Owlman - Nothing Matters 

An edit I made playing around my new fast computer specs, hope y'all enjoy it, Owlman is an interesting DC character imo(tbh Nihilist villains done right are the scariest villains to me). Finally what's y'alls answer to Owlmans Nihilism?

The writer for this movie(the late Dwayne McDuffie) said that the moment Owlman realized that he had a choice in deactivating the bomb, then his decision no longer mattered as it was no longer the prime Earth. Such a good movie.

So much more compelling a “nihilistic Batman as multiversal threat” than Batman Who Laughs

You gotta hand it to Owlman, he had conviction. Usually when faced with certain death, villains will compromise their beliefs in order to survive. Owlman did not, and when just mere seconds away from his demise, uttered out the only words that he truly believed, “It doesn’t matter.”

I like how a Planet Destroying bomb has a "Are you sure you want to continue?"

I love how he didn't contradict himself at his final moments. Shows that he truly believed what he said.

The final "It doesn't matter." is why owlman has my respect the way he does.

The end fight was dope. It wasn't only a clash between a favorite superhero and his evil counterpart, it was a clash of two whole philosophies; unhinged nihilism vs healthy stoicism. "Nothing matters" vs. "When the abyss looked back at us, you blinked".

I love how when owlman tells Batman that there are alternate versions of him that he would like its never stated that he researched other versions of him he just knows

As a wise man once said: *"The greatest villain is a person with a philosophy major."*

I believe the moment Owlman arrives in Earth Prime, it became a copy. He isn’t on the original Earth anymore. And every second he and Batman existed on the planet, he spiraled away from Earth Prime faster and faster. Like he said, it doesn’t matter. It’s impossible for him to reach Earth Prime

That little "it doesn't matter" at the end gives me these strange chills. Owlman as a character is so fascinating to me because I can fully understand his motivations they aren't complicated per se but they are still incomprehensible like a moral illusion I can see all the parts and understand the reasoning but I can't put them together in a way that allows me to fully wrap my head around it all.

What I love about Batman is that despite his cynicism and witnessing the worst out of people every night, he refuses to give up his hope of making the world a better place for those who deserve it

Owlman is a better Batman Who Laughs than the Batman Who Laughs will ever be.

This is why one of my favorite lines in any Batman media is "We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back, you blinked". Owlman is such a unique character because he thinks he understands infinity, but in reality he doesn't grasp it nearly as well as he thinks he does. He's like someone who only half understands the concept, because he is limited by his outlook on humanity. He contradicts himself by both claiming free will is an illusion, yet also that human choices are to blame for the chaos of things. The very idea he could destroy all of humanity or reality is a ultimately futile goal. Even if he succeeded, given infinite possibilities and infinite time, eventually the earth would return as would humans. If there is even the smallest possibility of something happening, it will happen, given enough time. Batman on the other hand has a much deeper understanding of infinity and free will. He understands it, but rather than tries to control it, he embraces it. Both of them ultimately come to the same conclusion that "It doesn't matter" but for Batman, that means "I'm still going to do what I think is right." Batman isn't shaken by the perceived futility of his goals, or that he will never truly rid the world entirely of evil, he just does what he can and as much as he can. Batman perceives this knowledge as liberating, where Owlman's perceives it as imprisoning.

I think an underrated part of the Owlman character is his purpose as a reflection of Batman. While he may not seem it, Bruce is an optimist. Believeing no person is beyond redemption and that every decision matters as a random gutless act is what birthed the Batman in the first place. Every life matters. Owlman is a pessimist. Decisions are irrelevant as there will always be another world where the opposite happened. A person's life does not matter. And never will. McDuffie was a great writer, man

The idea of "nothing matters" is so interesting since it makes a logical loop. If "nothing matters", then everything is on equal ground, meaning that _"everything_ matters". What "matters" to one person or another is merely perception, with Owlman representing the nihilistic "nothing matters" view and Batman representing the _equally_ nihilistic "everything matters" view. And if you think one to be more "realistic" or "hopeful" than the other, then that too holds a perception on their values and importance that simultaneously does and does not matter.

One of the few times where the movie adaptation that attempts to make the original more high stakes and conventional actually works. The original comic and this movie can be consumed separately and enjoyed on their own without either diminishing the other. Wish more adaptations were like this.

