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I suggest you watch "Jupiters legacy" It has the same vibe of celebrating superheroes while critisizing them as well as exploring the idea of a moral codex. And it clearly loves superheroes as well
Nolan is simply a brilliantly written character. The fact that he willingly left earth because he realized how much he actually loved Mark and his wife was only the start of his development.
An overlooked detail that, I think, will end up being extra important is when Nolan is telling Debbie that "with [Mark's] powers developing this late, I almost wish he hadn't developed them at all." Considering we now know that Viltumites are immortal and that Nolan does not care one bit about superhero stuff, I think this indicates that he really just wanted Mark to be his normal human son. I think he loves his human life with a son, wife, and friends. When he outlived them, he could use that pain to transform back into the Viltumite conqueror he was before. He turns so murderous and hateful in response to Mark developing his powers because now he is *forced* to choose between his original purpose and his viltrumite/human son. This is probably why Omni-Man is so much more hostile to the Immortal too, he hates him and Mark because they will eventually know the truth of who Nolan really is.
When Nolan says "I do love your mother but she's more like a pet to me" that got me thinking the hardest. Because most people genuinely do love their pets as their own family, but we often out live them, there's always that acknowledgement that we're a different species. They live with us. He might not be lying when he says he loves her, he may love her with his whole heart, but he knows that he'll outlive her by a large margin, and not to get too attached Edit: Look I'mma be honest this wasn't meant to be that deep I just took the longest fucking way possible to say "He's probably not lying, but he's still a dick" possible
I feel like people forget bout Art Nolan and him seemed like genuine friends, Nolan was comfortable sharing his hardships with him (not being completely truthful I might add), sharing a beer with, probably not for the first time and even going on a fishing trip with him They weren't just business aquintences While Art wasn't as hurt by Nolans betrayal as much as Debbie or Mark it doesn't mean he wasn't hurt at all You can see him trying to drink away the pain of the thought that his best friend never even cared about him
The thing about Omni-Man trying to persuade Mark that he should join the empire because he is effectively immortal is that Omni-Man wasn't trying to convince Mark of the insignificance of human life but rather convince himself. He knows that he has grown attached to Debbie and a few of his friends but he is devoted to the Viltrum empire. He tries to make sure his emotions do not get the better of him by trivializing connection to humanity by bringing into perspective their short lifespan.
After watching the ending and you realize he killed the heroes in the beginning in his mind Out of mercy if they resisted the empire they would be crushed
And all of that is represented in his son. Mark is the kindest, most heroic person Omni-Man knows. If he can convince him that Viltrum is the way forward then he can believe he’s right again.
I'm guessing Omni-Man's J. Jonah Jameson mustache resemblance wasn't fully intentional in the comics, but having J.K. Simmons voice him was a stroke of genius.
I knew jk Simmons was in this show, but didnt know what character But as soon as omni-man appeared on screen (even without saying a word) I knew straight away it was going to be jk Simmons voice
One thing I noticed about omni man right away was the looks in his eyes even though he talks big about killing the guardians of the globe right after he did it he had a horrified look on his face like he was genuinely horrified that he actually killed them But his duty to viltrum was that important to him
What we also must understand in order to understand Nolan is that his values are very different from ours. On Viltrum might make right. It's moral to be strong and immoral to be weak for them. Being strong is the most important thing. Nolan thinks Viltrum has the right to conquer everyone exactly because they are the strongest. It's their duty to the Galaxy as they are the best (strongest) guys ever. So they must share their high morals with the Galaxy ^^ - So... killing the Guardians maybe actually affected him because they were the strongest. They could hurt him. They were probably the only people he respected on the entire planet, the only people he valued and thought that they have morals and have some rights. He doesn't really respect Debbie and doesn't think that anyone on the Earth is moral and has any rights... except Mark. Mark is the only one who has the right to have an opinion and who Nolan would listen to...
I think Nolan liked being Omni-man. He liked living on earth, and he loved his wife and son. There are some things that are revealed later in the comic that basically confirm that, if Mark had never gotten powers, he probably would have lived out his life with Debbie, then left the planet at some point. Once Mark got powers, it was time to actually do the job.
He seemed normal and fairly happy before Mark got his powers, but then at that dinner scene where Nolan freezes and Debbie has to hit him to respond, he realizes that this is it, I have to choose
As long as everybody he cared about was human, he could put off making decisions because of his longevity. His wife, son, and hypothetical grandchildren could all die of old age before he made a move on his conquest as he quietly set things up in the background. But with Mark having Viltrumite powers, and longevity, that was no longer an option.
It's difference of culture he was taught that what he does is completely fine. If you keep a child away from society and teach him things that go against society he will do those things once you release him
I actually see Omniman more like if General Zod was sent to earth instead of Kal El because of his militant dedication to his people and willingness to conquer at all costs.
@@darkythecrazyninja5228 Nah, General Zod is basically the leader of what is left of Superman's People. He also happens to be a conqueror and a warmonger, pretty much like Omni man if he didn't have a family on Earth.
Omni-Man has compassion, but he views humans the same way we view bugs. You can help them all you want but when it comes time to prioritize your own species over them, it seems dumb not to. Mark trying to protect them would be, to Nolan, like somebody losing their shit that you stepped on an ant hill.
Exactly, it's not like we like to purposefully kill ants just for the hell of it. We just don't do it if we don't need to, heck some of us even keep them as pets. But if we do have to kill them we're not gonna hesitate.
Homelander and Omni man are both the idea of “What if Superman was evil?” except they are both so different versions of that idea. With Homelander, he’s a man child sociopath who acts as a superhero to feed his incessant narcissism. With Omni man, you can tell that he’s still conflicted even with how evil he is. You can tell he has a moral system, no matter how twisted it is.
I wonder what other "dark Superman" parodies act like. I just think that Amazon will have a monopoly on darker superhuman shows and actually lift themselves off the ground compared to DC right now...
When Omni-man talks to Mark, he's merely telling Mark what he told himself every time he started to grow attached to his life on Earth. Along with the frustration of now having to kill Mark, adding in the new, "I can always just start over, make another kid." Of course, we're treated to the flashback of Debbie explaining human parenting to him. And in that flashback we do see him embrace that way of life by cheering Mark on. We could attribute it to him just putting on a more convincing act to keep humans fooled, but the fact that he flies away from Earth in tears shows that he does care. That he couldn't convince himself to bear loyalty to Viltrum any longer. Think about it. Was there any tactical advantage to him running away? No one on Earth could stop him. He could have had Earth wrapped and ready for subjugation the very same day. Do you think Viltrum is going to look at his failure to do that with any amount of leniency? How strong are the other Viltrumites compared to him, if he is not their leader?
Only the strongest of the Viltrumites were chosen for the mission, so they are probably equal to him. Would be interesting to know if they choose rulers based on strength alone though
From what I could gather he's not the ruler of Viltrum, he's in the like top 10% of most powerful Viltrumites in the military though, but I haven't found a source on that one, it's just what I saw people saying
@@ThrashTillDeth85 I already know his full back story. I was bein intentionally obtuse to avoid spoiling it for people who don't want to know yet hehe.
@@ThrashTillDeth85 tecnically hes their king, a later reveal on the comic says this and that as blood heir Mark is prince and thus ruler, which when you take things in context explains why a few muders here and there is enough to convince a blood thirsty planet to leave earth alone, their king may not have subjegated it and invited them in because he usingit as a private island resort, but as long as he plays by their rules they wont storm the castle...unfortunally they do eventually storm the castle. The one thing omni man was trying to prevent, a viltimite invasion through sheer force on earth untimatly fails and now, now earth has to face an army of Omni Men and there is NOTHING he can do to stop it
@@Mindboggles They do base it on strength. Remember the battle royale they had on their planet? The Viltrumite believe in the strong crushing the weak.
I think the show makes it clear in a subtle way that humanity rubbed off on Nolan. The dinner scene where Mark reveals he has powers to his parents is very telling; Nolan is shocked first into silence, then into grim acceptance. His attack on the Guardians immediately follows the scene chronologically. My take is that Nolan's past sort of drifted into the background for Nolan and for years, he was a genuine hero. Mark getting his powers was a shock to his system, a reminder that Viltrum was still there, waiting, so Nolan makes a knee-jerk reaction by killing the Guardians. Later, when Cecil is trying to stop Nolan from getting to Mark, the scene again is telling. "Doesn't Debbie deserve an answer?" from Cecil visibly angers Nolan, who demands he not even say her name. Then, "Does Mark know his father is a murderer?" and you see Nolan's face fall ever so slightly. On some level buried so deep, Nolan knows what he is doing is wrong but hopes that if he can convince Mark, he can go on being a good little Viltrumite. Subjugating Earth could never give Nolan the happiness that one of Mark's little achievements could.
Not to dunk on this cause it becomes pretty apparent later that is what happened of course, I mean Omniman himself says this. But I wanted to point out the first part isn't really that valid since it's a total retcon of how he reacts in the comics lol. The second point about him showing a glimpse of remorse when talking to Cecil is still accurate though since that did happen, it was one of the first signs before Omniman reveals it himself later.
I think you misunderstood that final confrontation between Nolan and Mark. Nolan is so bad at convincing Mark because he's not really trying to convince him. He's trying to convince himself. Past the initial, predictably unsuccessful attempt at persuasion, that whole sequence of brutality is him rejecting his life on earth, and his identity as Mark's father and Debbie's husband as best as he can, trying to sever every emotional tie he has to them. Reminding himself of the way of life he's sworn allegiance to. All to psych himself up to finally do the deed and kill his son. But he can't do it. Even after all that, despite his best efforts, he just can't.
With the alternate timelines aspect of the story you may be getting it a little bit wrong, mark has been convinced by that speech in other timelines and Nolan didn’t stop him after he convinced him which leads me to believe that something else happened in that conflict which set it apart from those other timelines but then again I could be wrong
Exaclty man I thought of saiyans right away I mean trying to help build a empire, one alien goes to the planet and conquers them, he just goku that didnt forget his mission
“You Dad. I’ll still have you.” Omniman looks at his hands covered in his sons blood. A look of horror and disbelief appears, that says , What have I done? What have I done to my son?
Nolan wasn't an absent father, he was there for Mark his entire life and raised him. If he wanted to he could have easily raised Mark to be cruel or respect strength over everything else. Yet he didn't, he raised Mark with kindness, instilled good morals in him and to be a good person.
