That gold statue inside the millennium clock was Veidt, and the object that landed on the Clark’s farmhouse was his spaceship.
WATCHMEN FINALE SERIES
That can be true, sure, but what about authority? Instead of a mask, what about a uniform? There’s little mention of power dynamics - this series seems to be condemning the superhero genre, rather than using said genre to explore the nature of power.Īnd in an effort to replace any potential depth, we have twists. This reveal, along with Will and Angela’s candid conversation about masked vigilantism, outline the fact that anonymity brings out the worst in people. It wouldn’t have mattered if a white supremacist, a narcissist, or Angela inherits his powers all three would eventually lose their ego and become utterly uninterested in social constructs, like morality and racism.Īngela isn’t going to be more empathic version of Doctor Manhattan, and Keene wasn’t going to remain racist whoever turns blue is destined to lose their humanity, and thus, their belief system.Īdrian Veidt has been in control of his seemingly perilous situation the entire time, having created a masked opponent to entertain himself. Superman would surely view humans the way humans view insects, and wouldn’t waste his time saving cats from trees, or whatever.ĭoctor Manhattan’s ability to tear the universe down to its building blocks and reshape it as he sees fit, to see the entirety of time simultaneously, rather than being limited to the present, makes it impossible for him to care for humanity and their problems. There’s a reason he’s the only character in the comic with real superpowers - he exists to show that someone like Superman is not, and can never be, human. Will even says, “Manhattan was a good man, but he could have done more.” This implies that Manhattan wasn’t shaped by his unique position, but by his personality, and it represents everything that this series got wrong about Watchmen.ĭoctor Manhattan doesn’t feel distant from humanity because of his personality his apathy stems from his very existence. Manhattan, according to this series, didn’t do a very good job as God. Because people who seek power are bad, people who do not are good. The finale, and in hindsight, the entire series, was a story about God choosing a successor, passing the gauntlet to someone worthy, someone who doesn’t seek power.