Crisis On Two Earths is the best superhero movie in the multiverse

The multiverse is not complete science fiction. Its existence is of course unproven, but it has a theoretical basis in real quantum physics. The wave function (the mathematical expression for a quantum system, which can provide the probability of where to find the particle) is said to “collapse” after a final measurement is made. The “many-worlds interpretation”, pioneered by physicist Hugh Everett, proposes instead that when a quantum system is measured, everyone Possible measurements play out across many universes.

compare Schrödinger’s cat thought experimentIt itself derives from the idea of ​​quantification; If you put a cat in a locked box, there’s no way to be sure if the animal is alive or dead, so technically, it’s both and neither.

Experts have noticed How seeing the world this way creates some horrific philosophical implications; As individuals and as a collective for all of humanity, we cherish our uniqueness. If every permutation of “we” existed on one plane of existence, this uniqueness would be eliminated. This is the origin of Ullmann’s nihilism, even though he defines reality as a bifurcation that depends on people’s choices, not on the behavior of particles (this He is Character-driven novel).

“Every decision we make is meaningless because somewhere, on a parallel Earth, we have already made the opposite choice,” Ullman explains. “We are nothing. Less than nothing.” His analysis is not wrong in itself. He’s coldly rational under a certain lens. But you’d have to be pretty immoral to conclude that this makes human life “meaningless” – and that’s what Owlman is, so he wants to destroy the original “Earth-Prime”, believing that this will lead to the collapse of all other realities. “The only action one can take that has any purpose,” he calls it, because the destruction of all reality is the only decision that could not have happened in the opposite way in another world.

Woods gives a chilling performance as Owlman; Quiet and sinister, the opposite of his more famous voice role as the talkative Hades in Hercules. On the other hand, “Crisis On Two Earths” would have benefited from casting Kevin Conroy as Batman again, rather than replacement Billy Baldwin, as this would have given Batman and Owlman’s already great battle an extra boost.

I can hear Conroy delivering Batman’s lines to Ullman so clearly in my mind, especially his farewell: “There’s a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when he looked back at us… I blinked.” Both men faced despair, but only one succumbed to it.

Ullman’s character He is Batman is a villain, yes, but he’s deeper than just the novelty of having the Dark Knight as a villain; It represents a foil to Batman’s spirit of will and determination that one person can make a difference. Owlman would rather destroy everything than live with the “illusion of free will,” while Batman sees the world for all it is, dark and light, and strives to make it better by believing that others, even his enemies, can. He is better. If there’s anything “Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths” teaches us, it’s that we are all the sum of our distinct choices.