Knowing that there probably aren't any old Invincible comic commercials, seeing the title card was satisfying, and unlike most other RUclipsrs and reviewers, I hope they keep up that title card shtick the whole series, may just with consistently appropriate music to boot
@@TheKinglaharl prepare for a whole 8-9 seasons of him getting his ass kicked. Robert Kirkman really sucks at writing for main protagonists. Just look at how he bungled _The Walking Dead._
Fun fact: Viltrumites is a stealth pun for the philtrum, the name for the part of the face where the mustache grows. Now note that pretty much every Viltrumite has a thick mustache.
Actually, in one of the answers to fan mail in the comics, the writer told to some fan who asked that he didnt intend to make that pun and said that the name comes from something else. I cant remember which issue it was tho ):
3:13 Actually he is General Zod where as Invincible is Superman. Zod, like Omni-man was a warrior on his old world and wants to conquer earth. Superman like Invincible has the blood of another world but grew up having no knowledge of it and learned to love earth and mankind.
*SPOILERS FOR COMIC* Nolan has big plot points through the rest of the comic but he's not nearly as present as season 1 You may get twice as much time with Nolan for the rest of the comic run as you did for the first 12 to 13 issues Granted the show IS about invincible but still he's not in it nearly enough IMO (especially since it's pretty obvious that he's become a large majority of the current fan bases favorite part of the show)
@@gengegaming5467 I know man, I read the entire series 3 days after watching the show just cause I couldn't wait. If you absolutely feel you can't wait it's worth a read for sure
I think you are right on that. A good example is his claim that Debbie is just a pet to him - that obviously isn't true. Leaving aside the fact that it is typically frowned upon to sleep with your 'pet', let alone found a family with it, his treatment of Debbie is totally at variance with his claims in other regards. When she discovers that he killed his fellow superheroes he doesn't just kill her out of hand to keep his secret. Even if you love your pet, would you really risk your life's mission (that you believe is an absolute moral imperative with a fanatic's certainty don't forget) for it? They go on to argue about his actions, and he tries to convince her that his reasons for what he did were valid. When that doesn't work and she says that she doesn't trust him or even know who he is anymore, he reacts with the sort of anger that a relationship dysfunction causes, when someone you care about seems unwilling to see or accept your perspective. He doesn't react the way you do if a pet is annoyed with you. Instead, he punches a hole in the wall, an expression of anger born of emotional pain that seems far greater than any emotion you would attach to a pet. When they argue again later, he gets so angry he flies straight through the roof of the house to leave in a dramatic fashion - very much the super powered being's equivalent of slamming the door on the way out. Again, this is hardly a type or level of response you would exhibit when dealing with a pet. I think Nolan does love Debbie. It probably started out as simply a convenient way for him to hide among humans, but it didn't stay that way. All those years of pretending to love someone eventually evolved into something more than pretence, but he can't admit that to himself since it flies in the face of his twisted ideals as a Viltrumite. According to the value set of his culture of origin, he is supposed to see himself as beyond humanity, superior to it in such degree that humans are all but meaningless, and he has clearly failed to live up to that warped ideal at least with regard to his own family. His fight with Mark is his attempt to prove to himself that he is still the cold, ruthless Viltrumite ideal, cut from marble with a heart of stone, but he fails again - unable to kill his son - so he leaves in tears not only for the horror he has inflicted upon his child and a woman he loves, but also in mourning for the death of the ideal of a Viltrumite soldier he once was. He is experiencing an identity crisis, and no amount of physical power can help him with that.
@@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954 i think the pet part was meant more like "being attached to it, but not enough that you mourn after it like you do after humans when it eventually dies, as you'll obviously outlive it"
Invincible and manga both have advantages over traditional comics in that the entire story is mapped out. There is a beginning, middle, and end. Really helps create a strong narrative.
Keep telling yourself that and ignore how many famous Manga creators from Japan have talked about how much they fly by the seat of their pants or alter their stories deep into a run because of a character or concept's popularity that wasn't a factor when they started out writing their story. Gods save us from the Sophomoric Elitism of sufferers of Internet Iconoclast Syndrome.
I think another detail that further adds in to how conflicted Nolan is at the end is his escapades in the Flaxan dimension. While it may serve as a bit of interesting foreshadowing to his real intentions, the scene also shows what Nolan's able to do when he genuinely doesn't give a fuck about what he's fighting. While he was pretty brutal on Earth with Mark, in the Flaxan dimension he was an actual apocalyptic event for them. With that in mind I get the feeling that during his fight with Mark he was still holding himself back a lot against Mark and to a lesser extent everyone on Earth too.
Omni man's true power hasn't been shown yet. What he did in the Flaxxan dimension was a quick demonstration of what a fraction of his full power looks like, I mean this dude was literally incinerating cities by just flying. In the comics Nolan will fight someone that he's forced to use his full power to try and defeat, but I won''t name the character.
@@allendepacheco3419 the comic is a little better than the in-game story, but I find Injustice Superman lacking. They wrote the premise of the game first (heroes fighting heroes) and instead of making an evil Superman from the ground up, they just decided to have Joker kill Lois and Metropolis and Superman loses all sense of righteousness. Injustice Superman pretty much goes through his own version of "The Killing Joke" which I think kind of defeats the point of Superman. I personally think that's not all that well thought out compared to Homelander, Omni-Man, or even stuff like Red Son Superman. Also, I'd point out that DC also got kind of lazy in that since 1996, whenever they wanted Superman to be bad they default to having Lois Lane getting killed.
@@mrmacross Injustice works better if you understand that those actions Superman took are always there in the back of his mind. But he knows how it would go. If he takes the nukes, they'll still have bombs. If he takes the bombs, they'll still have guns. If he takes the guns, they'll still have knives. Where does it end? Honestly, the government reaction to what he did makes sense too. They're not going to be too happy with Superman telling them who they can and can't attack. They even kind of lampshade in when Mirror Master tells him to get back to punching aliens or something.
@@truffle6082 He was not holding back. He was making sure the fight stayed inside the HQ. He got beat up because of how powerful the Guardians were. He only won because they were taken by surprise and hesitated.
Yeah and the green girl is basically invulnerable. She could’ve just watched to left to get help/tell the world but she just dies without using her power
A very valid point. He coulda kept up the defensive push and let the others do their thing, instead , he wanted to get a few hits in but, all he did was friction burns....
@@chewdog5395 I mean he could have decimated the entire planet single-handedly so saying "the guardians would have won if they weren't so surprised 😳" is a pretty dumb take imo, Omni-man didn't want his secret to leave the HQ and the guardians didn't want that kind of danger to leave the HQ, not knowing what his intentions could be after their fight, as a group of hero's I imagine their belief was that they should stand up and fight back, not really knowing the danger they were in.
9:04 In reference to Mark eventually having to accept that his dad's true nature. I don't think he accepted it throughout the whole fight. Even when he was being beaten to death, when his 'dad' asked him, "what will you have in a thousand years?". He said, "I'd have you". Mark still didn't believe his dad was gone, he couldn't. And that line is definitely what saved his life there, 'I'd have you' told Nolan that Mark *wanted* to do what his dad wanted. He *wanted* to be on his side, and more than that, he wanted his dad to be in his life. Nolan realized, even now, his son could still be his son. In what capacity? He had no clue, and Nolan also had no idea how to pursue that end. So he ran, because if he didn't he'd have to kill the boy that was still his son.
Colonizers' greatest fear is "going native" and reverse-colonization: in Orientalist fiction, this is usually depicted as a sort of degeneration, as being "infected", as succumbing to barbarism and "primitive" ways. This is what happened to Nolan, and how he perceives the Earth influence on his personality.
7 months ago, but THIS is the kind of comment i seek when swimming in the cess pool that is youtube comment sections): new info, interesting and out of the box.
Colonizers were right in this regard... when comparing Rome with the Germaic tribes of the north it is OBVIOUS who was more technologically and politically advanced . Same goes for Spain and the Aztecs , for the British with the Navajo , or for America and their war on the poor Philipinos.
An interesting alternate universe would be if Mark really did never get his powers (Nolan has a line where he says maybe it would be better if Mark hadn't), then Nolan probably would have waited until his death to start the invasion (instead of when Mark got his powers). However, if Mark had kids of his own i wonder if Nolan would be able to get attached to fully human grandkids and so on and never actually go through with the conquest because he kept putting it off until living however many generations with his family fully reverse colonizes him. (Essentially turning him from Conquistador to integrated immigrant) But thats not the story we are telling (and its probably much more boring until a disaster actually wipes out his family and all that pain hits him)
Comic spoilers... Imagine tellling someone with only the context from the show that by the end of the series Rex was a cold genius who had an iron fist rule on Earth
In my view, Invincible isn't a story about an evil version about Superman, but a good version of the hero! It's clear to me that the real Superman is Invincible himself. He is the hero who inherits his father's powers and lives as a human, who learns what values and duties he has as a hero in the human world. Writing a story about evil Superman is easy and no longer surprises us. The most amazing thing about this series is that it manages to write a story with a Superman who actually cares about human life on Earth. Congrats on the video and I look forward to the next season!
I was blown away at how deep, calculating and brutal this story really is. I mean wow i was genuinely picking up my jaw from the floor when I watched the season finale. The complexity of the story and emotions that were being experienced was just insane. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the coming seasons
I believe Omni-man in many ways embodies a soldier in service of an autocratic and authoritarian regime brainwashed by propaganda. There are also many themes of superiority ingrained within that propaganda that is very reminiscent of various fascist regimes throughout history. As well that there is also the Viltrumites' tactic of dehumanizing their enemies/victims which has also been employed by various empires and colonial powers throughout history. The whole "might is right" sentiment of the Viltrumites is also one of the main tenets of fascism as is the idea of using force and power to impose your will on to others. I think that was done on purpose by Kirkman as a way of acknowledging the criticism of superheroes being inherently fascist that is often levied by comic book authors like Garth Ennis and Alan Moore. I haven't read the comic but based on the first season of the show, which I loved, I imagine future seasons will focus on Omni-man's internal struggle and eventual undoing of the brainwashing performed by the Viltrumite empire.
