Spoilers below for anyone who hasn’t yet watched the latest episode of The Boys via Amazon Prime subscription, so be warned!
The fourth season of The Boys introduced viewers to a “new” Black Noir who, for all violent and murderous intents and purposes, is the same version of the hyper-violent supe that we already loved before his torso was impaled by Homelander’s fist. “New Noir,” the nickname preferred by star Nathan Mitchell, is still able to speak to other characters, among other unique abilities. And there was even a third version of Black Noir in puppet form for Vought’s Christmas TV special. Interesting to see puppets used in this world again, no?
CinemaBlend entered The Seven’s chambers (at least metaphorically) to talk to Mitchell about Noir’s Season 4 surprises, and it seems very likely that we’ll be seeing him beating the shit out of more stuff in The Boys’ fifth and final season. I’m not sure we can say the same about the puppet-ized version, however, given the way Ryan suddenly derailed the live special with his non-approved message to viewers.
When I asked Nathan Mitchell if he had a chance to hang out with the Black Noir puppet in person, he shared:
No, I didn’t. I wasn’t on set at that time. So I wish. But yeah, very, very meta, you know? You think of Gen V and the puppets Sam sees, and then we bring those into real life in this show; I think it’s really cool.
The actor was understandably disappointed to have missed out on going toe-to-toe with the superbly crafted puppet version of his character, but was still 100% positive about it nonetheless. The vast majority of TV performers go their entire careers without characters who inspire such hand-crafted counterparts, so it’s a big honor any way one looks at it. Now let’s get a Black Noir action figure with swappable O.G. and New Noir heads, with the piano-playing version also included.
That said, we do NOT need action figure versions of Rob Benedict’s Splinter, either in Human Centipede mode or as an all-nude brawler. I’m not against a fully clothed and forward-facing version of Splinter as a sidekick for Firecracker, but that’s it. (Oh, fine, bring on the X-rated toys.)
My Puppet Connection Theory And Nathan Mitchell’s Response
Everyone who watched Gen V no doubt remembers Sam’s hallucination of The Deep puppet, as well as the bonkers Episode 5 sequence in which Asa Germann’s Sam Riordan brutally murdered a bunch of assailants while hallucinating himself and others in felt form. Considering that was the franchise’s first embrace of that form of performance art, is it just a coincidence that Vought conceived and produced a holiday special with not just The Deep, but all the members of The Seven as puppets?
Or is it possible that the TV special was specifically crafted Homelander bringing the evil-turning Sam and Maddie Phillips’s Cate Dunlap into Vought minions? Not just to spread holiday joy, but as a way to mess with or possibly send subliminal messages to Sam as tied to his less-corporeal visions. When I brought that idea up to Nathan Mitchell, he chuckled and said:
Yeah, yeah, I mean maybe. Who knows? I don’t know. Like, obviously, some of Vought knows what’s going on in Sam’s head, but I don’t think they were trying to take a personal dig at him when Vought, in-world, decided to have that Christmas special.
Alright, so The Boys actor doesn’t put much stock into my admittedly out-there idea. To be fair, that’s where my head is at purely as a viewer and conspiratorial fan.
As a realist, I can 100% understand that the inclusion of puppets in The Boys Season 4 is likely because Gen V‘s head of prosthetics Colin Penman headed up a team of puppeteers for the spinoff that showrunner Eric Kripke presumably wanted to utilize in the flagship satire. And a youth-oriented special with Cameron Crovetti’s Ryan is probably the most logical way to have made that work alongside all of Vought’s other in-universe movies and Seven-related entertainment. (Maybe no more ice skating shows, though.)
Still, if it wasn’t an intentionally sadistic move on Vought’s part, then someone behind the scenes with knowledge about Sam’s condition should have brought a stop to the special. Because regardless of the inspiration behind it, wouldn’t it still be awkwardly triggering to Sam when he sees it?
The Boys will deliver its Season 4 finale on Thursday, July 18, via Prime Video. Head to our 2024 TV premiere schedule to see what fans can look forward to seeing when Homelander has gone into hiatus until 2025.