James Woods did an amazing job for the voice of Owlman. Calm and yet you can almost hear the seething rage and anger under the surface.

Imagine being an alien from a different planet and hearing some guy explain that somehow erasing Earth Prime will undo the whole universe like your choices didn't even exist.

James Woods voice made this character truly epic in my opinion. Soothing, subtle and yet evil. Everything he says sounds like a lullaby cradeling you to death

Owlman is my favourite alternate universe “Batman” that went off the deep end. Because he maintains Batman’s strengths and social flaws but they are increased ten fold because he holds nothing back. His tech is more deadly, his standard outfit is stronger and more durable and he is stone cold. But one flaw of Batman’s that is emphasised in Owlman is arrogance, and that became his downfall in his final fight.

great writing in this movie. every character other than Owlman just seems to play at evil, Owlman takes it to its logical conclusion and proves he is the most dangerous out of all the alternate Justice League

Owlman's dilemma is so very interesting to me. He wants to reach a "prime" universe, absolutely devoid of any choice, and destroy it. The thing is, him being present in earth prime makes it open to chance, and thus no longer earth prime. It's like one of those graphs that get infinitely smaller but never reach 0, forever teetering on the edge of reachin Earth Prime. His final realization, in the end, is that it doesn't matter - he had a choice, and it made him realize that wasn't earth prime anymore - it doesn't matter if he wins or loses, his chance was already gone, and was never achievable in the first place

No one's talking about how fitting the music is, how it adds to this quite cinematic masterpiece of a existential crisis. And how it doesn't drown out the dialogue. 10/10 video.

Didn't quite understand this as a kid. As an adult though, I have an immense amount of appreciation for owlman as a villain. Such a complex character

I actually based the final boss of my D&D campaign off of this line of thinking. Years ago Zephyr and his two allies began to search for ways to kill his father, who had taken over a city as the un-rightful chosen of Ra. In his search, he learned of the true nature of his world, in how it belonged to a repetitive cycle of rebirth and destruction that has been going on forever. He learned that due to this infinite nature of cycles, anything had already happened and no matter his choices, there would always be a version of this world where he did the opposite. It sickened him... Thus he plans to end the cycle, as that would be the only action that would ever matter.

Imagine a character with Owlman's mindset and Dr. Manhattan's super powers.

Something that always confused me. There’s truly an infinite number of universes. Owl Man has the capability to destroy everything. Wouldn’t that mean there’s an infinite amount of people capable of destroying everything? Meaning there’s also an infinite amount of people that would have succeeded in destroying everything?

A nihilistic villain is truly a interesting idea. I’d like to see more spins on that idea.

What a great "villain"! I remember that as a child I started watching that movie because of a casual superhero story and I ended up learning about existentialism.

My favorite iteration of a multiverse. It really makes you think about every decision you’ve made and will make in your entire life.

One thing I find interesting here is that Batman gave owlman an out. He didn’t break the terminal, the abort was still there. He wasn’t stranded, Batman tossed the teleporter there with him. Because whether it matters or not, Batman doesn’t kill. It was entirely owlman’s decision not to save himself. He could have even gone back to “earth prime” to blow it up, but realized it wouldn’t really make a difference.

I love his philosophy so much. He made the decision to make the only “decision” that would matter by ending the multiverse. Then he acknowledge someone else made a decision to stop him, ultimately making a decision that matters. Maybe there’s a version that no one decided to stop. But it doesn’t matter to him. He made his decision, and saw it through til the end, despite someone making the choice to stop him.

