The Boys’ Black Noir Actor Almost Played a Different Character

Black Noir was the most silent yet deadly character in The Boys. For three seasons, the character hid behind a mask, not saying a word to the other characters featured in the popular series. However, in Season 4, he actually has a voice and a face behind the mask for good reason that superfans understand.

Actor Nathan Mitchell, who has played the character through the entire run of the Prime Video series to date, is finally getting more screen time and dialogue. That’s something he wanted from the beginning, especially since the actor had auditioned to play another character entirely.

Nathan Mitchell Wanted to Play The Deep

While Black Noir is a complex character who slinks around like a darker combination of Spider-Man and Bruce Lee, he doesn’t say much. In fact, initially, he doesn’t speak at all. Interestingly, according to SlashFilm, Mitchell first auditioned to play The Deep, the satirical superhero show’s version of Aquaman who has many more storylines and dialogue. The character, whose role went to Chase Crawford, is a slimy, womanizing man who’s also deeply insecure. That’s because of the gills on his stomach and because he doesn’t feel like his superpowers, which largely only exist underwater, measure up to the others.

Black Noir, by contrast, is an important character, one of the few people Homelander (Antony Starr) truly confided in. But he was the masked muscle the others sent to do their dirty work, not a character with compelling dialogue (nor any dialogue at all). Nonetheless, Mitchell brought personality to the role despite never speaking a word or even showing his face for three seasons. (The unmasked younger version of Black Noir shown in the origin flashback story in Season 3 was played by a different actor, Fritzy-Klevans Destine).

Mitchell, also known for his role as Zion Miller in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia, captured Black Noir’s balance of menacing and deadly skills and playful personality using gestures and body language alone. A simple tilt of his head and a shaking of a stuffed animal for a child in one scene, for example, showed his softer side. However, a ferocious fight with people like Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) proved that he was not to be messed with either.

Mitchell also explored Black Noir’s personal trauma in that one special Roger Rabbit-esque episode. Knowing he betrayed Homelander, Black Noir hid out in an abandoned children’s restaurant. There, he saw visions of animated friends who helped him through his feelings of guilt and shame and the haunting memories of the awful way Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) treated him so many decades ago.

Showrunner Erik Kripke told Variety that Black Noir had probably been seeing those cartoon characters all along, but this is the first time viewers are seeing them, too. It added another layer of complexity to the character that Mitchell likely never anticipated he’d have the chance to explore.

Black Noir Finally Speaks and Shows His Face in The Boys Season 4

Fans know that in Season 3, a livid Homelander literally guts his friend in anger, killing Black Noir in gruesome fashion. He felt betrayed because Black Noir knew all along about his parentage and had recently learned that Soldier Boy was still alive, but he didn’t tell him. Fans logically suspected this would mean the character would not return for Season 4.

But when Season 4 began, fans were delighted to see Black Noir back, still played by Mitchell. How? He’s playing a different person altogether. This Black Noir is an imposter, another superhero hired to pose as Black Noir to prevent the public from learning that the real Black Noir was killed.

Dubbed Black Noir II, this man is much more vocal. In fact, he’s constantly talking, leading the others to repeatedly remind him that Black Noir doesn’t speak. He can’t seem to keep his chatter down to a minimum to avoid suspicion. He’s overtly light-hearted and fun, the antithesis of the version of Black Noir that Mitchell played in prior seasons. He can fly, and even, it seems, suffers from narcolepsy, which poses a challenge given his job.

Thus, though Mitchell might not have secured the part of The Deep, based on his portrayal of Black Noir 2.0, he was tailor-made for such a role. It might have taken four seasons before he was finally able to show that comedic side, not to mention his face. But Mitchell is finally getting more screen time and an opportunity to play this very different version of the character that was ultimately his second choice.

In essence, Mitchell has been able to play two characters in one. And in a beautiful twist, the bromance between him and The Deep is a growing part of the story. Since Black Noir II is a much more relatable and open character, he’s the friend The Deep has been pining to have. Plus, this Noir is just as much a cowardly, hapless, clumsy frat boy-type as The Deep.

It proves Mitchell was right for that role all along, even if he didn’t get it. But he’s also perfect for this one, and his chemistry with Crawford makes fans happy the casting choices were made as they were. Stream The Boys on Prime Video.