The Boys actor Nathan Mitchell says his Black Noir costume left him bedridden once after shooting. Mitchell has portrayed the silent, ninja-like character Black Noir, a member of the superhero teamed owned by Vought International known as The Seven, for all three seasons of The Boys. While the actor plays the Black Noir beneath the mask in the present, he was not shown as the face of the character when his backstory, set in the 1980s, was shown in season 3 with Fritzy-Klevans Destine playing his younger self.
During a conversation with The Movie Dweeb, Mitchell discusses the pros and cons of Black Noir’s costume in The Boys, expressing his appreciation to costume design team LJ Supersuits for successfully creating a superhero suit that is both “aesthetically pleasing” and “comfortable.” In terms of downsides, the actor explains that “there’s a compression” component to the Black Noir suit, which “slowly presses down on you” and grows worse the longer one wears the costume. The actor states that the toll on his body was so extreme that once, he was “in bed for the day” as his body recovered following a grueling shoot which took place the day before. See Mitchell’s comments below:
With the Black Noir suit, it’s like there’s a compression that happens around your shoulders and your back, and it just slowly presses down on you. Like, 20 minutes? Okay. An hour? Fine. Eight hours, ten hours, twelve hours, and you’re just like, ‘Ugh.’ I remember this one day we were filming, and it doesn’t happen all the time, but the next day, I was just out. I was just in bed for the day. My body was just recovering.
Why Black Noir’s Look Is So Important
A major aspect that sets The Boys‘ Black Noir apart from the other heroes is his stealthy look, which is practical and designed to blend in as opposed to Homelander’s (Anthony Starr) star-studded cape or The Deep’s (Chace Crawford) merman-themed getup. In fact, Black Noir is so deeply undercover that he never talks or removes his helmet, which is revealed in season 3 to be due to past injuries that the chilling hero suffered. Due to those qualities, Black Noir takes on a sinister aura as someone who could potentially be anywhere at any time, with his tactile suit making him even more intimidating.
While the other members of The Seven are often seen as figureheads for Vought International and operate as flashy, public-facing heroes more preoccupied with reputation than anything else, Black Noir’s motives are difficult to decipher. He is said to complete Vought and Homelander’s dirty work throughout The Boys, and his costume is a major element that identifies him as a person that operates in the shadows. The black costume is expressive, menacing, and utilitarian, giving viewers a way of latching onto the character and understanding him without having to see his face or hear him speak.
Who Is Season 4’s Black Noir?
The Boys television series took a different route than the graphic novels by Garth Ennis when it comes to Black Noir, who is a Homelander clone in the comics. While the show’s Black Noir keeps his helmet and mask on to conceal his scarring, the character chooses to cover himself up and not speak in the comics to hide his identity. With Black Noir dead but still confirmed to be returning heading into The Boys season 4 with Mitchell reprising the role as a new version of Black Noir, it’s possible that the new character is a non-identical clone of Homelander’s, keeping the comic book twist intact.
Source: The Movie Dweeb