Sometimes you just want to run away from your problems. In Doctor Manhattan’s case, this means going to a whole new galaxy. You can’t run much farther than that!
Watchmen Chapter II is the latest DC animated movie, and it does a great job of expanding on the source material. Don’t get me wrong, the dialogue is almost verbatim from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel, and there aren’t any new scenes. However, animation allows the story to live in a different way, which helps us view it from entirely new angles. Scenes are paced differently in an animated movie, and a voice actor’s delivery might bring new depth to a classic moment.
I discussed this when writing about Watchmen Chapter I, where I explained how the pacing of Doctor Manhattan’s television appearance caused me to look at the character in a new way. I won’t repeat all the points here, but in the end, I concluded that Jon wasn’t as detached from humanity as he claimed to be, and his trip to Mars was a flight or fight reaction. Watchmen Chapter II has a similar moment, which once again caused me to look at the story through new eyes and consider something I had never thought about before.
If you’ve read the graphic novel, seen the motion comic, or watched Zack Snyder’s film adaptation, then you’re familiar with the final act, but if not and you haven’t seen Watchmen Chapter II, consider this your one and only warning because I’m about to spoil it. Doctor Manhattan, Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Nite Owl uncover Ozymandias’ plan to unite the world through a false flag alien attack. The heroes consider exposing Ozymandias’ plot, but they’re warned that the truth will cause more bloodshed. After much consideration (and possibly looking into the future), Doctor Manhattan confirms this.
“He is correct,” Jon says. “Exposing this plot results in greater destruction on Earth. On Mars, you demonstrated life’s value. If we would preserve life here, you must remain silent.”
The way Jon’s voice actor, Michael Cerveris, delivers the line has layers. On the surface, Doctor Manhattan is speaking with the stoic and seemingly emotionless tone that he’s been using throughout the movie. However, there’s also a sense of regret in his voice. Rewind it and listen to it a few times.
It’s not easy to deliver a performance that’s both stoic and emotional at the same time, but Cerveris understands the assignment. This caused me to consider Jon’s state of mind during this moment. He’s conflicted because he wants justice for the murders Ozymandias has committed, but he knows that doing so will bring more death.
As I thought about Jon’s inner conflict, I realized something I had never thought about before—Jon likely knows about Rorschach’s journal. Remember, Rorschach mailed a copy of his journal to a publication known as the New Frontiersmen. Watchmen Chapter II ends the same way the graphic novel does, as a writer for the publication prepares to read Rorschach’s manifesto.
This is an ambiguous note that leaves the future up to our imagination. Did the public learn the truth about the squid attack, and if so, did they believe it? The 2019 Watchmen television series shows us one way those events could unfold, but that’s just one possible scenario.
In all my years reading Watchmen, it never occurred to me that Jon knew about the journal, but it makes sense. As we saw during his conversation on Mars with Laurie, his perception of time has evolved. When he agrees with Ozymandias about keeping the truth quiet, I always interpreted that scene as Jon looking into the future to confirm Ozymandias’ claim about the death toll. Surely, he would’ve seen the publication of the journal if he looked into the future.
So why didn’t he say anything?
I said this when writing about Watchmen Chapter I, but when Jon is overwhelmed with conflict, he runs and disassociates. The squid attack is simply a larger example of the trolley problem.
All right, if you’re not familiar with the trolley problem, let’s go over it quickly. The premise is that a trolley is about to run over a group of people. You can pull a lever, causing the trolley to go onto another track, but it will run over a smaller group of people. The question becomes, do you do nothing and allow more people to die, or do you save a group of people by sacrificing a smaller group?
This isn’t a philosophy class, so I won’t weigh all the moral implications here. However, Ozymandias chose to pull the lever. When faced with a similar choice, Jon decided to do nothing.
As I listened to Cerveris’ performance, I realized he was playing Doctor Manhattan as someone who was conflicted. Jon isn’t totally onboard with the plan, and I think that’s why he doesn’t do anything to stop the publication of Rorschach’s journal. He could’ve used his powers to change the journal into a book of sonnets or atomize it entirely, but that would’ve been pulling the metaphorical trolley lever.
In fact, I think that’s why Jon told Ozymandias that he was going to another galaxy. Jon knew the journal would be published and he didn’t want to be around for the aftermath. If he was there and he did nothing, he would be complicit in whatever happened next. Deep down, Jon didn’t want to face those moral dilemmas and he didn’t want the responsibility. So once again, he chose flight over fight.
But that’s just my reading. Maybe Jon wasn’t actually looking into the future when he spoke to Ozymandias. Maybe the tachyons were clouding his vision. That’s the beautiful thing about Watchmen. The story is almost forty years old and we’re still finding new ways to dissect and discuss it. And thanks to these two new animated films, we now have even more to consider.
Watchmen Chapter II is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and digital.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, “Gotham Gazette.” Follow him on X at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
[[{“value”:”Sometimes you just want to run away from your problems. In Doctor Manhattan’s case, this means going to a whole new galaxy. You can’t run much farther than that!