Its a sign of good writing when the audience can actually predict where its going. Also, human brains physically change when you become a parent, assuming Viltrum was mostly normal pre "cleansing" then they probably evolved a similar mechanism to ensure they actually protect their kids and babies. Its possible that without viltrumite society pressuring him to value the state over his family, and being with humans allowed these changes to actually take root and be part of why he couldn't actually kill mark and "start again". (Also why he suddenly flips back to a normal father everytime Mark calls him Dad, like when he sucker punched him in his training Nolan didn't care at all until Mark said Dad) The show clearly has strong themes of fatherhood and its basically what if superman's dad was evil. (Most good "evil superman" stories are good because that isn't actually the what if, even in the boys Starlight has superman's heart/morals and is facing an evil Kryptonian with lots of complexes in homelander)
@@jasonreed7522 I agree. Especially about the "evil Superman" thing. It's getting to be such an overused trope and a lot of times is just silly and unoriginal and boring. Grant Morrison has a lot of great soundbites and quotes about why most of them are stupid. Ultimately, Superman's main conceit is that he is the embodiment of piety and virtue. To make him "evil" is to fundamentally change the character into something else. The best version of that trope is when the "Superman archetype" is already evil from the beginning. Omni-Man works so well as he's a subversion of the Superman archetype. It's not so much "what if Superman turned evil" it's "what if Krypton was never destroyed and was a proto-fascist empire and he was sent to Earth by them to secretly conquer it". Invincible is a show about heroes and how they are seen through the prespective of a teenager and amateur hero in his own right. Marks discovery of the truth is an allegory for growing up and realising the truth of how fucked up and cruel and unjust the world really is. It's about realising that the people you're told to think of as heroes and the "good guys" are really morally bankrupt and corrupt. In many ways, it's an allegory for coming to terms with the realisation that the "system" is truly diabolic.
When I first saw Invincible, I thought Omni-Man would be more like a kryptonian. A generally peaceful, super-powered being, and I thought the guardians were doing some shady stuff. And then the line “Earth is not yours to conquer” came up and I realized, he’s not a kryptonian, HES A SAIYAN. Apart of an empire built on destroying and conquering worlds and their people. Legitimately made me surprised.
I found the show through the memes, decided to try it, and greatly enjoyed it but the whole omniman is evil twist was spoiled, but i instead had the anticipation for how that gets forshadowed (a sign of a good plot twist is it still enhances the story when you know the twist). Granted the whole killing the GoG is a big red flag in episode 1 saying that he's evil.
I always saw the part where he talks about how his wife is a pet and that being immortal should let mark not care was less about convincing mark and more about convincing HIMSELF of that.
I just finished the last episode and it was amaaazing! Mark’s own words echoing back to himself, “I want to be like you; I want to do what you do,” hits so differently after he learns who his father really is
It works perfectly, because he wants to be like what his image of his father is, and do that. It works on another level because he really does want his father to be that image of him he's built up in his head. The reaction Mark gets out of him is fascinating because it's clear that on some level, he does want to be what his son thinks of him. Hence the massive arguments he is making, more to himself than to Mark, that what is really is (The conqueror) is better than what his son thinks he is. (The hero.)
I wont spoil anything here, i just want to say the comic is great. If u enjoyed the show and have a bit of time on ur hands, i highly recommend reading the comic.
Yeah I think because it is a completed story it’s great for someone that doesn’t read comics normally, it is so overwhelming getting into dc or marvel.
@@13amLee yea at some point in the cover of each issue the word superhero is crossed out so it only reads like "the greatest (superhero) comic in the universe" idk how to cross it out lol
My problem with The Boys has always been that the gore and violence and gross stuff seemed unnecessary at times. Like they just put it there to shock the viewers. With Invincible, it felt right. I also noticed that when Mark got his powers, Nolan was kinda... surprised? And just not ready for it. Like he just woke up or something. I think that really starts to make sense at the last episode when he just flies away instead of finishing off his son.
To me Nolan was also having a battle with himself at the end of the season. When he says all of the negative things about humanity and his wife, you can tell he doesn't really mean it but he is trying to convince himself. He knows he has to carry out his mission, and living on Earth has made him "soft", he fears losing his family AND betraying his race. It's no wonder his actions and words are conflicting and paradoxical in some cases. He doesn't "want" to do this, but it's what he has been tasked with, and what's expected of him. As you said, his culture doesn't take kindly to failure or weakness, they will not be happy with him when they show up. I think the main thing you're supposed to take away from that last scene is that not only is he full of shit with his comments, but he is scared of what's coming too. It's trying to prep us for something way worse than him.
I agree, in my opinion Omni-Man is the best evil superman so far. He has so much dept and just overall a very interesting character that can stand on his own and not just as some "evil superman".
Finally some insight without the knowledge of the rest of the comic series. I love the thought that Nolan would want to still conquer the planet with his son. You put emphasis in slightly different spots and I makes it better to listen to
After s2 mid season finale, I don't think he was convincing mark to be part of the Viltrum empire, instead he was convincing himself that he's a Viltrumite.
The crazy thing is I’m pretty sure the majority of people didn’t think twice when Omni man went through the portal and destroyed that other planet but episode 8 really put things into perspective 🤯
I absolutely adore the moment where Mark thinks that his dad was mind controlled into murdering the immortal, because that is literally what I was thinking when Omniman was murdering the league.
Everything about omni-mans character is done so well, you dont have any trouble seeing yourself in his shoes. An alien above everything else on this planet you're waiting to take over. You can feel that he truly does not care about anyone outside his family because those aren't his people. Hes a god living amongst beings he doesn't care about.
I saw a really interesting post pointing out how the intense violence in the show presents a really interesting dilemma that relates directly to Nolan’s character. To Nolan, the people he’s killing are essentially fictional so it doesn’t matter at all if he kills them, and the horrific violence in the series provides the viewer the option to feel the same way. But does that make us Nolan? I just think it’s interesting.
It's so hard to put myself in Nolan's shoes. Imagine you as a human show up to a planet of claypeople, that have really petty problems . They have a small village with no cars or nothin. They can't leave their tiny valley. And they die off within 10 minutes. You can poke them and their arm would fall off. Would you truly maintain your morality, even when you get frustrated?
PLEASE PLEASE do an episode on Jupiter’s Legacy, would love to see you dive into how and why that show didn’t work, your opinion on the comics themselves (if you’ve read them I mean), and how you would have done it.
@@bobsandwich3431 of course, I’ve just enjoyed his previous discussions of failed superhero projects like Hancock and Green Hornet and in the case that he actually watched it I feel like he would have a lot to say about how it could have been better.
I absolutely love both the writing for homelander and omniman, on the surface they seem similar but are completely different, they have entirely different motivation for their actions.
On the contrary, Nolan hitting Mark during training was him showing how he should fight as a viltrum. But seeing Mark's reaction, he realized that he raised Mark with too much love that he cant handle fighting an actual viltrum
A great theory I saw that makes a lot of sense is that Nolan was actually hoping Mark didn’t get powers. He grew to genuinely love his family and humanity. Nolan was hoping that Mark didn’t get powers so he can just wait until Mark and Debbie died of natural causes to begin conquering earth. Something that not many point out is how just unconfident Nolan truly is in the ways of Viltrum. Him attempting to convince Mark in the finale was also an attempt to once again convince himself but Mark’s words break through to him in a way he didn’t expect. Mark’s humanity and perseverance broke through the Viltrumites’ teachings.
I like to imagine he spared Mark for the same reason he thought calling Deb a "pet" would be ok. When you consider yourself to be a much higher being, lower beings are "animals", that being said there is a big difference between how you feel about a personal pet vs a wild animal. It's like a farmer becoming attached to something meant for the butcher. Even more so with Mark vs Deb because Mark is literally half Omni-man, he has powers, his father's powers.
Fun fact: before working on the Boys, Garth Ennis did some writing at DC. Not traditional superhero stories, though; he wrote for titles/characters such as the Demon, Hitman, John Constantine, and Unknown Soldier. He also created a team by the name of Section 8, a team of superheroes with bizarre abilities. Actually, believe it or not, the Boys was a WildStorm comic, and WildStorm is owned by DC, but DC canceled the Boys because of its anti-superhero ideals.
9:13 thank you fpr pointing that out. As i was watching the series at no point in time did i feel like things settled down. Everyone's actions had consequences and those consequences didnt magically disappear too fast or due to plot. This was something i felt during the show but couldn't explain why, so thank you!
This is one of the best series in a long time. "What will you have Mark?! What will you have in 500 years?!?" "I'll have you Dad, (blood gurgle cough) I'll have you"... holy fuck... epic writing...
It's definitely more towards Nolans humanity breaking through. His 20 years of marriage and the baseball scene specifically have an effect on him, his mindset becomes more grounded and aware of individual people small of a change as it was. I believe a part of Nolan genuinely fell into the human life he was living, the writing of him being taken by surprise negatively by marks powers emphasize this. Part of him forgot about viltrum and realized basically "oh. This has to end now..." Finally with marks words breaking the facade of omni man's last attempt to go back to his conqueror self.
I think when he first started to get invested, he figured this would be a nice vacation, a change of pace to his usual life. It didn't matter that he felt genuine care for these 'people' they'd die soon enough anyway and he'd move on with his life. But it was a nice fantasy to indulge in. (And who was going to stop him indulging in it?) Which is why Mark's powers showing up throws him. Now that little fantasy no one else would ever know about? It has meaningful consequences, (In a sense, it went from a one night stand to fatherhood. Irony not lost on me there.) now he has to think about the future, because Mark will be there in seventy years when the other 'people' he cared about are gone. Because much as it frustrates him, Mark does have enough power to matter in the Viltrum world view. It's damn good writing, ya know?
Twitter is going to have a mental breakdown when Season 2 starts to develop Omni-Man's changed perspective on morality and the start of his redemption.
@@prathapkutty7407 SPOILERS In the comics, a female Viltrumite named Anissa rapes Mark. Omni-Man almost kills her when he hears about it but is stopped from doing it. That's all I really know
the sheer emotion that Invincible got me to feel is a testament to it's writing. Invincible is up there with the best character design of all time, Nolan makes me feel so many things, as does Mark, and combining them together in one long scene filled to the brim with gut punching emotional beats just knocks it out of the park.
I remember some time ago, I posted a comment on your Homelander video saying that I didn't care for how Homelander is portrayed in the show...I think I can definitively state that Omniman/Nolan is exactly how I thought Homelander should be. One of the biggest things that didn't make sense to me, is that Homelander is almost _too human_ in how flawed he is. He feels more like someone who was _given_ powers, instead of someone who was born with them. But we know from the series that he was genetically engineered to have powers and has had them since infancy - so it's a bit disturbing that after a lifetime of knowing nothing but power, he is still so clumsy when it comes to them. Second, the fact that he grew-up in a completely sterile, loveless environment, devoid of human contact or emotion - the best he got was a smile from a scientist behind a glass window... I would think that would raise him to be rather devoid of emotions; to have no concept for the human condition - to be cold and calculating and not so needy. Because he should realize that he should need for nothing, and therefore, no one on earth can possibly fill whatever needs he could have. Therefore, he can only ever see humanity as worthless because he was raised to believe he was built to be _better._ Omniman ticks that box for me; it's a different situation as much like Clark, he came from another world. But unlike Clark, he doesn't have that Human-Upbringing from John and Martha Kent. He was raised to manhood to serve his own Planet's interests and not the Earth's. Because of his upbringing - knowing how _superior_ he is to the human race - he can only ever see humanity as servants to his cause - cogs in his machine. Every good deed he did in defense of the planet and of mankind has only been a facade, and every other decision he has made has been a cold and calculating one... That scene where he methodically eliminates the Planet's Guardians in such a matter-of-fact manner, is what I really expected Homelander to be doing in the Boys. And much like with Homelander, another parallel comes with how Nolan and Homie interact with their _sons._ Homelander's biggest character trait is his own ego; he already is the best at everything, but now needs validation from _everyone_ to justify it to himself. He cares so greatly about his image, because it's part of the facade...Homelander wants people to love him and cheer for him because he needs to have his ego stroked, whereas Nolan puts on the facade to keep humanity compliant with him until the time comes to turn on them. If Homelander is pushed too far, he will turn on humanity - trading their adoration for fear, and demand their worship rather than earn it. So in a sense, Homelander's only fascination with his son is how to extend his own Ego. Whereas I think with Nolan, he genuinely cares for Mark on a bit more of a personal level. Homelander wants the ego-trip of raising someone to be just like him, where I think that Nolan genuinely _needs_ a connection with his son. He has lived a life-time on a planet who are more comparable to _ants_ than they are to him. He manages to conceive a child who manifests super-powers just like him. Suddenly he has found someone on the planet who is genuinely on _his_ level. Someone who he can connect with; someone he can be _equals_ with.
The thing about the Boys is its a social commentary on out screwed up society, and all of its characters are litterally human with all the failings and psychology that come with being that. Humans are social animals and need to be part of a tribe or we get lonely because to be alone in the wilderness is bad for your survival, so we hurt to make it stop. Homelander was raised by a megacorp as product by people terrified of him, of course he was lonely and it festered so long he basically became the embodiment of everything in a psych textbook. But the sort list of his problems are: attention craving from neglect, god complex, Oedepus Complex, superiority/inferiority complex, worship complex, and control / trust issues. Omniman was raised properly by his society so he is atleast a functioning Viltrumite conquistador. His problems are that he spent about 20yrs living with us and raising his kid as a human, the final result is him being dual cultured and increasingly conflicted about killing those he actually loves/likes. (He's starting to go native and it scares him, especially since he was a duty bound soldier for so long first) Tldr; homelander is fundamentally still running human hardware so being raised by an evil megacorp created the expected results.
I have to disagree with your assessment on homelanders personality. He was raised with media training, to be a celebrity, so that's why he acts that way.
Omni-man is the funniest Vegeta reference ever made by accident. Apparently, Kirkman had never seen Dragonball. But, Nolan is almost exactly Vegeta, down to the mustache. media.comicbook.com/2020/12/dragon-ball-vegeta-moustache-1250501-1280x0.jpeg
@wanka wanka I still get more Saiyan vibes from Viltrumites than Krypton vibes. Also the whole, Bad guy turning good again, Conquering Planets, longer life span etc. A lot of Dragonball.
@@hiiambarney4489 That's possible, and they can indeed be unintentional. The 'stache itself could also just be an example of literary convergent evolution, too. I think in both cases it's used as shorthand for authority and/or dominance. It could easily be either, or some mix of the two. Authorial intent is pretty murky stuff. FWIW I also get more of a Saiyan vibe from Viltrtumites than Kryptonian. The lack of laser vision and the emphasis on the physical side of things doesn't hurt
There’s just something about super hero stories like Invincible, The Boys, Watchmen etc. where I’ll truly get hooked if done well. It’s not a Nobel Prize worthy concept but the “what if people with super abilities were extremely morally grey” genre of superhero media has always grabbed my attention the easiest.
What was your favorite episode of Invincible season 1?
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fun fact: you are reading this in your head
E
Pls cover Jupiter Legacy next. Their take on Superman is superb!
I suggest you watch "Jupiters legacy"
It has the same vibe of celebrating superheroes while critisizing them as well as exploring the idea of a moral codex.
And it clearly loves superheroes as well
cover mighty ducks game changers or big shot on disney plus
Invincible: hey dad what are we eating?
Omniman: subway.
The meat was a bit raw, and bloody too.
Subway: Eat Fresh
I heard this from somewhere else
It was more than a foot long
Invincible: Can't we do more training?
Omniman: Why not both?
Nolan is simply a brilliantly written character. The fact that he willingly left earth because he realized how much he actually loved Mark and his wife was only the start of his development.
Nolans arc in the comics is beautifully written
@@normalguycap ?
@@normalguycap tf
Man, I see you literally everywhere.
Yes
An overlooked detail that, I think, will end up being extra important is when Nolan is telling Debbie that "with [Mark's] powers developing this late, I almost wish he hadn't developed them at all." Considering we now know that Viltumites are immortal and that Nolan does not care one bit about superhero stuff, I think this indicates that he really just wanted Mark to be his normal human son. I think he loves his human life with a son, wife, and friends. When he outlived them, he could use that pain to transform back into the Viltumite conqueror he was before. He turns so murderous and hateful in response to Mark developing his powers because now he is *forced* to choose between his original purpose and his viltrumite/human son. This is probably why Omni-Man is so much more hostile to the Immortal too, he hates him and Mark because they will eventually know the truth of who Nolan really is.
great insight Nicolas
great insight Nicolas
great insight Nicolas
great insight Nicolas
Good seeing Nick
When Nolan says "I do love your mother but she's more like a pet to me" that got me thinking the hardest. Because most people genuinely do love their pets as their own family, but we often out live them, there's always that acknowledgement that we're a different species. They live with us. He might not be lying when he says he loves her, he may love her with his whole heart, but he knows that he'll outlive her by a large margin, and not to get too attached
Edit: Look I'mma be honest this wasn't meant to be that deep I just took the longest fucking way possible to say "He's probably not lying, but he's still a dick" possible
Makes sense
@Raspian Kiado sounds like you need to find some new pets bro 🤣
Well, calling someone a “pet” or a “dog” *is* an insult.
@@wildfire9280 yeah but that’s when we’re talking to other humans. Omni man isn’t a human so he sees them just like we see other animals
that is a very interesting take on that, i dont know if its what they intended but its very smart of you to see it that way
I feel like people forget bout Art
Nolan and him seemed like genuine friends, Nolan was comfortable sharing his hardships with him (not being completely truthful I might add), sharing a beer with, probably not for the first time and even going on a fishing trip with him
They weren't just business aquintences
While Art wasn't as hurt by Nolans betrayal as much as Debbie or Mark it doesn't mean he wasn't hurt at all
You can see him trying to drink away the pain of the thought that his best friend never even cared about him
Omniman doesn't even attempt to kill Art! He just drinks more beer with him and acts vaguely intimidating
The thing about Omni-Man trying to persuade Mark that he should join the empire because he is effectively immortal is that Omni-Man wasn't trying to convince Mark of the insignificance of human life but rather convince himself. He knows that he has grown attached to Debbie and a few of his friends but he is devoted to the Viltrum empire. He tries to make sure his emotions do not get the better of him by trivializing connection to humanity by bringing into perspective their short lifespan.
After watching the ending and you realize he killed the heroes in the beginning in his mind
Out of mercy if they resisted the empire they would be crushed
And all of that is represented in his son. Mark is the kindest, most heroic person Omni-Man knows. If he can convince him that Viltrum is the way forward then he can believe he’s right again.
Comic Spoilers:
These is evident when a very small amount of time living with humans was enough convince most if not all other Viltrumites to change.
After saying he considered the wife as a pet? Nice head canon.
@@vklasb4847 In the comic outright says he was trying to convince himself. He does miss wife and they get back together.
I'm guessing Omni-Man's J. Jonah Jameson mustache resemblance wasn't fully intentional in the comics, but having J.K. Simmons voice him was a stroke of genius.
When I first saw him in the comics, I heard J K Simmons' voice, so the casting was undoubtably spot on there
I knew jk Simmons was in this show, but didnt know what character
But as soon as omni-man appeared on screen (even without saying a word) I knew straight away it was going to be jk Simmons voice
This may be the dumbest thing I've read all day.
@@chand911 Then you obviously don't read your own comments.
"A stroke of genius" Lol ok
One thing I noticed about omni man right away was the looks in his eyes even though he talks big about killing the guardians of the globe right after he did it he had a horrified look on his face like he was genuinely horrified that he actually killed them
But his duty to viltrum was that important to him
Just imagine having to euthanize a whole group of puppies because they are too aggressive to be adopted. That's basically what Omni-Man did.
@@trequor My god that analogy blowed my mind
One problem with that theory isn't the former president a true immortal?
If so then he isn't dead just delayed.
What we also must understand in order to understand Nolan is that his values are very different from ours. On Viltrum might make right. It's moral to be strong and immoral to be weak for them. Being strong is the most important thing. Nolan thinks Viltrum has the right to conquer everyone exactly because they are the strongest. It's their duty to the Galaxy as they are the best (strongest) guys ever. So they must share their high morals with the Galaxy ^^
-
So... killing the Guardians maybe actually affected him because they were the strongest. They could hurt him. They were probably the only people he respected on the entire planet, the only people he valued and thought that they have morals and have some rights. He doesn't really respect Debbie and doesn't think that anyone on the Earth is moral and has any rights... except Mark. Mark is the only one who has the right to have an opinion and who Nolan would listen to...
@@trequor that’s a pretty good analogy, barehanded euthanization geez
I think Nolan liked being Omni-man. He liked living on earth, and he loved his wife and son. There are some things that are revealed later in the comic that basically confirm that, if Mark had never gotten powers, he probably would have lived out his life with Debbie, then left the planet at some point. Once Mark got powers, it was time to actually do the job.
He seemed normal and fairly happy before Mark got his powers, but then at that dinner scene where Nolan freezes and Debbie has to hit him to respond, he realizes that this is it, I have to choose
As long as everybody he cared about was human, he could put off making decisions because of his longevity. His wife, son, and hypothetical grandchildren could all die of old age before he made a move on his conquest as he quietly set things up in the background. But with Mark having Viltrumite powers, and longevity, that was no longer an option.
i feel like he just wanted his son to have his powers so he wouldnt have the option of murdering or conquering his son's planet
Nolan is just Vegeta
the scariest thing about omni-man was that he was 100% completely sane
It's difference of culture he was taught that what he does is completely fine.
If you keep a child away from society and teach him things that go against society he will do those things once you release him
@@darkcat6530 why talk about segregated societies? Most if not all of human soldier cultures are based on omni mans same morality sense, more or less.
ASPD is a helluva thing.
@@drakerapper8050 exactly lol
@@darkcat6530 omin man is objectly right.
I actually see Omniman more like if General Zod was sent to earth instead of Kal El because of his militant dedication to his people and willingness to conquer at all costs.
We get to see some of that in justice league: gods and monsters.
Or if Zod followed Kal-El to Earth and raised him in secret until he became of age.
Uhh who’s General Zodd? From Star Wars?
@@darkythecrazyninja5228
Nah, General Zod is basically the leader of what is left of Superman's People. He also happens to be a conqueror and a warmonger, pretty much like Omni man if he didn't have a family on Earth.
There is a Alternate universe where Clark is the son of Zod,He still becomes a force for good
Omni-Man has compassion, but he views humans the same way we view bugs. You can help them all you want but when it comes time to prioritize your own species over them, it seems dumb not to. Mark trying to protect them would be, to Nolan, like somebody losing their shit that you stepped on an ant hill.
Fr
Exactly, it's not like we like to purposefully kill ants just for the hell of it. We just don't do it if we don't need to, heck some of us even keep them as pets. But if we do have to kill them we're not gonna hesitate.
So your trying to say Omniman is trying to get his son out of entomology?
Last time I checked, humans don't look like ants and don't reproduce with them.
@@MrSucc-qi9ru and viltromates don’t exist who cares
Homelander and Omni man are both the idea of “What if Superman was evil?” except they are both so different versions of that idea. With Homelander, he’s a man child sociopath who acts as a superhero to feed his incessant narcissism. With Omni man, you can tell that he’s still conflicted even with how evil he is. You can tell he has a moral system, no matter how twisted it is.
we... are the knights who say ni!
It's nature vs nurture. Homelander is nurture winning, Omniman is the conflict of the two
I'd say a more accurate description is that Omni-Man is Superman with no regard for/value of human life.
I wonder what other "dark Superman" parodies act like. I just think that Amazon will have a monopoly on darker superhuman shows and actually lift themselves off the ground compared to DC right now...
omni man is not evil...
When Omni-man talks to Mark, he's merely telling Mark what he told himself every time he started to grow attached to his life on Earth. Along with the frustration of now having to kill Mark, adding in the new, "I can always just start over, make another kid." Of course, we're treated to the flashback of Debbie explaining human parenting to him. And in that flashback we do see him embrace that way of life by cheering Mark on.
We could attribute it to him just putting on a more convincing act to keep humans fooled, but the fact that he flies away from Earth in tears shows that he does care. That he couldn't convince himself to bear loyalty to Viltrum any longer.
Think about it. Was there any tactical advantage to him running away? No one on Earth could stop him. He could have had Earth wrapped and ready for subjugation the very same day. Do you think Viltrum is going to look at his failure to do that with any amount of leniency? How strong are the other Viltrumites compared to him, if he is not their leader?
Only the strongest of the Viltrumites were chosen for the mission, so they are probably equal to him. Would be interesting to know if they choose rulers based on strength alone though
From what I could gather he's not the ruler of Viltrum, he's in the like top 10% of most powerful Viltrumites in the military though, but I haven't found a source on that one, it's just what I saw people saying
@@ThrashTillDeth85 I already know his full back story. I was bein intentionally obtuse to avoid spoiling it for people who don't want to know yet hehe.
@@ThrashTillDeth85 tecnically hes their king, a later reveal on the comic says this and that as blood heir Mark is prince and thus ruler, which when you take things in context explains why a few muders here and there is enough to convince a blood thirsty planet to leave earth alone, their king may not have subjegated it and invited them in because he usingit as a private island resort, but as long as he plays by their rules they wont storm the castle...unfortunally they do eventually storm the castle. The one thing omni man was trying to prevent, a viltimite invasion through sheer force on earth untimatly fails and now, now earth has to face an army of Omni Men and there is NOTHING he can do to stop it
@@Mindboggles They do base it on strength. Remember the battle royale they had on their planet? The Viltrumite believe in the strong crushing the weak.
I think the show makes it clear in a subtle way that humanity rubbed off on Nolan. The dinner scene where Mark reveals he has powers to his parents is very telling; Nolan is shocked first into silence, then into grim acceptance. His attack on the Guardians immediately follows the scene chronologically. My take is that Nolan's past sort of drifted into the background for Nolan and for years, he was a genuine hero. Mark getting his powers was a shock to his system, a reminder that Viltrum was still there, waiting, so Nolan makes a knee-jerk reaction by killing the Guardians. Later, when Cecil is trying to stop Nolan from getting to Mark, the scene again is telling. "Doesn't Debbie deserve an answer?" from Cecil visibly angers Nolan, who demands he not even say her name. Then, "Does Mark know his father is a murderer?" and you see Nolan's face fall ever so slightly. On some level buried so deep, Nolan knows what he is doing is wrong but hopes that if he can convince Mark, he can go on being a good little Viltrumite. Subjugating Earth could never give Nolan the happiness that one of Mark's little achievements could.
great work picking up the bare minimum of surface-level details that the content told you functionally directly from the get-go. You're truly a sage.
I love your take on this
Not to dunk on this cause it becomes pretty apparent later that is what happened of course, I mean Omniman himself says this. But I wanted to point out the first part isn't really that valid since it's a total retcon of how he reacts in the comics lol. The second point about him showing a glimpse of remorse when talking to Cecil is still accurate though since that did happen, it was one of the first signs before Omniman reveals it himself later.
The brutal truth is that he really is dedicated to get those pictures of Spiderman.
@Lorn Roberts nah tbh he was just frustrated with his drum student
he is so dedicated that he even dubbed another super hero just to get even close to spiderman or a super hero universe
With this comment, I'm now realizing that we probably won't end up getting that crossover between Invincible and Spiderman...
@@Kamenriderdecade105 even though they technically did in the comics .
@@Kamenriderdecade105 I hope they do. Pray to god
I think you misunderstood that final confrontation between Nolan and Mark. Nolan is so bad at convincing Mark because he's not really trying to convince him. He's trying to convince himself.
Past the initial, predictably unsuccessful attempt at persuasion, that whole sequence of brutality is him rejecting his life on earth, and his identity as Mark's father and Debbie's husband as best as he can, trying to sever every emotional tie he has to them. Reminding himself of the way of life he's sworn allegiance to.
All to psych himself up to finally do the deed and kill his son.
But he can't do it. Even after all that, despite his best efforts, he just can't.
Nah, he has some really good points, especially for someone who just watch the show and dont know anything from the comics.
Bad? He was almost successful until he said his wife was a pet to him.
He is also an abuser and he is reacting out of his own frustration as well I think
On the point. Nolan is torn between 2 worlds. And when he asks "Why?!" - he asks Mark to persuade himself, which he does.
With the alternate timelines aspect of the story you may be getting it a little bit wrong, mark has been convinced by that speech in other timelines and Nolan didn’t stop him after he convinced him which leads me to believe that something else happened in that conflict which set it apart from those other timelines but then again I could be wrong
Viltrumites remind me so much of Saiyans than Kryptonians
Definitely more Saiyan than kryptonian
Exaclty man I thought of saiyans right away I mean trying to help build a empire, one alien goes to the planet and conquers them, he just goku that didnt forget his mission
60/40 or 70/30?
Good point , I was so focused on the super hero part that I forgot anime 😂😂
@@mon_nobi I agreee.
“You Dad. I’ll still have you.”
Omniman looks at his hands covered in his sons blood. A look of horror and disbelief appears, that says , What have I done? What have I done to my son?
*5 min Earlier*
"Why would you make me do this, Mark!?"
The reason he did it was he grow Way too attached
@@stansman5461 sucks to admit you're a monster, so he tried to blame his son for forcing him to be one.
Nolan wasn't an absent father, he was there for Mark his entire life and raised him.
If he wanted to he could have easily raised Mark to be cruel or respect strength over everything else.
Yet he didn't, he raised Mark with kindness, instilled good morals in him and to be a good person.
No... Debbie raised them both to value those things. 😂
@@c.w.k.n.5117amen
It’s the Viltrumite vacation.
Knowing that there probably aren't any old Invincible comic commercials, seeing the title card was satisfying, and unlike most other RUclipsrs and reviewers, I hope they keep up that title card shtick the whole series, may just with consistently appropriate music to boot
Yes, at some point the Title card starts getting cleaned off as things start looking up for Mark.
@@DocWolph i don't think it ever starts looking up lol
@@kylegregory2876 pretty sure it will in future seasons as Mark gets better at fighting and has better more healthy relationships
@@TheKinglaharl in the comics, shits just keeps getting worse for him.
@@TheKinglaharl prepare for a whole 8-9 seasons of him getting his ass kicked. Robert Kirkman really sucks at writing for main protagonists. Just look at how he bungled _The Walking Dead._
4:14 the edit makes it look like Nolan just decided out of absolutely nowhere to just take off and spare mark for no reason lmao.
"See ya later Mark!" **punches him one more time for good measure before taking off laughing**
Lmao "this bitch too stubborn, I'm bouncing"
When your dad has to have the last word.
Oh and also... Sucker punch.
"ooh my god, they killed immortal, those bastards."
@glitchon *"OMG he kill The immortal again, U BASTARD!!!"*
Not dead just delayed
I really hope that becomes a running gag.
Fun fact: Viltrumites is a stealth pun for the philtrum, the name for the part of the face where the mustache grows.
Now note that pretty much every Viltrumite has a thick mustache.
Actually, in one of the answers to fan mail in the comics, the writer told to some fan who asked that he didnt intend to make that pun and said that the name comes from something else. I cant remember which issue it was tho ):
@@tomasvasutiu2275 Huh. The more you know. Still, the coincidence is hilarious.
There are actually female Viltrumites
@@novicebb I know that.
@@novicebb yeah Italian women when they're older.
3:13 Actually he is General Zod where as Invincible is Superman. Zod, like Omni-man was a warrior on his old world and wants to conquer earth. Superman like Invincible has the blood of another world but grew up having no knowledge of it and learned to love earth and mankind.
Being Omni Man is super easy, barely an inconvenience.
Ryan George would be proud lol.
Murdering hundreds of people is tight!
And then he does a backflip and snaps everyone's necks
@@exzyyd392 i completely read that in his voice.
I literally just came from a Ryan George's video lol, perfect timing
Yeah, Season 2 will surely add more to Omni-Man and the Grayson family.
*SPOILERS FOR COMIC*
Nolan has big plot points through the rest of the comic but he's not nearly as present as season 1
You may get twice as much time with Nolan for the rest of the comic run as you did for the first 12 to 13 issues
Granted the show IS about invincible but still he's not in it nearly enough IMO (especially since it's pretty obvious that he's become a large majority of the current fan bases favorite part of the show)
yeah, a little purple addition to the graysons
Stop spoilers!!
@@MiseryDuke69 Brother you have no idea how tempted I am to read them spoilers.
@@gengegaming5467 I know man, I read the entire series 3 days after watching the show just cause I couldn't wait.
If you absolutely feel you can't wait it's worth a read for sure
Nolan was not trying to convince Mark. He was trying to convince himself. He didn't want to accept that he had been changed.
I think you are right on that. A good example is his claim that Debbie is just a pet to him - that obviously isn't true. Leaving aside the fact that it is typically frowned upon to sleep with your 'pet', let alone found a family with it, his treatment of Debbie is totally at variance with his claims in other regards. When she discovers that he killed his fellow superheroes he doesn't just kill her out of hand to keep his secret. Even if you love your pet, would you really risk your life's mission (that you believe is an absolute moral imperative with a fanatic's certainty don't forget) for it?
They go on to argue about his actions, and he tries to convince her that his reasons for what he did were valid. When that doesn't work and she says that she doesn't trust him or even know who he is anymore, he reacts with the sort of anger that a relationship dysfunction causes, when someone you care about seems unwilling to see or accept your perspective. He doesn't react the way you do if a pet is annoyed with you. Instead, he punches a hole in the wall, an expression of anger born of emotional pain that seems far greater than any emotion you would attach to a pet. When they argue again later, he gets so angry he flies straight through the roof of the house to leave in a dramatic fashion - very much the super powered being's equivalent of slamming the door on the way out. Again, this is hardly a type or level of response you would exhibit when dealing with a pet. I think Nolan does love Debbie. It probably started out as simply a convenient way for him to hide among humans, but it didn't stay that way. All those years of pretending to love someone eventually evolved into something more than pretence, but he can't admit that to himself since it flies in the face of his twisted ideals as a Viltrumite.
According to the value set of his culture of origin, he is supposed to see himself as beyond humanity, superior to it in such degree that humans are all but meaningless, and he has clearly failed to live up to that warped ideal at least with regard to his own family. His fight with Mark is his attempt to prove to himself that he is still the cold, ruthless Viltrumite ideal, cut from marble with a heart of stone, but he fails again - unable to kill his son - so he leaves in tears not only for the horror he has inflicted upon his child and a woman he loves, but also in mourning for the death of the ideal of a Viltrumite soldier he once was. He is experiencing an identity crisis, and no amount of physical power can help him with that.
@@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954 i think the pet part was meant more like "being attached to it, but not enough that you mourn after it like you do after humans when it eventually dies, as you'll obviously outlive it"
Invincible and manga both have advantages over traditional comics in that the entire story is mapped out. There is a beginning, middle, and end. Really helps create a strong narrative.
Three-Act Structure at its finest.
@@ecofriendlylitfam Read my comment again without putting a whole point I didn't make in it.
Keep telling yourself that and ignore how many famous Manga creators from Japan have talked about how much they fly by the seat of their pants or alter their stories deep into a run because of a character or concept's popularity that wasn't a factor when they started out writing their story.
Gods save us from the Sophomoric Elitism of sufferers of Internet Iconoclast Syndrome.
@@miguelvelez7221 God save us from pretentious pseudo-intellectuals too.
@@solvdrage1456 Look in the mirror would be my advice.
I think another detail that further adds in to how conflicted Nolan is at the end is his escapades in the Flaxan dimension. While it may serve as a bit of interesting foreshadowing to his real intentions, the scene also shows what Nolan's able to do when he genuinely doesn't give a fuck about what he's fighting. While he was pretty brutal on Earth with Mark, in the Flaxan dimension he was an actual apocalyptic event for them. With that in mind I get the feeling that during his fight with Mark he was still holding himself back a lot against Mark and to a lesser extent everyone on Earth too.
Omni man's true power hasn't been shown yet. What he did in the Flaxxan dimension was a quick demonstration of what a fraction of his full power looks like, I mean this dude was literally incinerating cities by just flying. In the comics Nolan will fight someone that he's forced to use his full power to try and defeat, but I won''t name the character.
@@controlman7490 just to not spoiler, you mean the "angry big cat?" Hope to not let anyone understand
@@fabioviti7384 No I mean Freddy Mercury.
@@controlman7490 ohh okay
The sad irony is that in the landscape of all of the EVIL SUPERMAN! stories out there, DC and Warner Bros produce the worst and least nuanced stories.
What about Injustice Superman?
@@allendepacheco3419 the comic is a little better than the in-game story, but I find Injustice Superman lacking. They wrote the premise of the game first (heroes fighting heroes) and instead of making an evil Superman from the ground up, they just decided to have Joker kill Lois and Metropolis and Superman loses all sense of righteousness.
Injustice Superman pretty much goes through his own version of "The Killing Joke" which I think kind of defeats the point of Superman. I personally think that's not all that well thought out compared to Homelander, Omni-Man, or even stuff like Red Son Superman.
Also, I'd point out that DC also got kind of lazy in that since 1996, whenever they wanted Superman to be bad they default to having Lois Lane getting killed.
I dunno, I find Homelander and the boys in general to be edgy schlock devoid of nuiance
@White Amerikkka’s Worst nightmare Injustice is great, DC was the huge inspiration for this this and yeah boys fell off after season 1
@@mrmacross Injustice works better if you understand that those actions Superman took are always there in the back of his mind. But he knows how it would go. If he takes the nukes, they'll still have bombs. If he takes the bombs, they'll still have guns. If he takes the guns, they'll still have knives. Where does it end? Honestly, the government reaction to what he did makes sense too. They're not going to be too happy with Superman telling them who they can and can't attack. They even kind of lampshade in when Mirror Master tells him to get back to punching aliens or something.
Aaah thank you for that title card
Its funny how Omniman would have died if the speeder was just playing defense instead of trying offense
Not really omni was holding back he ravaged a single planet by himself.
@@truffle6082 He was not holding back. He was making sure the fight stayed inside the HQ. He got beat up because of how powerful the Guardians were. He only won because they were taken by surprise and hesitated.
Yeah and the green girl is basically invulnerable. She could’ve just watched to left to get help/tell the world but she just dies without using her power
A very valid point. He coulda kept up the defensive push and let the others do their thing, instead , he wanted to get a few hits in but, all he did was friction burns....
@@chewdog5395 I mean he could have decimated the entire planet single-handedly so saying "the guardians would have won if they weren't so surprised 😳" is a pretty dumb take imo, Omni-man didn't want his secret to leave the HQ and the guardians didn't want that kind of danger to leave the HQ, not knowing what his intentions could be after their fight, as a group of hero's I imagine their belief was that they should stand up and fight back, not really knowing the danger they were in.
The baseball scene almost brought a tear to my eye.
9:04
In reference to Mark eventually having to accept that his dad's true nature. I don't think he accepted it throughout the whole fight. Even when he was being beaten to death, when his 'dad' asked him, "what will you have in a thousand years?". He said, "I'd have you". Mark still didn't believe his dad was gone, he couldn't. And that line is definitely what saved his life there, 'I'd have you' told Nolan that Mark *wanted* to do what his dad wanted. He *wanted* to be on his side, and more than that, he wanted his dad to be in his life.
Nolan realized, even now, his son could still be his son. In what capacity? He had no clue, and Nolan also had no idea how to pursue that end. So he ran, because if he didn't he'd have to kill the boy that was still his son.
I was waiting when you’d cover Invincible
Stoked to see this. Love your content and commentary. Was hoping you'd do Invincible
genuine question. why? what do you enjoy about his content?
Anybody else hyped for season 2?!
Yes! The meme potential alone makes series one gold let alone the amazing characters and story.
I love it that INVINCIBLE is not all mighty physically, but his mental fortitude is
Dude has steel resolve
It hit me really hard when I rewatched and saw the blank stare on Nolan’s face when mark told him about his powers in episode 1.
Colonizers' greatest fear is "going native" and reverse-colonization: in Orientalist fiction, this is usually depicted as a sort of degeneration, as being "infected", as succumbing to barbarism and "primitive" ways.
This is what happened to Nolan, and how he perceives the Earth influence on his personality.
Blue monkey avatar movie comes to mind
@@account4345 only good guy is the one on our side.
7 months ago, but THIS is the kind of comment i seek when swimming in the cess pool that is youtube comment sections): new info, interesting and out of the box.
Colonizers were right in this regard... when comparing Rome with the Germaic tribes of the north it is OBVIOUS who was more technologically and politically advanced . Same goes for Spain and the Aztecs , for the British with the Navajo , or for America and their war on the poor Philipinos.