This is how you write a straight up evil character we don't need to feel sorry for, with a plan and logic for his end goals that makes sense

Considering the infinite earths and his way of describing and trying to find and destroy earth prime, i like the idea that even if he destroyed it there would be 2 in which he made the choice not to destroy it or that batman decides not to stop him meaning he would only destroy a branch of the possiblities

A lot of people interpret his final line as him knowing another him will succeed, I interpret it differently. To me, it's a final resignation of his effort and the only logical conclusion his character could come to. He tried to make the one choice that mattered, failed, and realized the true futility of it all. Why even try to make that choice? Why destroy it all? What's the point? He was desperately trying to do SOMETHING that mattered, but that's the thing, nothing matters. He didn't realize that all this was a futile attempt to find meaning within the meaningless until it was too late. He realized that there was no point in trying and finally gave in, failing to see the beauty in life's chaotic nature. Edit: Wanna know something cool? Almost every reply to this comment provides alternate explanations to each other, each of which disagreeing with mine. All stemming from one line...God I love this movie

I remember being a kid watching this movie and after the end i asked my father why did he say it doesnt matter? My father replied its because he believed it. In that moment i learned what conviction was and what it meant to those who have it and are brave enough to die for it.

I swear watching this all the time when I was 8 gave me unrealistic expectations for the quality of superhero dialogue when I grew up

“We both stared into the abyss, but the difference between you and me, *you blinked* “ -Batman

To those thinking if another version of Owlman was successful because of infinite versions, there is none. Think of it this way, there are an infinite amount of numbers between 1 and 2 (1.69..., 1.500282, etc.) but none of them are 0. What Owlman basically did is he went to Earth prime and tried to destroy it. This action would be action 0 and if really successful, then all of the infinite possibilities are destroyed. So there is no and there hasn't been any successful attempts in destroying everything because there would be no DC.

When Batman says the famous quote "We both looked into the abyss, but there's a difference between us. You blinked" or something along those lines, I believe he is referring to the way they interpret the multiverse conundrum. Even when Owlman explains the insignificance of human decision to Batman, Batman understands, but he is mentally strong enough to accept it and continue his life anyway. On the other hand, Owlman is so horribly disturbed by this discovery he can't cope with it. He begins a whole tirade to abolish all of human existence because in his words it doesn't matter. He's intending to commit infinite genocide because of his discovery. He blinked when he looked into the abyss. His humanity was so pathetically destroyed by it. That's why Batman wins the fight between them. That's why Owlman was doomed to lose. Edit: Just an update to this thread. I love the philosphical discussion between everyone and i want to chip in. Owlmans nihilism is a product of his inability to accept value or importance. His infamous line "it doesn't matter" can be flipped to expose his hypocrisy. If it didnt matter, nothing mattered, then why eradicate all of humanity and thus choice. The only answer that is sensible is that he removes choice. He states man is a cancer but he is a man and acts like a literal cancer, consuming and destroying his environment. Ultimately owlman is a hypocrtical but principled character. He is dedicated to his cause but also understands his irony when he is defeated. A brilliantly written character.

This is TO THIS DAY the best explanation of a Multi-verse in media

"Does it matter" and "Nothing matters" goes so hard for some reason.

I’d argue that this owl man is even more dangerous than the Batman who laughs, or at least equal, not just because of his plan, but a Batman who only exists for his own gain, neither good nor evil, is absolutely terrifying

I absolutely loved it when he says "it doesn't matter" before going out. Truly a badass way to die. He was kinda right too since none of his or anyone else's actions and decisions had much meaning

This was an awesome animated movie from DC. All the voice actors were great in their parts, but James Woods KILLED it as Owlman!

For anyone who wants to know the song is called "Prophecies" By Philip Glass.

You know, owl man kinda reminds me of this comic called “2 inches too late” and while it doesn’t go as deep as owl man goes, it does explore the idea of parallel worlds and whether it really matter

I loved that Owlman was doomed from the start as the second he decided to press the trigger a different reality existed where he didn’t and so he might blow up this branch but in doing so he grew another. It’s sad that the only choice he believed to matter, didn’t.

I like to think Owlman may have thought at his final moments that the earth he was in was in fact not Earth Prime, yet he stood by his ideal of "it doesn't matter" because at the end, he knew by making a choice, he understood he could not face the crushing weight of infinity, therefore, it doesn't matter

I love how calm James Woods plays the character the tone and how he speaks is amazing

“There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back you blinked.”

One of the best voice acting performances by the great James Woods. Right up there with when he voiced Hades in Disney’s Hercules.

Batman’s silence at the “you know better” is perfect.

