Watchmen Reveals Why Angela Became Sister Night

Watchmen has finally lifted the lid on what inspired Angela’s Sister Night persona. Following the latest episode of Watchmen, discussion was dominated by the massive Dr. Manhattan twist that sprung out in the final scene, taking most of the audience completely by surprise. However, some vital information was revealed long before that famous blue glow gave way to the end credits. Over the past two episodes, Watchmen has been a flashback heavy affair, and after Angela gobbled down her father’s nostalgia pills, she experienced memories from past decades which explained the origin of the 7th Kavalry and Hooded Justice. This week, she delved into her own past as a child growing up in U.S. occupied Vietnam.

So far, Watchmen has revealed that Angela began as a routine police officer until the White Night occurred; an incident in alternate 2016 where white supremacists attacked police officers in their homes on Christmas morning. This sparked a city-wide scheme whereby police officers were allowed to wear masks and conceal their identity. Officially, Angela retired from the police to start a bakery (that never opened) and this cover story extended to her children. In truth, Angela became a vigilante police officer under the title of Sister Night, a dark clothed, hooded hero with a nun motif. One missing piece of Angela Abar’s character, however, is the reasoning behind the Sister Night costume and alter ego. Batman has his fear of bats, Superman has his Kryptonian homage and Captain America has his stars and stripes. But what’s Sister Night’s story?

This mystery was answered in “An Almost Religious Awe.” While growing up in Vietnam, a young Angela is seen renting out VHS tapes from a local store, but has a preference for violent films unsuitable for her age group. Unsurprisingly, Angela’s parents always make her return the movies before she can watch them. One of Angela’s favorites is a picture titled “Sister Night,” which boasts the tagline “the nun with the motherf**king gun.” More significantly, the lead character bears a striking resemblance to Angela’s future vigilante. The nun costume is more overt, but the face paint, black and white color scheme and rosary beads are consistent throughout both.

However, the reasoning behind Angela’s inspiration goes deeper than just copying the lead character of her favorite movie. Firstly, renting “Sister Night” actually saved Angela’s life. After being told by her father that masked heroes were dangerous and to return the tape to the store, a young Angela crosses to the other side of the street just in time to see her parents attacked by a suicide bomber. Although the incident was undoubtedly traumatic, Angela herself would’ve been caught up in the explosion too, were it not for Sister Night. Not only does this explain why Angela chooses the persona, it proves her father’s opinion on vigilantes wrong – they aren’t dangerous, they saved his daughter’s life. Potentially, this realization paved the way for Angela to put a mask on in the first place.

Angela’s superhero origin story is also in keeping with the overall theme of Watchmen. Racial discrimination has been at the very core of Damon Lindelof’s HBO sequel series, informing every major reveal and story beat. It’s perhaps fitting that Angela’s Sister Night persona come from a movie within the so-called “Blaxploitation” genre. This 1970s trend was somewhat of a double-edged sword for race relations in the U.S. On one hand, the movies featured black actors at a time when lead roles were hard to come by in mainstream cinema, and the films catered directly to an African-American audience. On the other, Blaxploitation films perpetuated the harmful racial stereotypes of the era and many campaigned for the genre to be brought to an end. It feels strangely appropriate that Angela would be inspired by a historically controversial phenomenon when Watchmen‘s entire ethos is to demonstrate how racism is still prevalent in the modern day.

Watchmen continues with “A God Walks Into Abar” December 8th on HBO.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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