An interesting alternate universe would be if Mark really did never get his powers (Nolan has a line where he says maybe it would be better if Mark hadn't), then Nolan probably would have waited until his death to start the invasion (instead of when Mark got his powers). However, if Mark had kids of his own i wonder if Nolan would be able to get attached to fully human grandkids and so on and never actually go through with the conquest because he kept putting it off until living however many generations with his family fully reverse colonizes him. (Essentially turning him from Conquistador to integrated immigrant)
But thats not the story we are telling (and its probably much more boring until a disaster actually wipes out his family and all that pain hits him)
I love when youtubers uses the ‘INVINCIBLE’ title drop when going over this show
Its so fye😭🔥
As someone who's read the whole comic, I hope to GOD no one ever becomes as 'smart' and 'logical' as Rudy/Robot.
i swear if they change so much as to make robot a little bit different from the comics i'm never watching this again
Comic spoilers...
Imagine tellling someone with only the context from the show that by the end of the series Rex was a cold genius who had an iron fist rule on Earth
No human will become as 'smart' and 'logical' as Rudy/Robot., but I give us 15 years until AIs are.
Word.
There was nothing logical about what he did.
In my view, Invincible isn't a story about an evil version about Superman, but a good version of the hero! It's clear to me that the real Superman is Invincible himself. He is the hero who inherits his father's powers and lives as a human, who learns what values and duties he has as a hero in the human world. Writing a story about evil Superman is easy and no longer surprises us. The most amazing thing about this series is that it manages to write a story with a Superman who actually cares about human life on Earth. Congrats on the video and I look forward to the next season!
exactly my thoughts
I was blown away at how deep, calculating and brutal this story really is. I mean wow i was genuinely picking up my jaw from the floor when I watched the season finale. The complexity of the story and emotions that were being experienced was just insane. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in the coming seasons
I believe Omni-man in many ways embodies a soldier in service of an autocratic and authoritarian regime brainwashed by propaganda. There are also many themes of superiority ingrained within that propaganda that is very reminiscent of various fascist regimes throughout history. As well that there is also the Viltrumites' tactic of dehumanizing their enemies/victims which has also been employed by various empires and colonial powers throughout history. The whole "might is right" sentiment of the Viltrumites is also one of the main tenets of fascism as is the idea of using force and power to impose your will on to others. I think that was done on purpose by Kirkman as a way of acknowledging the criticism of superheroes being inherently fascist that is often levied by comic book authors like Garth Ennis and Alan Moore. I haven't read the comic but based on the first season of the show, which I loved, I imagine future seasons will focus on Omni-man's internal struggle and eventual undoing of the brainwashing performed by the Viltrumite empire.
@Kruker Studios 🤣 call me psychic
@Kruker Studios spoiler alert?!
Damn that's some good analysis.
Its a sign of good writing when the audience can actually predict where its going.
Also, human brains physically change when you become a parent, assuming Viltrum was mostly normal pre "cleansing" then they probably evolved a similar mechanism to ensure they actually protect their kids and babies. Its possible that without viltrumite society pressuring him to value the state over his family, and being with humans allowed these changes to actually take root and be part of why he couldn't actually kill mark and "start again". (Also why he suddenly flips back to a normal father everytime Mark calls him Dad, like when he sucker punched him in his training Nolan didn't care at all until Mark said Dad)
The show clearly has strong themes of fatherhood and its basically what if superman's dad was evil. (Most good "evil superman" stories are good because that isn't actually the what if, even in the boys Starlight has superman's heart/morals and is facing an evil Kryptonian with lots of complexes in homelander)
@@jasonreed7522 I agree. Especially about the "evil Superman" thing. It's getting to be such an overused trope and a lot of times is just silly and unoriginal and boring. Grant Morrison has a lot of great soundbites and quotes about why most of them are stupid. Ultimately, Superman's main conceit is that he is the embodiment of piety and virtue. To make him "evil" is to fundamentally change the character into something else. The best version of that trope is when the "Superman archetype" is already evil from the beginning. Omni-Man works so well as he's a subversion of the Superman archetype. It's not so much "what if Superman turned evil" it's "what if Krypton was never destroyed and was a proto-fascist empire and he was sent to Earth by them to secretly conquer it". Invincible is a show about heroes and how they are seen through the prespective of a teenager and amateur hero in his own right. Marks discovery of the truth is an allegory for growing up and realising the truth of how fucked up and cruel and unjust the world really is. It's about realising that the people you're told to think of as heroes and the "good guys" are really morally bankrupt and corrupt. In many ways, it's an allegory for coming to terms with the realisation that the "system" is truly diabolic.
8:19 that cut and “back to Mark tho” caught me so of guard. Great editing midnight
When I first saw Invincible, I thought Omni-Man would be more like a kryptonian. A generally peaceful, super-powered being, and I thought the guardians were doing some shady stuff. And then the line “Earth is not yours to conquer” came up and I realized, he’s not a kryptonian, HES A SAIYAN. Apart of an empire built on destroying and conquering worlds and their people. Legitimately made me surprised.
I found the show through the memes, decided to try it, and greatly enjoyed it but the whole omniman is evil twist was spoiled, but i instead had the anticipation for how that gets forshadowed (a sign of a good plot twist is it still enhances the story when you know the twist).
Granted the whole killing the GoG is a big red flag in episode 1 saying that he's evil.
I always saw the part where he talks about how his wife is a pet and that being immortal should let mark not care was less about convincing mark and more about convincing HIMSELF of that.
I just finished the last episode and it was amaaazing! Mark’s own words echoing back to himself, “I want to be like you; I want to do what you do,” hits so differently after he learns who his father really is
I’ve learned nobody wants to be like their parents. I know I don’t really, it not like I hate them but there’s things I wanna be for me not a copy.
It works perfectly, because he wants to be like what his image of his father is, and do that. It works on another level because he really does want his father to be that image of him he's built up in his head. The reaction Mark gets out of him is fascinating because it's clear that on some level, he does want to be what his son thinks of him. Hence the massive arguments he is making, more to himself than to Mark, that what is really is (The conqueror) is better than what his son thinks he is. (The hero.)
Omni-Man is Zod if he reached earth before Kal.
So savage that he destroys viltrum
Facts
True asf
I wont spoil anything here, i just want to say the comic is great. If u enjoyed the show and have a bit of time on ur hands, i highly recommend reading the comic.
Yeah I think because it is a completed story it’s great for someone that doesn’t read comics normally, it is so overwhelming getting into dc or marvel.
and because it is not primarily a superhero story. The comic is about the life of mark who happens to have superpowers.
@@13amLee yea at some point in the cover of each issue the word superhero is crossed out so it only reads like "the greatest (superhero) comic in the universe" idk how to cross it out lol
1:52 Sounds like JK Simmons has been playing my dad for my whole life.
My problem with The Boys has always been that the gore and violence and gross stuff seemed unnecessary at times. Like they just put it there to shock the viewers. With Invincible, it felt right.
I also noticed that when Mark got his powers, Nolan was kinda... surprised? And just not ready for it. Like he just woke up or something. I think that really starts to make sense at the last episode when he just flies away instead of finishing off his son.
uhh WHAT??!?!?!? You think the cartoon where an entire train gets creamed feels right?!?!?! dafuq is wrong with your media senses?
To me Nolan was also having a battle with himself at the end of the season. When he says all of the negative things about humanity and his wife, you can tell he doesn't really mean it but he is trying to convince himself. He knows he has to carry out his mission, and living on Earth has made him "soft", he fears losing his family AND betraying his race. It's no wonder his actions and words are conflicting and paradoxical in some cases.
He doesn't "want" to do this, but it's what he has been tasked with, and what's expected of him. As you said, his culture doesn't take kindly to failure or weakness, they will not be happy with him when they show up.
I think the main thing you're supposed to take away from that last scene is that not only is he full of shit with his comments, but he is scared of what's coming too. It's trying to prep us for something way worse than him.
I agree, in my opinion Omni-Man is the best evil superman so far. He has so much dept and just overall a very interesting character that can stand on his own and not just as some "evil superman".
Omni: Superman with the culture of a Saiyan.
when he punched mark in the training, there was some perfectly timed thunder outside which made it super ominous
...or should i say ominous man?
Omni-man is an amazing character, a very complex and rounded villain, a very feared one...
If I were Nolan I would just wait a few centuries to let Mark figure out the "everybody and everything I love is going to die" lesson for himself.
The Homevirgin vs the Omni Chad
Woah what the fuck
Very different shows
Bruh chill
Other way
The Boys TV show is a rare instance where the show is better than the comics.
Finally some insight without the knowledge of the rest of the comic series. I love the thought that Nolan would want to still conquer the planet with his son. You put emphasis in slightly different spots and I makes it better to listen to
Just in time for my lunch break, thank you kindly.
After s2 mid season finale, I don't think he was convincing mark to be part of the Viltrum empire, instead he was convincing himself that he's a Viltrumite.
Man this video is so good
The crazy thing is I’m pretty sure the majority of people didn’t think twice when Omni man went through the portal and destroyed that other planet but episode 8 really put things into perspective 🤯
I absolutely adore the moment where Mark thinks that his dad was mind controlled into murdering the immortal, because that is literally what I was thinking when Omniman was murdering the league.
Definitely agree, he’s the best version of a evil Superman, each episode I had anxiety when he was around, I loved going into this show blind
Omni-man, the father and greatest villain off- TITLE CARD
Everything about omni-mans character is done so well, you dont have any trouble seeing yourself in his shoes. An alien above everything else on this planet you're waiting to take over. You can feel that he truly does not care about anyone outside his family because those aren't his people. Hes a god living amongst beings he doesn't care about.
I saw a really interesting post pointing out how the intense violence in the show presents a really interesting dilemma that relates directly to Nolan’s character. To Nolan, the people he’s killing are essentially fictional so it doesn’t matter at all if he kills them, and the horrific violence in the series provides the viewer the option to feel the same way. But does that make us Nolan? I just think it’s interesting.
It's so hard to put myself in Nolan's shoes. Imagine you as a human show up to a planet of claypeople, that have really petty problems . They have a small village with no cars or nothin. They can't leave their tiny valley. And they die off within 10 minutes. You can poke them and their arm would fall off. Would you truly maintain your morality, even when you get frustrated?
@@thatguybob6088 based on how I play videogames, yes.
@@thatguybob6088
Depends how sentient are they?
@@thomasstewart9752 Yet you all have an issue with Omni-Man doing the same thing to humans. Kind of ironic how you humans think. Lol
@@johnjackson2956 what? I was saying I don't do the same thing. I keep my morality and don't kill unless first attacked.
