The Boys Black Noir: Superhero with Narcolepsy

Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Amazon/Sony/Kobal/Shutterstock

In Season 4 of Prime Video’s hit series, The Boys, the “new” Black Noir (played by Nathan Mitchell) is portrayed as a superhero with narcolepsy. Here’s everything you need to know about Black Noir’s narcolepsy, how it compares to real-life narcolepsy, and whether Black Noir actor, Nathan Mitchell has narcolepsy himself (to be clear, he is not diagnosed with narcolepsy), from Project Sleep, a non-profit raising awareness about sleep and tracking Hollywood depictions of sleep disorders.

Warning: Potential spoilers and explicit language below. Journalists: Please see Project Sleep’s Sleep Disorders: A Toolkit for Journalists for preferred language choice (i.e. using “a person with narcolepsy” instead of “narcoleptic”). 

The Reveal: The “New” Noir has Narcolepsy

In The Boys Season 4, Episode 3 (about 15 minutes in), during a meeting of The Seven at Vought Tower, Homelander addresses the group of superheroes when he’s distracted by the sound of Black Noir II snoring. The Deep kicks Noir under the table, and Noir startles awake, exclaiming, “Oh sh*t, sorry guys, I’m narcoleptic.” Homelander replies, “What the f*ck.”

In The Boys Season 4 Episode 7 (around 40 minutes), Black Noir and The Deep are involved in a physical fight with Butcher and his team. While Black Noir and Butcher square off against each other, Black Noir all at once pauses, drops his head forward and topples forward to the sound of snoring. Butcher responds, “C*nt’s narcoleptic.”

Watch Now:

What is Narcolepsy?

It’s important to know that narcolepsy is a serious medical condition, a neurological disorder of the sleep/wake cycle impacting about 200,000 Americans and 3 million people worldwide.  To be diagnosed with narcolepsy, you would visit a medical provider called a board-certified sleep specialist to undergo testing before receiving an official diagnosis and learning about treatment options.

What are Symptoms of Narcolepsy?

The most common symptom of narcolepsy is excessive daytime sleepiness, periods of extreme sleepiness throughout the day. Other symptoms include episodes of muscle weakness triggered by emotions (called cataplexy), sleep-related hallucinations, and sleep paralysis.

Is The Boys’ Narcolepsy Portrayal Accurate?

When Black Noir falls asleep in the meeting of The Seven (Season 4, Episode 3), this somewhat aligns with real-life experiences of narcolepsy’s excessive daytime sleepiness. It is often activities that would make anyone sleepy, like sitting inactive (in a meeting or classroom or watching TV), or doing monotonous, repetitive activities (like typing), but a person with narcolepsy’s sleepiness is more extreme and harder to fight off, which may lead to nodding off.

Black Noir’s snoring is not a major symptom of narcolepsy, but it is a symptom of another sleep disorder called sleep apnea.

Noir Falls Asleep Mid-Fight

When Black Noir is in a high-intensity brawl with Butcher (Season 4, Episode 7) , any human (or superhero) would likely experience a “fight-or-flight” response with increased heart rate, alertness, and epinephrine sending extra energy to the body. This would be less likely that narcolepsy’s sleepiness would lead to nodding off in such a high-stress circumstance.

The way Black Noir slumps forward dramatically snoring mirrors other comedic “pratfall” narcolepsy depictions in movies and TV shows (like Disney’s The Mysterious Benedict Society and Deuce Bigalow Male Giglio), and perpetuates misconceptions of what narcolepsy symptoms actually look like.

Breaking Down Hollywood’s Narcolepsy:

Why This Matters

This show has broad, influential reach. From executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke, Amazon Original’s The Boys is one of the hottest and timely shows with Season 4 reaching No. 1 on Prime Video in 160 countries in June 2024. According to Nielsen, The Boys was the #1 original streaming program in the U.S. at 1.053 billion minutes watched for the week of July 8-14, 2024.

While it is only a few seconds of a much broader TV series, this portrayal is similar to other film and TV portrayals where narcolepsy is used here for comedic effect and as a put-down, which doesn’t align with current medical knowledge of this serious neurological condition. People experiencing narcolepsy’s real excessive sleepiness (often more subtle and invisible to outsiders, even if excruciating internally) may internalize their symptoms as a quirky character trait, sign of laziness, or lack of willpower. They may not realize they could have this real medical condition, as they believe “narcolepsy” involves falling over asleep dramatically, as shown on television.

This matters because it impacts real people’s lives. Due to lack of awareness and misperceptions, the majority of people living with narcolepsy are currently undiagnosed, without access to treatments or support. For those who do get diagnosed, it takes an average of 8-15 years to receive an accurate narcolepsy diagnosis.

Does Black Noir Actor Nathan Mitchell have Narcolepsy?

Photo Credit: Presley Ann Photo/Shutterstock

No, Black Noir actor Nathan Mitchell is not diagnosed with narcolepsy despite a flurry of online articles suggesting otherwise. Best we can tell, the confusion began in July, when cast members from The Boys appeared on Happy Sad Confused, and at about 48:13, The Deep actor Chace Crawford said, “We’ll be in scenes and [Mitchell’s] literally asleep, he’ll fall asleep during a scene.”

Homelander actor Antony Starr added, “He legit falls asleep… There’s a line in there, ‘Is Noir asleep?’ and he wakes up and goes ‘ahh I’m narcoleptic’. Which he f*cking is… in real-life. He’s fallen asleep at the table in that suit, in real-life. Nathan is almost narcoleptic. I’m not joking.”

Nathan Mitchell Speaks about Sleepiness

In an interview with TV Insider, Nathan Mitchell described, “It’s funny because [when I] talk to my friends… they’re like, ‘Yeah, I remember when we were in high school and you’d come to parties and just nap on the couch.’ So it’s something I’ve been doing my entire life just taking little naps here and there.”

In an article on The Wrap, Nathan Mitchell is quoted as saying, “Honestly, Erin [Moriarty] was the first one to call me narcoleptic Noir. It was in between seasons. We were all hanging out and I think we were partying and I just like passed out [asleep], and she’s like, ‘What are you, what are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’m just taking a nap.’ And she’s like, ‘Narcoleptic Noir,’ that stuck. Then obviously it was brought to fruition in this season.”

“I think [Kripke] noticed it in probably Season 2 or 3? I think it came up a few times,” Mitchell said. “Eric and the team are so great about incorporating those things in little ways. I’m not full-on narcoleptic, fall asleep uncontrolled, but if there’s like a moment alone, where, like no one really needs me, I might just like, but then I’ll be up and good to go very quickly.”

The Wrap article states, “Mitchell went on clarify that he’s not actually narcoleptic in real-life.”

Let’s Talk Sleepiness & Napping

It’s important to know that falling asleep easily in relaxed or sedentary situations or taking quick naps could be a sign of a sleep disorder like narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, or sleep apnea. If you have trouble staying awake during the day on a regular basis, it’s important to consult a board certified sleep specialist.

Not sure where to start? Here are some suggestions: