Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet streamed The Boys’ Season 4 finale with an Amazon Prime subscription, so be warned!
Life is now a lot more complicated for quite a few characters, both Supes and normies, going into The Boys Season 5. The Season 4 finale left things extremely ominous for Butcher’s intentions with Ryan and the virus, while Ashley faced a Compound V-induced cliffhanger, and most of the protagonists were rounded up under the country’s new martial law status. Someone who didn’t get the short and tragic end of the plotline stick was Black Noir, who achieved his biggest breakthrough to becoming his namesake Supe: the murder-boner.
Black Noir actor Nathan Mitchell, who’s been under the mask and muscled-up costume for all four seasons, spoke with CinemaBlend going into Season 4’s swan song. He told me about finally getting to talk to other characters, and shared his thoughts on my puppet-related Gen V theory, and also shared his thoughts on just how morally corrupted the New Noir is by the time all of Season 4’s blood has spilled. As he put it:
The way I see him, it's like he's a good bad guy, you know? He doesn't wanna kill people to, like, kill people. He just has to for his job, right? So he's like, 'I gotta commit to my role. I gotta kill you. It's just...I'm sorry.' And so there's obviously a corruption in that, but I think that it's more out of necessity. It's like, 'Ah, I didn't know this was what I was signing up for, but I'm here.' And one of the primary cores of his ethos is to commit to the role and do that to the best of your ability. So while he struggles with that, eventually he realizes that's the way in, and he's gotta become one with the role. He's got to become Noir, and by the end of the season, he gets closer and closer to that.
It’s such a strange role for an actor to take on (or to stay with, as it were), since Mitchell is now portraying a V-charged Supe with acting goals and a working voicebox, as opposed to portraying the mentally damaged Noir across the first three seasons. New Noir’s alter ego doesn’t seem to have any deep-seated rage or insecurities to grapple with like other members of The Seven. As such, part of the character’s Season 4 arc has been finding an authentic way into “becoming” Black Noir, instead of just “playing” him.
And while it may not necessarily be a sign of 100% genuine moral corruption, Noir does seem to reach a certain…growth…when it comes to tapping into his predecessor’s mindset. As he and The Deep are doing Homelander’s bidding by killing off any overly knowledgeable Vought employees, Noir discovers that he’s no longer disturbed or worried about violently destroying others’ lives. Rather, the act of mistakenly murdering the wrong Ashley gave him a murder-boner, which has been the missing link (no pun intended) between the two Supes.
Considering he didn’t exactly seem upset to find himself aroused by homicidal acts, Black Noir does indeed seem to be on the less virtuous side of the moral spectrum now. Which isn’t to say he won’t turn things around in Season 5 to help the good buys during what will presumably be an epic Homelander vs. Butcher conclusion, but it seems somewhat less likely now.
During our chat, I'd asked Nathan Mitchell if showrunner Eric Kripke had him trying out any atypical voices for Black Noir, and it sounds like the "murder boner" moment almost went in a different direction. Here's what he told me:
No, it's funny, because in the last episode, we did have a line or two that we cut out, and I did actually go up a couple registers to say it. It was an exclamation about, like, understanding... I don't know how much I can say, but I'm coming to a new understanding about Noir. And we made an edit that was much simpler, and I think when people hear it, it's gonna be much more funny.
Would I still love to hear whatever the other version of the moment was that audiences didn't get a chance to see? Absolutely. But do I think it would be any better than the hilariously direct moment calling attention to the character's aroused nature? Never! I mean, unless he just started screaming about it and making sure everyone around noticed. That would elicit a chuckle or ten, I'm sure.
Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before fans will see Black Noir back in action, although there's a chance Nathan Mitchell will pop up in Gen V Season 2, which is currently in production. In the meantime, head to our 2024 TV schedule to see what other shows are popping up soon!
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