While Omni-Man was once worshipped as a hero in the world of Invincible, that changed—so drastically that for many, it feels like he might never be redeemed.
Omni-Man, also known as Nolan Grayson, killed thousands upon thousands of innocent souls on Earth when he revealed his true purpose: to shape the residents of the planet for the arrival of the Viltrumites and subjugation by their hands. That's not including the planet's worth of people that he committed genocide during his lifetime.
Heading into Season 3, the character will once again get more screen time, but this time, his redemption arc will be making some notable progress.
J.K. Simmons Loves the Moral Dilemma of Omni-Man's Redemption
"I Love That That's a Question..."
Invincible star J.K. Simmons sat down with The Direct in an exclusive interview where he commented on whether it's possible for Nolan Grayson's Omni-Man to be redeemed, confirming that some percentage of Earth's population "will hail Omni-Man and/or Nolan as a hero":
- The Direct: "Omni-Man feels like a clear example of an unredeemable villain. Yet this season, especially, works to start that very process and actually make some progress there. Do you think, in your eyes, he can actually be redeemed with audiences?"
J.K. Simmons: I love that that's a question, you know, and that was part of what I found interesting when I first jumped on board with this. I was one of the few people who didn't really know the source material. So it's all been sort of unfolding to me gradually. But you know, to me, it would have been pretty tedious to play through seasons of him just being the biggest, baddest guy on the block. And I think being able to explore some vulnerability and some self-doubt even is really an interesting journey.
- The Direct: "In the show, do you think you might have a scene one day where you can actually be hailed as a hero? Because I guess in my mind, I feel like that, no matter what happens, because I think in the end, he will probably become a hero, in some sense, but I don't know if Earth will ever forgive him, no matter what he does, even if Mark [does]?"
Simmons: You definitely can't please all the people all the time, right? So I think, yeah, there will be some, I think, who will hail Omni-Man and/or Nolan as a hero. But, yeah, it's never going to be, you know—I mean, that's the way the world is. I love how we get to explore in this land of virtually no limitations, you know, real-life issues.
- The Direct: "How do you think Nolan would feel about seeing his son, Oliver, running around Earth with an Omni-Man logo on his chest, because even in the show, Mark is like, that's a bad idea. And he's like, I don't care."
Simmons: Yeah, I mean... There's a pride, you know, there's a puffed up chest, kind of, that's my boy thing. But there's also that, you know, I think I'm still the boss, and let's see how long I can hang on to that.
- The Direct: "With Season 3, as you're doing Omni-Man, are you finding yourself doing anything with the character and with your performance that you kind of didn't originally in Season 1, and that just was kind of a natural evolution of how you tackle the character?"
Simmons: My approach to it hasn't really changed a lot. It's just always, you know, playing what the moment is that the guys are putting on paper, and it just continues to demand more of all of us. I love that all of, certainly, the vast majority of the characters are not one-dimensional. And that's true again in Season 3. We see a relationship between Omni-Man and Allen the Alien that kind of goes to some surprising places. So, I just continue to be grateful to be given the opportunity to explore.
The full interview can be seen here:
Invincible Season 3 starts streaming on Amazon Studios' Prime Video on February 6.
