As if two of the most confusing TV shows of all time could get more confusing. They both have a character with the exact same name. The Man In Black from Lost is an immortal guy who has only ever existed on the Island. The Man In Black from Westworld is a brutal, frequent visitor of Westworld.
We’ve compared the best aspects of each character in an attempt to determine which series wins. Considering that this is Lost and Westworld we’re talking about, expect a lot of confusion to follow.
LOST: He’s Made Of Smoke
This is a simple one. The Man In Black from Lost is literally made of smoke. He might have been born in human form, but his primary form was that of a huge cloud of black smoke. The special effects the show had access to didn’t really do his first appearances much justice, but it’s still a very unique concept.
The fact that Lost introduced this cloud of smoke so early on and didn’t reveal what its existence meant or even was for five seasons is one of the few commendable points left in a show that really took its audience astray in the latter seasons.
WESTWORLD: He Was The Best Season One Twist
Season one of Westworld was incredibly confusing, but nothing in comparison to season two. As such, we could still make sense of the storylines we were being presented with, and the twists were able to impact us because we understood them.
The finale was absolutely full of twists and turns coming from every corner, but the very best of them all was the revelation that William was The Man In Black of the past. We first saw William as a new visitor, while The Man In Black was a rich veteran and almost the polar opposite of William’s character. Incredible.
LOST: He Could Become Other People
Another pretty cool power the smoke monster (AKA Smokey) has is that he can turn himself into an exact replica of dead people who make it to the island. As such, Jack Shepard saw his father roaming around a fair few times
Little did he know, this was just Smokey possessing him. He did the same with his own previous form, Alex Rousseau and, most notably, John Locke throughout the entirety of season six.
WESTWORLD: He Owns Westworld
Another revelation that came in the season one finale is that The Man In Black is actually the majority shareholder. This means that the entire time in which we’ve seen him scouring the park and doing as he pleases, being left alone by those running it is because it is his. In the dramatic reveal, we also get the first hint that The Man In Black knew William and that they are one and the same.
LOST: He Was Immortal
If you’ve seen the very last episode of Lost, then you’ll know that The Man In Black had his immortality stripped eventually. However, for a good few thousands of years, he was unable to die.
This meant he could repel bullets, survive being stabbed by Sayid without even feeling pain, and had immunity to explosions. This is a power that Westworld’s version of the character certainly doesn’t have, as we’ve seen him feel pain a fair few times.
WESTWORLD: He Tried To Dig Deeper Into The Park
Everyone else around him was entering the park in order to live out creepy fantasies that they can’t take advantage of in the real world. They could kill and hunt and torture and rape without any consequences.
While The Man In Black had a very concerning addiction to violence, he was the one to take things further. He wanted to unlock the secrets of the park and did so by scalping a host and finding a particularly enticing map within.
LOST: He Could Enter Dreams
Things got a little crazy in the later seasons of Lost. It started out as a very cool island-survival show with a creepy, subtle layer of fantasy and suspense related to something supernatural that we didn’t quite understand.
When the time travel and alternate realities got involved, it all got a bit crazy. This was first hinted at by The Man In Black’s ability to enter dreams and influence people. He managed to confront both Mr. Eko and Ben Linus through a dream-like state, which, you can’t deny, is a very cool power to have.
WESTWORLD: He Has A Huge Kill List
The violence of Westworld seems to have been overshadowed by its incredible complexity. The show is so hard to understand at times that during a more simple fight scene, you’re left thinking about what was just said instead of focusing on the battle at hand.
The Man In Black from Lost has an extremely long kill-list that we probably didn’t even see 1% of, but he has the advantage of being immortal. Westworld’s version of the character has killed hundreds of hosts, as well as six (as far as we know) humans.
LOST: He Was Technically A Roman
The time travel element of Lost is probably the thing that lost it most of its critical favor and a large amount of its viewership. However, it did mean we could be taken to a lot of existing, remote places.
One of those adventures through time saw us land in the Roman era, where The Man In Black was born on the Island after his mother’s shipwreck. He didn’t exactly act like a Roman, but it was still interesting to explore such a distant time period in such an otherwise-modern show.
WESTWORLD: He Might Be A Host
This is a difficult one to pinpoint because, given the complexity and Westworld and the very nature of the existence of the hosts, the concept of aging and the timeline itself are very much impossible to judge at times. However, the ending of season two may have provided us with an incredible twist about the character.
The Man In Black is brought into the apartment that James Delos’ host-human hybrid was being tested in, and The Man In Black’s daughter (who he thought he had recently killed) pretty much reveals to him that he is a host who follows the same path and is also being tested. The showrunners have had to step in and explain that this is in the ‘far, far future’ so it’s impossible for us to know when/if The Man In Black really is/was/will be a host.