>Yo Air, you’ve seen Invincible right?
>Oh hey Just Stop...no, what’s Invincible?
>Oh really? You didn’t watch it? The new Amazon Prime cartoon that came out? It’s really good!
>Oh, did it just come out?
>Well, not exactly. It came out like 4 months ago haha!
>Well, you know how late I always am to things like this! Anyway,
it’s a cartoon made by a streaming service in 2021, how good could it possibly be?
*2 Days Later*
>THIS IS SO GOOD DUDE!!!!
>Yeah I told ya! I knew you were J.K. Simmons guy!
>Dude are you kidding?! I love frickin everything this man has been a part of! Spider-Man, Whiplash,
Bojack, Korra...J.K. Simmons is the man! The guy’s never gone bad with a casting role!
>Told ya dude! And how’d ya like him in this show?
>Well...
Watching Invincible for me was an experience I’ll never forget. Honestly,
it’s been the only show that has had me hooked so well that it only took me 2 days to binge
the entire show. The story of Invincible is a story about Mark Grayson and his life,
but today’s video is going to be focused on his father,
Nolan, who truly made this show remarkable in my eyes. Omni-Man’s twist villain arc in the
first season of Invincible is truly the greatest character arc I’ve honestly ever seen myself,
and while it is a pretty bold statement, I think Omni-Man is the greatest villain in animation.
Title Card Plays
Look, I know I’m late to this whole Invincible thing, but the truth is, it was such a suspenseful
and interesting 8 episodes that I immediately knew I had to make a few videos about it. So
if you’re into the show, I’d subscribe for some more content about it. But regardless, let’s talk
a bit about Nolan Grayson, and his beautifully executed character arc from innocence to fury.
The story of Omni-Man starts on Viltrum. He was one of the few luckiest and strongest
Viltrumites on his planet, and he was assigned Earth as the planet to weaken
for the inevitable Viltrumite conquering. Eventually, he falls in love with Debbie Grayson,
and they have a son together. This is really all we know from the exposition
given to us after a season of twists and turns. But what makes Omni-Man special?
Well, I’d like to go back to the first episode of the series. From episode 1,
the beginning of the show, we see Omni-Man brutally murder the Guardians. This scene
was both the most terrifying, confusing, and exciting scene up until episode 8. It perfectly
set up Omni-Man as a very suspicious man, who’s not exactly who he claims to be. We see that he
has magnificent power, being able to destroy the Guardians like they’re toys, and his ingenuity
when it comes to his fighting abilities. Being incredibly fast, agile, and strong. He literally
slices his enemies’ bodies in half with one hand! This is easily J.K. Simmons’ SECOND most powerful
performance! (clip) Let’s not get carried away here, at least Mark was in his tempo. Anyway,
this scene in the first episode establishes to the viewer that Nolan has some shady aspects to him,
and the show begins it’s theme of skepticism in Nolan’s character, which starts with Damien
Darkblood, then Cecil, then Debbie herself, until Mark finds out in episode 8. This slow trickle of
skepticism is ultimately what drives you to keep watching, and the best part is that the twist
reveal is the complete opposite of predictable! Unless you read the comic or you’re really smart,
you probably wouldn’t know Nolan’s race is actually out to weaken Earth, not protect it.
The reasons that come to mind may be: mind control, betrayal, blackmail, drugs?
I don’t know, but unlike many twist villains in most animated movies and shows nowadays,
Nolan’s reveal is completely left unresolved until episode 8, and because of how weird he
acts and how many things coincide with this event, that suspense keeps you watching,
intrigued. Because the thing that sets Invincible apart from its competition, is that it actually
makes you give a crap about the astronomical stakes that our characters go through.
Jump to episode 7, Nolan has figured out that Debbie knows, and this is where we get
into episode 8, one of the greatest episodes of any show I have ever genuinely seen. Honestly,
that train scene itself deserves an Oscar, it is absolutely heart-wrenching! In episode 8,
Nolan’s arc finally comes full circle and he tells Mark the truth. About how he believes
humanity is a pathetic species, and how he’d watch Earth burn to dust before living amongst
the animals any longer. How even his wife’s life is worthless in the great grand scheme of things,
and how she’s more of a pet to Nolan. How he doesn’t even care if he has to wait 17 more years
and make another kid to conquer Earth. How he kills thousands of innocent civilians brutally
as if they were insignificant flies. All of this is amplified by J.K. Simmons’ absolutely
incredible performance, which just adds chills to every line he says. (“You don’t know me”) And yet,
even though he believes all those things whole-heartedly, as he pounds away at
his son’s face in bloody fashion, he has a flashback to Mark’s childhood playing baseball,
when Debbie made him understand and appreciate the gift of life, of humanity. And at that moment,
as Mark says this beautiful line: (you, dad) even Omni-Man can’t kill his own son,
in his heart he knows he can’t, and he flies off into space, never heard from again.
I think the story of Omni-Man is a storybook example of how to establish and payoff an
amazing character like Nolan. How establishing skepticism in the viewer from episode 1 can make
the middle episodes all the more exciting, and make episode 8 an absolute treat to watch! And
while Omni-Man may be an invincible alien who came to conquer Earth, not even he can lose the
one thing he gained in his time on Earth: his humanity. Thanks for watching. Shalom.