I like how he understood in the end that it doesnt matter that by making the actions he did he created other strains in the multiverse

James Woods gave two of the best vocal performances for a villain, even with the two characters differing in almost every way

Literally never heard of this guy until now but can say he is the coolest evil version of a hero I've ever seen, and such a smart take on what Bruce would've been like if he didn't have faith in humanity

I've been watching that video everytime before going to bed for a little while now. I don't exactly know why, but the idea that nothing matters, and owl man's philosophy in general is strangely calming or comforting, at least for me...

James woods nail as an owlman the one thing I like about his performance is that his voice matches the character and I hope James woods comes back as owlman in the near future because I'll like to see forever evil to become a animated movie in the near future

I always thought Owl Man was a boring knockoff of Bat Man but this makes me want to watch and read everything about him, really interesting embodiment of a philosophical argument I’d never given much merit before

Owlman is my Favorite member of the Crime Syndicate and is one of the coolest Villains.

This is so poetic and well done.

A conviction unwavering even when faced with total annihilation

The different between batman and owlman Batman says: I am BATMAN Owlman says : it doesn't matter

The fact he was given a choice by the computer Yes or No at the end and saying “it doesn’t matter” makes the irony of the situation even better

He is the best "evil batman" that has been ever done. The Batman who tries too hard can only WISH he was as good as Owlman.

He was right after all….

I am a physics student and i study the Many Worlds Theory as my main subject. Owlman is a very interesting character and I love this movie but I feel I have to point out some flaws in the science of it and share how I, as someone who faces the "does anything matter" conundrum everyday, cope. First, the thing you have to remember is that while all possibilities exist, they don't exist in equal number. When a quantum waveform collapses and new timelines are formed they form an infinite number spread according to probability. Timelines in which probable events occur are more numerous than timelines where improbable events occur. The conclusion we can draw from this is as follows: YOUR CHOICES MATTER. Yes, there will always be timelines where you made a different choice, but the timelines in which you make the probable choice will always outweigh the improbable ones. If you are likely to make good, kind choices then you will have a net positive impact on the multiverse. If you say to yourself right now, "from now on I will be kind and seek to improve the lives of those around me in whatever ways I can, both big and small" and you follow through on that promise then you will become the origin point of what I call a 'Kindness Cascade'. A Kindness Cascade begins whenever you perform a kind act and the majority of future timelines from that point onwards are influenced positively, from there the people you were kind to will be kind to others in turn, exponentially increasing the number of positive timelines (which are already infinite) to the power of infinity, those people will in turn continue this effect, stacking infinity on top of infinity for the rest of eternity. Take this in combination with what I call, 'The Logic of Least Resistance' and you discover a magical truth. Everything in the universe follows the path of least resistance. Electrons flow through the most conductive materials, gasses move from high pressure to low pressure, water flows down hill, and natural selection picks out the traits that are best at surviving. Think about it, why do parents have an instinct to sacrifice themselves for their children? One would think that a creature would evolve to preserve it's own life, after all is not the point of life survival? Yes, but survival is a group activity. A parent who sacrifices themself to save their child has passed on the genes that gave them the instinct of self-sacrifice, the child in turn will grow up and one day pass on that gene. Why is it that a creature as weak and fragile as humanity is the dominant species in a world with lions, tigers, and bears? Cooperation. Having even a single partner helping to complete a task exponentially increases the amount of work that can be done. Every additional collaborator reduces the proportional impact of an individual failure. When working alone failing means a 100% failure, but when working with a partner a failure on your part is only a 50% failure, with a group of 3: 33%, with a group of 4: 25%, and so on. Isn't it beautiful? Compassion isn't just the right thing to do, it's the winning play. If life is a game in which the goal is survival, then the best strategy we know of is kindness and love This means that across the infinitely infinite multiverse good will always outweigh evil. If kindness is the best survival strategy then evolution will select for it. If evolution selects for kindess then timelines where humanity isn't kind will die off at greater rates than timelines where humanity is kind. To me this proves, irrefutably, that humanity is intrinsically good. Each and everyone of us has the capacity for exponentially infinite good. Your choices don't just matter, they matter INFINITELY. I understand that this was long and somewhat confusing so if you remember nothing else from my words remember this: 1. Your choices matter. 2. The choice that matters most is kindness

Kinda reminds me of how The Shredder in Turtles Forever viewed the multiverse, and how it was basically pointless for him to exist if every version of himself was destined to be defeated by the turtles. He was so desperate to destroy Turtle Prime that he didn't even care about dying along with everyone else.