Watchmen Chapter II is the latest DC animated movie, and it does a great job of expanding on the source material. Don’t get me wrong, the dialogue is almost verbatim from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel, and there aren’t any new scenes. However, animation allows the story to live in a different way, which helps us view it from entirely new angles. Scenes are paced differently in an animated movie, and a voice actor’s delivery might bring new depth to a classic moment.
I discussed this when writing about Watchmen Chapter I, where I explained how the pacing of Doctor Manhattan’s television appearance caused me to look at the character in a new way. I won’t repeat all the points here, but in the end, I concluded that Jon wasn’t as detached from humanity as he claimed to be, and his trip to Mars was a flight or fight reaction. Watchmen Chapter II has a similar moment, which once again caused me to look at the story through new eyes and consider something I had never thought about before.
If you’ve read the graphic novel, seen the motion comic, or watched Zack Snyder’s film adaptation, then you’re familiar with the final act, but if not and you haven’t seen Watchmen Chapter II, consider this your one and only warning because I’m about to spoil it. Doctor Manhattan, Rorschach, Silk Spectre and Nite Owl uncover Ozymandias’ plan to unite the world through a false flag alien attack. The heroes consider exposing Ozymandias’ plot, but they’re warned that the truth will cause more bloodshed. After much consideration (and possibly looking into the future), Doctor Manhattan confirms this.
“He is correct,” Jon says. “Exposing this plot results in greater destruction on Earth. On Mars, you demonstrated life’s value. If we would preserve life here, you must remain silent.”
The way Jon’s voice actor, Michael Cerveris, delivers the line has layers. On the surface, Doctor Manhattan is speaking with the stoic and seemingly emotionless tone that he’s been using throughout the movie. However, there’s also a sense of regret in his voice. Rewind it and listen to it a few times.
It’s not easy to deliver a performance that’s both stoic and emotional at the same time, but Cerveris understands the assignment. This caused me to consider Jon’s state of mind during this moment. He’s conflicted because he wants justice for the murders Ozymandias has committed, but he knows that doing so will bring more death.
As I thought about Jon’s inner conflict, I realized something I had never thought about before—Jon likely knows about Rorschach’s journal. Remember, Rorschach mailed a copy of his journal to a publication known as the New Frontiersmen. Watchmen Chapter II ends the same way the graphic novel does, as a writer for the publication prepares to read Rorschach’s manifesto.
This is an ambiguous note that leaves the future up to our imagination. Did the public learn the truth about the squid attack, and if so, did they believe it? The 2019 Watchmen television series shows us one way those events could unfold, but that’s just one possible scenario.
In all my years reading Watchmen, it never occurred to me that Jon knew about the journal, but it makes sense. As we saw during his conversation on Mars with Laurie, his perception of time has evolved. When he agrees with Ozymandias about keeping the truth quiet, I always interpreted that scene as Jon looking into the future to confirm Ozymandias’ claim about the death toll. Surely, he would’ve seen the publication of the journal if he looked into the future.
So why didn’t he say anything?
I said this when writing about Watchmen Chapter I, but when Jon is overwhelmed with conflict, he runs and disassociates. The squid attack is simply a larger example of the trolley problem.
All right, if you’re not familiar with the trolley problem, let’s go over it quickly. The premise is that a trolley is about to run over a group of people. You can pull a lever, causing the trolley to go onto another track, but it will run over a smaller group of people. The question becomes, do you do nothing and allow more people to die, or do you save a group of people by sacrificing a smaller group?
This isn’t a philosophy class, so I won’t weigh all the moral implications here. However, Ozymandias chose to pull the lever. When faced with a similar choice, Jon decided to do nothing.
As I listened to Cerveris’ performance, I realized he was playing Doctor Manhattan as someone who was conflicted. Jon isn’t totally onboard with the plan, and I think that’s why he doesn’t do anything to stop the publication of Rorschach’s journal. He could’ve used his powers to change the journal into a book of sonnets or atomize it entirely, but that would’ve been pulling the metaphorical trolley lever.
In fact, I think that’s why Jon told Ozymandias that he was going to another galaxy. Jon knew the journal would be published and he didn’t want to be around for the aftermath. If he was there and he did nothing, he would be complicit in whatever happened next. Deep down, Jon didn’t want to face those moral dilemmas and he didn’t want the responsibility. So once again, he chose flight over fight.
But that’s just my reading. Maybe Jon wasn’t actually looking into the future when he spoke to Ozymandias. Maybe the tachyons were clouding his vision. That’s the beautiful thing about Watchmen. The story is almost forty years old and we’re still finding new ways to dissect and discuss it. And thanks to these two new animated films, we now have even more to consider.
Watchmen Chapter II is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and digital.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, “Gotham Gazette.” Follow him on X at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.”}]]
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