Unmasking the Black Noir With Nathan Mitchell of The Boys

In a world where superheroes are revered, The Boys flips the script, offering a gritty, irreverent take on the genre. This Amazon Prime series, based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, presents a universe where superheroes, known as "Supes," are not the paragons of virtue they appear to be. Instead, they are deeply flawed, often corrupt individuals managed by the powerful corporation, Vought International.

Among these antagonists are The Seven, including the mute and darkly-costumed superhero Black Noir. Silent, stealthy, and enigmatic are some of the traits often attributed to him. And behind the mask is Nathan Mitchell, a Canadian actor who is also known for his role as Zion Miller in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia.

Esquire Philippines sits down with Mitchell in an exclusive interview, mostly about the big unmasking of Black Noir in The Boys Season 4, Episode 6.

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Esquire Philippines: My first question is, have you read The Boys comics, which the show is based on?

Nathan Mitchell: I read a bit of it, you know, at the start, to start to get into the role and understand what the series is about. Yes.

There's a difference between what happens in the comic books and in the series. We saw Black Noir get killed at the end of Season 3. Obviously, now it’s a different character, but why is Black Noir back for Season 4?

Black Noir is back because Vought [International] wants to maintain the appearance of a consistent Seven. Right? So, we have Homelander being very impulsive and killing Noir for betraying him, not revealing that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father. But he didn't really think that through, right? To keep up appearances, Vought replaced the old Black Noir with a new Black Noir. And that's why, you know, that's happening in the Universe.

How does it feel to be finally unmasked in the last episode? Everybody finally got to see what Black Noir looked like without all the makeup or scarring.

It feels amazing! You know, when I got the role, it was not something that I thought would happen. I was preparing to do this whole thing, you know, as a masked character. So to have this opportunity, and to have it open up to me. It's fantastic, and it's a dream come true.

You look like you're having fun. Can you tell us how much fun it is to play two different characters? In the first three seasons, you were just this silent ninja dude. And now you're this method actor. How does that feel?

It’s so great because what I loved about old Black Noir is you get to tell this story through your body and your physicality. And then with new Black Noir, you know, I get to expand and use my voice and bring a new twist, because I very much had the experience of being like, 'How can I get into this character?' right? And then to get to, like, exaggerate that and and play on it, you know, in the world of The Boys is incredibly fun and incredibly enjoyable. And it's a very meta take on this role.

Speaking of meta takes, I think this season has been, you know, pretty on point. This season probably had the least satirical jokes, actually using real lines like ‘Jewish space lasers’. So, would you say that The Boys writer Eric Kripke was being very deliberate about being less subtle this season? Do you feel that the show is less subtle compared to other seasons?

Yeah, he’s really intentional with his writing, right? And I think that is a direction we've taken.  I love the direction he's gone in. With the writing, you have to think about reflecting on what we see in the world and what our opinion of it is. And sometimes we can layer that in very softly and in very nuanced ways, and there are other times where we want to be very clear about it, you know?

Part of the art of storytelling is reflecting what you feel about the world and reflecting your opinions. And sometimes you say those things softly, and sometimes you say those things very bluntly, you know, and so I think we are exploring the (same) themes we typically do. But with a more direct flavor this year,

I think this year is probably a very, very, very key year for America. Do you think that The Boys, your character, and—of course—everyone else’s character will impact the American people somehow? What is your hope for that?

I think with any story, your intention is to share your thoughts, but let the viewer come to their own conclusion. I can't speak for Eric specifically because he has his thoughts, and I don't know them exactly, but I think we present ideas and themes, and we call out certain things that are happening in the world. And we put those things in front of you. And then, as the audience, it's up to you to draw your own conclusion from that.

So I think some of the messages that we're sending are [that] it's important to be aware of what's going on in the world. And when things look like they're going South. It's important to be aware and be active and do what you can to keep things from going in a negative direction. And what people take from that is up to them. But hopefully, we encourage people to be active participants in the world. And yeah, take positive action where they see fit.

What role does Black Noir play in the final episode of the season?

What I can say is he's starting to understand the role of Noir, and he's starting to buy in more and more. So we're gonna see him becoming a more active member of the Seven rather than struggling with, you know, his process and understanding what Noir is about. We're gonna see him kind of lean into the role of Noir more going forward.

In episode six, the show teased that Black Noir could fly, and we finally got to see that in episode seven. Are we in for more surprises?

Basically, I think the biggest thing I can say is we have some fun surprises. So that's what I would say in regards to that.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.