Does Omni-Man Deserve Redemption?
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Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Invincible Season 3, Episode 6.When Invincible first premiered, I kept one of the biggest secrets of the comics close to my chest: the titular hero’s father Nolan, aka Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), wasn’t as benevolent as he seemed. In fact, Nolan was an advance agent for the Viltrumite Empire; the Viltrumites used their superior speed and strength to conquer a galaxy since they felt it was their right to rule. Needless to say, it was fun watching people’s reactions to Nolan’s true nature. Invincible Seasons 2 and 3 have been laying the groundwork for Nolan’s redemption, beginning with the reveal that he settled down on a planet full of insect people and had another son, Oliver. Nolan and Mark (Steven Yeun) had to protect the planet from an invasion of Viltrumites, but Nolan was brutally beaten and taken in for execution.
He wound up meeting Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen), who sprung him out of prison — after a lot of convincing and a lot of tries by the Viltrumites to kill Allen. During their imprisonment, Nolan dropped a whopper of a sentence: “I think I miss my wife.” It all but confirmed that the series, much like the comics, is going to try and set Nolan on the path to redemption. The question is, can Omni-Man truly be redeemed? The answer is…tricky.
Omni-Man’s Past Actions Shouldn’t Be Ignored
From its very first episode, Invincible was aiming to showcase that Omni-Man was a true threat when he brutally murdered the original Guardians of the Globe. It was a statement of intent to the audience: this wouldn’t be the type of superhero story they expected, and there was more to Omni-Man that meets the eye. This gets one upped in Season 1’s penultimate episodes, “We Need To Talk” and “Where I Really Come From”; the latter had Omni-Man tear through the Global Defense Agency’s forces, and the latter pitted him against Invincible in a fight with way too many casualties to count. Many of those happen when Nolan holds Mark in front of a train, using him as a human battering ram. The sheer horror on Mark’s face as human bodies splatter across him is too chilling to put into words, but it highlights that if Nolan is going to work on redeeming himself his past actions shouldn’t be swept under a rug.
In fact, when Nolan and Mark finally reunite in Season 2’s “It’s Been A While”, it’s far from a happy reunion. Mark calls out his father for what he did on Earth, especially with how it hurt his mother Debbie (Sandra Oh). Even though Nolan’s apologetic, Mark doesn’t want to hear his apology. The only time the two actually get on the same page is to protect the insectoid people once the Viltrumites touch down. This is a far cry from the comics, where Mark originally hugged his father while breaking down crying. Having him still be angry at Nolan underscores the trauma he went through, and doesn’t entirely let Omni-Man off the hook. But that should go double for Debbie.
If ‘Invincible’ Is Aiming To Redeem Omni-Man, It Needs To Avoid This Plot Point From the Comics
Debbie is arguably the character hurt the most by Nolan’s actions on Earth. Not only did she learn that her entire marriage was a lie, but Nolan refers to her as a “pet” during his fight with Mark – a statement that leaves her shaken to the core. This makes a major plot point in the comics that much harder to swallow: when Nolan returns to Earth, he and Debbie rekindle their relationship. This always felt weird to me for a number of reasons. Putting aside that Debbie had moved on at that point, everything Nolan did all but guaranteed she’d probably never want to get back with him. While people can change, others have the right to forgive or not forgive them; that should definitely be the case as Debbie, like Mark, is still dealing with the fallout from Nolan’s actions. Invincible has done a great job making Debbie into a more well-rounded character than she was in the comics, and I feel that her and Nolan rekindling their relationship would wreck all that work.
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’Invincible’s Latest Episode Shows That Omni-Man Has a Long Road to Redemption
The most recent episode of Invincible, “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry”, touches on how Omni-Man’s actions continue to affect the world. Mark and Oliver briefly discuss their father, with Mark telling his little brother that there were two sides to Nolan: the father who raised them and the ruthless Viltrumite conqueror. Mark says he still loves Nolan, but is coming to grips with what he did. In one conversation, the show has laid out how difficult it will be for Nolan to redeem himself. Even though Invincible has slowly been laying the groundwork to adapt the “Viltrumite War” storyline from the comics, defeating the other Viltrumites won’t automatically put Nolan back into everyone’s good graces. But that’s what makes Invincible so great; the road to characters changing may be a long and rocky one, but it’s willing to put in the work — and so should Omni-Man.
Invincible is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
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