‘Invincible’: Why Did Omni-Man Beat Up His Son?

It goes without saying that ‘Invincible’ was able to captivate its audience with the big twist regarding Nolan “Omni-Man” Grayson, the strongest superhero on Earth, as he ended up becoming the true villain of the first season. At the end of season 1, we saw him going up against his own son, Mark “Invincible’ Grayson, who was just starting out as a hero after awakening his Viltrumite abilities. But why did Omni-Man beat up his own son?

Omni-Man wanted to indoctrinate Invincible

No one can argue against the fact that it was a big surprise that Omni-Man was a villain all along. As Nolan Grayson, he was a loving father to his son, Mark Grayson, and a good husband to his wife, Debbie. However, at the end of the first episode of season 1, he ended up dropping jaws when he singlehandedly killed all of the members of the Guardians of the Globe, prompting people to wonder why he did such a heinous act.

As the season progressed, the truth behind Nolan’s actions surfaced. The truth was that his people, the Viltrumites, were actually warmongering people who conquered planets all over the galaxy by forcing people to submit to their rule using brute force. Nolan was actually sent by the Viltrum Empire on a special mission.

His goal was to infiltrate Earth and eventually weaken it by destroying its defenses so that the people of Earth would submit to the Viltrum Empire quite easily and with minimal effort on the part of the Viltrumites. As such, he posed as Omni-Man for years, gaining the trust of the people and the other superheroes along the way before killing the Guardians of the Globe to severely weaken the planet against any threat.

When Nolan had Mark, he knew that his son was eventually going to awaken his Viltrumite powers as well. He needed Mark to join him in his cause so that it would be easier for two Viltrumites to take over the planet for the sake of the Viltrum Empire. As such, one of his goals was to convince Mark to join him.

Nolan was trying to teach his son a lesson

Of course, while Nolan did indeed want Mark to join him and become part of the Viltrum Empire, Invincible had other plans. Mark was born and raised as a human being instead of a Viltrumite. As such, he loved Earth and the people living on this planet. He wasn’t going to turn his back on the planet and suddenly join his father’s quest to take over Earth.

Nolan tried his best to convince his son that this was what the Viltrumites were supposed to do, only for Mark to reject everything his father said to try to convince him. As such, this led to an epic showdown between Omni-Man and Invincible, showcasing what two Viltrumites can do to a planet whenever they are in a heated battle.

Of course, while Mark tried his best to match his father’s power, Nolan was simply a lot stronger and more experienced than his son, leading to a one-sided fight despite the fact that Omni-Man was already tired even before the father-and-son quarrel started. But Nolan didn’t finish the fight quickly as he focused more on beating his son down.

The reason why Omni-Man beat up his own son was the fact that he was trying to teach him a lesson. He was using force to convince Mark that his ideals were not in line with the Viltrumite way of thinking and that the only choice for him was to join the Viltrum Empire and take over Earth. Nolan even killed countless people to showcase just how easy it was for him and the other Viltrumites to kill humans, as Nolan felt helpless the entire time.

Of course, Omni-Man was also trying to show Mark that his resistance was futile because there was no way that he would ever win against him. Nolan tried to beat some sense into his son the old-fashioned way, and it only served to make Mark’s resolve stronger and stronger.

No matter what Omni-Man did, Invincible never gave in to his father’s demands. He was already a bloody pulp when he said the words that eventually twisted Nolan’s heart and convinced him to leave the planet.

Why does Omni-Man hate his son?

The truth was that Nolan’s beatdown of Mark wasn’t born out of his hatred for his son. He could never hurt Invincible because he loved his son dearly. The problem was that while he knew deep in his heart that he loved Mark, Nolan just couldn’t accept this part of him.

Due to the decades he spent on Earth meeting a lot of people and learning different lessons along the way, Omni-Man learned to value his family and friends. He also learned that humans are stronger and more resilient than they are given credit for. But the Viltrumite side of Omni-Man was always in conflict with his newly developed humanity.

So, when Omni-Man was beating Mark down, it was a classic case of him doing so out of hatred for himself because he couldn’t make sense of what he was supposed to do and what he wanted to do. On one side, his Viltrumite side was telling him that he needed to conquer Earth. However, his human side knew that he loved his son.

It was when Mark said that they would still have each other after hundreds of years of living on Earth that Nolan finally understood that he truly loved Mark and that what he was doing to him was wrong. This prompted him to leave Earth, going on a long journey of self-reflection in space.

He hated himself because he couldn’t accept that he had become “weak” according to the standards of the Viltrumites. But most of all, he hated himself for what he did to his son and to the people of Earth. As such, he even contemplated killing himself before he found a new purpose in life as the leader of the Thraxians.

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