The latest season finale for The Boys was all sorts of messed up, but there was one moment in particular that likely shocked viewers more than others. After spending the majority of Season 3 in hiding from Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy, fan favorite baddie Black Noir finally worked up the courage to confront his demons and return to Vought Tower. Unfortunately, his reunion with Toni Starr’s Homelander didn’t go exactly as planned, and the silent menace instead found himself violently gutted on the tower floor. Black Noir’s sudden death was as surprising as it was gruesome, with the move coming as soon as the show had finally begun to reveal the character’s tragic backstory. The decision to kill Noir off also deprived fans of their chance to see him face off against his former Payback captain in an epic final showdown.
Luckily for Nate Mitchell, the stunt man who spent three seasons behind the mask, Noir’s death will apparently not be the end of his time on the show. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Eric Kripke revealed that Mitchell would return as an entirely new version of Black Noir for The Boys’ upcoming fourth batch of episodes. After teasing playfully that a character who “is completely silent and in a black mask can be recast”, the former Supernatural creative explained that Season 4 will feature a brand new character donning the infamous all-black ensemble:
It’s definitely not the last we’ve seen of Black Noir as a hero. It’s just that the guy who was inside [the Noir suit] in season 3, he’s gone. But we have Nathan playing a really interesting and hilarious character who wears the suit next season. We’ll explore it as the season goes on, but Nathan plays a whole new character.
Eric Kripke
Kripke says he broke the news to Mitchell before filming on Season 3 began, hoping it would ease his pain of losing the original Noir interpretation. This decision was also why a different actor, Fritzy-Klevans Destine, was brought in for flashback scenes involving a speaking, maskless Noir. This way, things will be less confusing when Mitchell’s face is shown as someone else in Season 4.
The entirety of The Boys is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