A villain that deserves more acknowledgement

Imma be honest, i find the idea that nothing matters and all choices are meaningless to be very relieving instead of depressing.

His last words tells us how much he was dedicated to his beliefs

You gotta appreciate a villain that is logically consistent! That end part went hard in the paint

Owlman is way scarier than TBWL. Batman’s stoic pragmatism + Joker’s intense nihilism = Amazing villain.

You paired this character, one of my favorites, with the music from one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies. Owlman’s perspective is similar to Dr. Manhattan before he “sees the miracle” that is humanity. Well done. 👍

His final words "it doesn't matter" is profound because of what he said earlier. Every decision makes a new universe. So in some universe, he actually WON and succeeded. He knew this and so even by losing, he still won

can’t believe they managed to make “destroy the world” a compelling villain motivation

James woods nailed this role

i like how he doesn't struggle he just decides that his death will also be meaningless and that therefore doing anything against it is meaningless and so he just doesn't

Dude was the biggest doomer, but his costume and voice lines are cool asf💀

These two are brothers. Two sides of one coin. Alpha and Omega. Yin and Yang. One is an optimist and the other is a pessimist, yet they were spawned from the same seed.

"It doesn't matter" -Owlman

Anyone ever think one reason he say it doesn’t matter is because he is sure that there is a version of him that will succeed?

I just wanna say I absolutely love Owl Man and Prophecies just makes his speech all the more woefully beautiful and tragic.

nothing can give you chills like a man dying on his own terms.

He let it happen knowing there is a world where he succeeded.

I would argue that everything matters. If one decision can create a whole other universe, then that decision mattered.

What I actually like about the ending is that the choice owlman made to not abort the destruction was the one choice he made that actually mattered considering it was the one event where he had a chance to make a choice that another version of himself couldn't choose the opposite which breaks his logic of nothing mattering and adding a very nuanced layer of irony to him choosing to die.

who would have thought that one of the most memorable villains in the DCU would be a motivated nihilist

Wow. Intense video. Really like the song choice and editing. Keep up the solid work. 👍

If this is the kind of story being told in DCU. I would have become a fan sooner. Some DC cartoon is way ahead of its time.

I don't think I can give a answer to owl-man but I think I can give a response as to why he might do this. True individuality, What I mean is If there is an infinite amount of possibility's where he exists than he's the first to realize that which lead to owl man wanting to find others like him. he did, and he found "while only having a slight difference an infinite number of individuals just like him. he wouldn't need to look to far in there past to see the kind of people they would become when he could just look at others and see how they have become. With this however he would quickly realize he's nothing more than a copy that has managed to see the whole picture of what his existence is and with that he would do something that would really matter in his existence or at least that's how he'd see it. I don't really have an answer but I guess this is what I will say is my response

His voice acting is so good!

Yet he never took a moment to think about the beauty of it all, every decision you make is the creation of infinite other worlds, you are a catalyst for infinite lives.

The writers followed their curiosity and attempted to undo the meaning of humanity. Owlman's portrayal here is quite commendable.

To counter Owlman's Nihilism, Man is chaos and order. From Chaos came Order which reacted to Chaos. We create order in the chaos that pervades the world around us so that we can live within that chaos. It's the ability to endure and make choices we know other alternative choices made. Alternative choices made as an observation ironically means that you can keep in mind that things can be far worse if you were fall in more than just the physical sense. We have the ability to create and stand by our identities, likes, dislikes, and beliefs. That's what free will is. It's by realizing this that we begin to learn how to go up.

The fact he knew about the prime earth makes it more interesting, he was a deep thinker

One year later and this is still such an amazing edit, bravo dude

I always find it interesting that owlmans whole philosophy is based on the fact that all actions have already been carried out on another earth and thus no action matters. Yet when he finally tries to make a decision that will matter it fails, despite every possibility occurring. Thus meaning that there's no possibilty where he wins, because if he did everything would've died the moment the bomb went off in at least one alternate earth. In the end he proved his point, his actions truly didn't matter