I don't blame people for calling Omni-Man an edgy evil Superman because the cartoon turned him into EXACTLY that.
It is the main reason I hate the show.
Maybe it's cause of the recent leaked news about Omni-Man and Homelander being DLCs in the upcoming Mortal Kombat game, but I am angry at how the Invincible cartoon wrote Omni-Man again.
In the comics, Omni-Man had so much warmth and humanity. He had an actual relationship with his wife and son. He truly was "what if Superman was your dad?"
In the cartoon, almost all of Nolan's conversations with his son was just him training him to be a superhero/conqueror. He wasn't a dad. He was a coach.
The comics had a scene where Mark and Nolan play catch and talking about their day. Nolan gives Mark some fatherly advice about superheroing, but otherwise they're just bonding. Like a family.
The cartoon took that moment and turned it into a "son embrace your destiny so you can find your destiny and embrace your destiny" scene. They don't even look like they're having fun.
The famous scene where Omni-Man kills the Guardians of the Globe happens on issue #7. It wasn't a gory 10-minute sequence, it was three quick pages. (tw mild gore)
The scene was shocking not because it had extravagant animated violence. It was shocking because, at this point, you've gotten to know Omni-Man as a good guy.
Plus, the briefness of the scene effectively demonstrates how powerful he is compared to the other heroes.
Unlike the cartoon, the comic didn't turn the murders into a season-long mystery. We just have moments of Nolan acting suspicious. The comic nudges us to be wary of him, but still lets us give him the benefit of a doubt.
The big reveal was more or less the same, but it hits different because it didn't come from "superman but evil." It came from "superman but he's your dad."
The big fight between Mark and Nolan caused massive collateral damage. But at no point did Nolan was shown deliberately kiling anyone. He's a being with immense power, but he's not a monster. That is important to his story.
They also had this line in the cartoon, but it doesn't work as well because it happened after we saw Nolan deliberately slaughter an entire subway train full of people.
You can argue that Mark is in severe denial during that moment. But in the comics, we the READERS were in as much denial as HE is. Because the comics made us love Omni-Man instead of making him edgy, scary Superman. We didn't WANT him to be a killer.
I watched a youtube reaction video of this moment. When Nolan flew away because he couldn't bear hurting his son, the youtubers were like "Oh no, Omni-Man is gonna smash into Mark from orbit!" And I don't blame them.
That's how much the show ruined his character.
Omni-Man's betrayal felt devastating because we saw how much he meant to the people around him. He was family.
*sigh* of course it fucking was
Anyway, I blame The Boys. Either Amazon or Kirkman saw how big The Boys was and said "we need to turn Omni-Man into Homelander."
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