona if the need arose. At first glance, it seems as though this match-up is a clear win for the metahuman Noir: after all, Barb is just a young, unaltered woman with some Batarangs and martial arts skills. However, you can't count her out yet, as her unmatched technological savviness would even the playing field, somewhat, paving the way for a much fairer contest as a whole.
Barbara's role in the Bat-Family, when she's not on the front lines putting Gotham's criminals in their place, is as the research and technology arm of the group. She has studied computers her entire life and used her knowledge to cook up different gadgets for cleaning up the streets. If given enough notice, she could thoroughly study Noir and his weaknesses prior to their fight, put together a few tools to weaken him (perhaps something to exploit his debilitating nut allergy that season 2 of The Boys introduced), and defeat her foe before he has the chance to recover.
Game, set, match. Winner: Batgirl.
As even Homelander has admitted on the show, Black Noir is the most efficient and dangerous members of the Seven, so none of these results are set in stone. Anyone could win or lose on any given day, but, on their best day, the likes of Batman, Red Hood, and Batgirl have what it takes to give Noir a taste of his own medicine.