The Boys: Who is really “Black Noir” in season 4?

Revealing his powers during episode 7, the character remains very mysterious. But his interpreter, Nathan Mitchell, reveals new details.

He is certainly the most enigmatic character of The Boys. Especially since it changed, literally, between season 3 and season 4. Spoiler alert!

Mute from the start, hidden under his costume and mask, Black Noir was Homelander’s right-hand man before being killed by the latter, without ever having been able to show his true face. A godsend for the actor Nathan Mitchell. Because if he had already played Black Noir since season 1 – the one who died in season 3 – he was able to come back to play the new Black Noir in season 4. Having technically never appeared on screen, the showrunner Eric Kripke offered him to come back to play “New Noir”, that is to say his replacement in the costume, a Supe “actor”, paid to impersonate Black Noir so that the public would not guess that the real Black Noir is dead! Are you following?

“When I heard that Noir was going to die, my heart broke. And then they said to me: “But you’re coming back!” says the actor Nathan Mitchell in EW.”When I found out Noir was going to die, I felt like I was losing someone close to me. So Eric Kripke (the creator) gave me the opportunity to take the mask off in season 3 to say goodbye to him. But I wouldn’t have been able to come back for season 4. So it was smarter to become New Noir. But it was a bit of a grieving process for me..”

But who is this new Black Noir really? Who is hiding under the mask in season 4?

The authors of The Boys thought up a whole origin story : “He comes from Godolkin, the Supes university that we see in Gen V. He is an actor but has never had the success he wanted to have“, describe Nathan Mitchell in EW. “He then progressed and he did the Vought Circus (a parody of Cirque du Soleil). But his career is not where he wants it to be. And then, all of a sudden, this opportunity presents itself. He goes for it and realizes that this job is a little harder than he had in mind…”

Prime Video even released a fake video of the audition tape of the actor in question (whose name remains unknown), cast by Homelander to play New Noir (above). And then in season 4, for the first time, Nathan Mitchell had the opportunity to remove his mask and show his face, on the occasion of episode 6. A new approach to the character for the actor, somewhat destabilizing : “In the old Black Noir days, I could feel things under the mask, but I was also aware that I was translating his feelings through the physical. So I was very attentive to that. With the new Black Noir, it’s the opposite. Everything is more vocalized, everything is more visible.”

And this week, we even saw the new Black Noir flying in season 4 of The Boys. “There was a stuntman in the costume” precise Nathan Mitchell !

The finale of season 4 of The Boys will be available to watch next Thursday on Prime Video.