Batman vs Owlman (Justice League Crisis on Two Earths)

Owlman travels to Earth Prime with a QED bomb to destroy all reality. Batman is determined to stop him even with a broken rib cage.

All content, characters and such belong to Warner Bros, DC and their respective companies.

[largeproblem]

I love that you can see how far Owlman has internalized his own misanthropy in the line "Not good. Never good. After all, I'm only human." And in the end I think that makes Batman's final line that much more poignant. Owlman has tricked himself into believing that humanity is objectively defined by its capacity for inflicting pain and destruction upon each other and the world around them. Batman knows that the pain & destruction is just one of infinite possibilities, even though he's seen things go from bad to worse so often that he's quite literally made a career out of it.

Owlman's nihilistic view fails because he still believes in one objective truth, that being that humans are ultimately bad and that any good they do is a fluke. Batman's final line is his main argument against this - he's seen the most terrible things imaginable, and even he knows that humans are ultimately as fluid and capable of change as the world(s) they inhabit. Owlman got freaked out by the worst possible outcomes, and decided to call it quits on existence. Batman faces them, unflinching, only certain that he and the rest of humankind will keep going even if these worst possible outcomes come to pass.

In other words, Owlman witnessed atrocities, suffered, and grew bitter.
Batman witnessed atrocities, suffered, then pointed that pain back at humankind and challenged it to be better.
Owlman looked into the void, saw no light, and let the total darkness crawl inside and make him bitter.
Batman looked into the void, saw no light, and kept looking.

[JM-kkwd]

His final “It doesn’t matter” line gets me every time

[joseheredia]

“We both looked into abyss, but when it looked back at us you blinked” 🔥🔥always my favorite line

[PeterAnthonyIHay]

You know what's the coldest part about the ending is that considering his agility and speed he could've easily hit that abort button in just didnt care.

[Greggers]

That, “it doesn’t matter” at the end shows he’s not destroying everything just because he’s evil or because he hates everyone else, but he actually believes in his ideology so strongly. Great last line for owl man. My only complaint is that Batman pretty much got his ass beat the whole time

[AvatarRiku]

Earth prime is unreachable. The moment owl man decided to look for it a duplicate was spawned, birthed by his decision to search for it. It never would have worked.

[justsomeguywithabeardx]

The actual problem Owlman didn't foresee is that his very presence negated what he was going to do with the bomb. What makes Prime "Prime" is the absence of conscious will to create branches. The second he teleported onto what used to be Prime, that was offset. It branched into a billion Earths that could've taken place had he done things differently. Batman's presence pretty much sealed the deal.

[mattmalco]

James Woods doesn't get enough props for this role that deadpan delivery of "it doesn't really matter, nothing matters" is genuinely chilling

[huntercool]

I love how Batman threw the portal gun to Owlman as it was teleporting meaning he gave him the option to escape, but Owlman just chose not to because he didn’t care

[safaabdus]

I actually like batmans tactics here, he didnt need to change the dimension coordinates on the bomb, he was just throwing owl man off. He actually just wanted him to get close enough to the bomb and steal the mini transponder from owlmans belt. The coordinates were last changed when superwoman was flicking through which world she'd send batman. So in turn superwomans arrogance and cocky nature helped batman win this fight

[jutce]

"With every choice we make, we literally create another world. History branches in two. Creating one earth where we made the choice and a second, where we didn’t. That’s the secret of the universe, you know? Billions of people. Making billions of choices. Creating infinite earths. Some so similar to each other, you can spend a lifetime searching for any distinction. Others so radically different they defy comprehension."

I love this line! He explained multi-verse theory down to the letter.

[mrblack]

"No. Not good. Never good. After all, I'm only human"

Love that line.

[lordfury]

i dunno why but i've always loved how Owlman says:


"their are alternate versions of me, you'd find quite charming"

[goodtiming]

Although Batman uses the line "There is a difference between you and I. We both looked into the Abyss, but when it looked back at us. You blinked." many times in his comic books, it couldn't be more fitting in this movie and scene. Multiple times, owlman points out their similarities. Batman doesn't reply to any of them. When owlman brings up that everything about him screams of outrage, referencing a trauma in Batman's past that lead him into become who he is, batman confronts him when he wins. Owlman when discovering the infinite multiverse and insignificance of his own existence, he is utterly destroyed in his will and is so disturbed at the fact that he decides to attempt to end it all. Batman deals with his trauma by becoming better while Owlman can't and is so utterly destroyed and consumed by it. He blinked.

[huntercool]

Fan Fact: Owlman was actually Bruce’s brother in his universe. His name is Thomas Wayne Jr. and he and Alfred both murdered his parents and Bruce

[Shadowkiller-dqju]

Did we forget that Batman is doing this with a broken rib

[PRME]

I love how owlman doesn’t yell or scream. He constantly talks in a calm tone

[Allsmiles]

(I want to point out something. The dimensional portal gun? It's right there. Batman tossed it with him and knew that he'd be able to use it. The Abort sequence was very clearly flashing, and he had time to push the button. He could have stopped the bomb, grabbed the portal gun, and left, or maybe even had the time to grab the portal gun and leave. He could have done this, and arguably, Batman could have known that he'd have the option simply by the Abort choice and the gun teleporting with him.

But Owlman doesn't do this. He declares his death irrelevant by saying 'it doesn't matter' at the end, sticking to his philosophy to the end, and calmly lets himself die. What was going through his mind then? That in the actions performed, somewhere, there was an Owlman who didn't accept his death and escaped, and he was just the one who did accept his death? That even as he failed, another Owlman succeeded, but that success didn't destroy reality, so truly it was all ultimately pointless? I'm honestly not sure. Say what you want about his motivations though... he died by them as much as he lived by them, and faced his end with a smile.)

[felinusfeline]

The calmness in Owlmans voice and speech and the way it never falters feels like textbook psychopath.
In that way he's the perfect "evil" version of Batman. Both are mentally scarred by trauma. But Batman uses it to fuel his drive to do and be better. He is so close to being like the Joker or all the others but he fights not to be, Owlman didn't.

[tmanxx]

I love that owl man says “if u sent ur flying man u might have had a chance” like he can take on superman