PLEASE PLEASE do an episode on Jupiter’s Legacy, would love to see you dive into how and why that show didn’t work, your opinion on the comics themselves (if you’ve read them I mean), and how you would have done it.
So sad it’s canceled
Only if he's already watched it tho I wouldn't want him to go through all those episodes for a show that got cancelled already
@@bobsandwich3431 of course, I’ve just enjoyed his previous discussions of failed superhero projects like Hancock and Green Hornet and in the case that he actually watched it I feel like he would have a lot to say about how it could have been better.
I absolutely love both the writing for homelander and omniman, on the surface they seem similar but are completely different, they have entirely different motivation for their actions.
After I watched a ton of videos about what's coming I'm hyped so HYPED for season 2 man
On the contrary, Nolan hitting Mark during training was him showing how he should fight as a viltrum. But seeing Mark's reaction, he realized that he raised Mark with too much love that he cant handle fighting an actual viltrum
I remember every time an INVINCIBLE episode started that if someone said his name the title would appear
A great theory I saw that makes a lot of sense is that Nolan was actually hoping Mark didn’t get powers. He grew to genuinely love his family and humanity. Nolan was hoping that Mark didn’t get powers so he can just wait until Mark and Debbie died of natural causes to begin conquering earth.
Something that not many point out is how just unconfident Nolan truly is in the ways of Viltrum. Him attempting to convince Mark in the finale was also an attempt to once again convince himself but Mark’s words break through to him in a way he didn’t expect. Mark’s humanity and perseverance broke through the Viltrumites’ teachings.
I like to imagine he spared Mark for the same reason he thought calling Deb a "pet" would be ok. When you consider yourself to be a much higher being, lower beings are "animals", that being said there is a big difference between how you feel about a personal pet vs a wild animal. It's like a farmer becoming attached to something meant for the butcher. Even more so with Mark vs Deb because Mark is literally half Omni-man, he has powers, his father's powers.
What will you have after five hundred years? Stash, dad, I'd have a mustache.
okay i lol’d when you used the invincible theme the way you did , subbed
Between this and “Brightburn”, I would love to see sequels/season(s). The “evil superman” is played out excellently in both.
AYYY finally been waiting for this love your content.
Fun fact: before working on the Boys, Garth Ennis did some writing at DC. Not traditional superhero stories, though; he wrote for titles/characters such as the Demon, Hitman, John Constantine, and Unknown Soldier. He also created a team by the name of Section 8, a team of superheroes with bizarre abilities. Actually, believe it or not, the Boys was a WildStorm comic, and WildStorm is owned by DC, but DC canceled the Boys because of its anti-superhero ideals.
What you did at 1:29…love it.
9:13 thank you fpr pointing that out. As i was watching the series at no point in time did i feel like things settled down. Everyone's actions had consequences and those consequences didnt magically disappear too fast or due to plot. This was something i felt during the show but couldn't explain why, so thank you!
This is one of the best series in a long time. "What will you have Mark?! What will you have in 500 years?!?" "I'll have you Dad, (blood gurgle cough) I'll have you"... holy fuck... epic writing...
Very defining moment for sure
It's definitely more towards Nolans humanity breaking through. His 20 years of marriage and the baseball scene specifically have an effect on him, his mindset becomes more grounded and aware of individual people small of a change as it was.
I believe a part of Nolan genuinely fell into the human life he was living, the writing of him being taken by surprise negatively by marks powers emphasize this. Part of him forgot about viltrum and realized basically "oh. This has to end now..."
Finally with marks words breaking the facade of omni man's last attempt to go back to his conqueror self.
I think when he first started to get invested, he figured this would be a nice vacation, a change of pace to his usual life. It didn't matter that he felt genuine care for these 'people' they'd die soon enough anyway and he'd move on with his life. But it was a nice fantasy to indulge in. (And who was going to stop him indulging in it?) Which is why Mark's powers showing up throws him. Now that little fantasy no one else would ever know about? It has meaningful consequences, (In a sense, it went from a one night stand to fatherhood. Irony not lost on me there.) now he has to think about the future, because Mark will be there in seventy years when the other 'people' he cared about are gone. Because much as it frustrates him, Mark does have enough power to matter in the Viltrum world view.
It's damn good writing, ya know?
Midnight PLEASE read the rest of the comic, it's incredible
invincible*
The cut to the invisible title card made me laugh out loud.
Can’t wait for S2.
Omni man is the reason why they say to never meet your heroes.
Twitter is going to have a mental breakdown when Season 2 starts to develop Omni-Man's changed perspective on morality and the start of his redemption.
Wait until they get to “that moment” with Anissa.
@@halloweenfriday or Dinosaurus being a pro-genicide
@@halloweenfriday _hoo boy_
@@halloweenfriday what happens?
@@prathapkutty7407 SPOILERS
In the comics, a female Viltrumite named Anissa rapes Mark. Omni-Man almost kills her when he hears about it but is stopped from doing it. That's all I really know
The INVINCIBLE card was hilarious and such a good reference
made me choke on what i was eating at the moment
8:19 this bit of editing got a heart chuckle out of me 👍👍
the sheer emotion that Invincible got me to feel is a testament to it's writing. Invincible is up there with the best character design of all time, Nolan makes me feel so many things, as does Mark, and combining them together in one long scene filled to the brim with gut punching emotional beats just knocks it out of the park.
I remember some time ago, I posted a comment on your Homelander video saying that I didn't care for how Homelander is portrayed in the show...I think I can definitively state that Omniman/Nolan is exactly how I thought Homelander should be.
One of the biggest things that didn't make sense to me, is that Homelander is almost _too human_ in how flawed he is. He feels more like someone who was _given_ powers, instead of someone who was born with them. But we know from the series that he was genetically engineered to have powers and has had them since infancy - so it's a bit disturbing that after a lifetime of knowing nothing but power, he is still so clumsy when it comes to them.
Second, the fact that he grew-up in a completely sterile, loveless environment, devoid of human contact or emotion - the best he got was a smile from a scientist behind a glass window... I would think that would raise him to be rather devoid of emotions; to have no concept for the human condition - to be cold and calculating and not so needy. Because he should realize that he should need for nothing, and therefore, no one on earth can possibly fill whatever needs he could have. Therefore, he can only ever see humanity as worthless because he was raised to believe he was built to be _better._
Omniman ticks that box for me; it's a different situation as much like Clark, he came from another world. But unlike Clark, he doesn't have that Human-Upbringing from John and Martha Kent. He was raised to manhood to serve his own Planet's interests and not the Earth's. Because of his upbringing - knowing how _superior_ he is to the human race - he can only ever see humanity as servants to his cause - cogs in his machine. Every good deed he did in defense of the planet and of mankind has only been a facade, and every other decision he has made has been a cold and calculating one...
That scene where he methodically eliminates the Planet's Guardians in such a matter-of-fact manner, is what I really expected Homelander to be doing in the Boys.
And much like with Homelander, another parallel comes with how Nolan and Homie interact with their _sons._ Homelander's biggest character trait is his own ego; he already is the best at everything, but now needs validation from _everyone_ to justify it to himself. He cares so greatly about his image, because it's part of the facade...Homelander wants people to love him and cheer for him because he needs to have his ego stroked, whereas Nolan puts on the facade to keep humanity compliant with him until the time comes to turn on them. If Homelander is pushed too far, he will turn on humanity - trading their adoration for fear, and demand their worship rather than earn it.
So in a sense, Homelander's only fascination with his son is how to extend his own Ego. Whereas I think with Nolan, he genuinely cares for Mark on a bit more of a personal level. Homelander wants the ego-trip of raising someone to be just like him, where I think that Nolan genuinely _needs_ a connection with his son.
He has lived a life-time on a planet who are more comparable to _ants_ than they are to him. He manages to conceive a child who manifests super-powers just like him. Suddenly he has found someone on the planet who is genuinely on _his_ level. Someone who he can connect with; someone he can be _equals_ with.
The thing about the Boys is its a social commentary on out screwed up society, and all of its characters are litterally human with all the failings and psychology that come with being that.
Humans are social animals and need to be part of a tribe or we get lonely because to be alone in the wilderness is bad for your survival, so we hurt to make it stop. Homelander was raised by a megacorp as product by people terrified of him, of course he was lonely and it festered so long he basically became the embodiment of everything in a psych textbook. But the sort list of his problems are: attention craving from neglect, god complex, Oedepus Complex, superiority/inferiority complex, worship complex, and control / trust issues.
Omniman was raised properly by his society so he is atleast a functioning Viltrumite conquistador. His problems are that he spent about 20yrs living with us and raising his kid as a human, the final result is him being dual cultured and increasingly conflicted about killing those he actually loves/likes. (He's starting to go native and it scares him, especially since he was a duty bound soldier for so long first)
Tldr; homelander is fundamentally still running human hardware so being raised by an evil megacorp created the expected results.
I have to disagree with your assessment on homelanders personality. He was raised with media training, to be a celebrity, so that's why he acts that way.
What I really like about this show is that it frames Nolan as "in the wrong", and Mark "in the right".
Omni-man is the funniest Vegeta reference ever made by accident. Apparently, Kirkman had never seen Dragonball. But, Nolan is almost exactly Vegeta, down to the mustache.
media.comicbook.com/2020/12/dragon-ball-vegeta-moustache-1250501-1280x0.jpeg
References have to be intentional, otherwise they're just coincidences hth
@wanka wanka I still get more Saiyan vibes from Viltrumites than Krypton vibes.
Also the whole, Bad guy turning good again, Conquering Planets, longer life span etc.
A lot of Dragonball.
@@Zoroasterisk I think he meant influence, tbh., as they can be unintentional.
@@hiiambarney4489 That's possible, and they can indeed be unintentional. The 'stache itself could also just be an example of literary convergent evolution, too. I think in both cases it's used as shorthand for authority and/or dominance. It could easily be either, or some mix of the two. Authorial intent is pretty murky stuff.
FWIW I also get more of a Saiyan vibe from Viltrtumites than Kryptonian. The lack of laser vision and the emphasis on the physical side of things doesn't hurt
There’s just something about super hero stories like Invincible, The Boys, Watchmen etc. where I’ll truly get hooked if done well. It’s not a Nobel Prize worthy concept but the “what if people with super abilities were extremely morally grey” genre of superhero media has always grabbed my attention the easiest.