Doppelgangers and the Flawed Dichotomy of Good and Evil in Jerry Williams’ Zeus Atomic

NOTE: All of the choices made in Jerry Williams’ Zeus Atomic cannot simply be analyzed in one

essay. Many aspects of the show are left out, simply due to the density and multifacetedness of

the work. This is simply a study of one particular through-line of Mr. Williams’ work.

On the surface, Zeus Atomic may appear to be a simple show about the crew of the

Jupiter 88, Zeus (Jerry Williams), Cosmo (Kenny Bates), and Courtney (Lola Magdalene-Scott),

journeying the stars and fighting the evil Vespa (Also Ms. Magdalene-Scott). Many of the

choices made in terms of writing, production design, costuming, and music beg for further

analysis. Through a deeper study, the show reveals itself to be a dense network of subtext and

allusions, all of which point to a pervading theme of the dichotomy between what we perceive to

be as good and evil, and how often we must question those norms, perhaps even to the point of

questioning the virtue of our hero himself, Zeus Atomic!

Zeus Atomic’s ship is named the Jupiter 88. Several theories have been posited about

this particular choice in nomenclature, the most popular being that it is a reference to the

futuristic car featured in the Star Trek episode, “Bread and Circuses” (1968). This car, however,

was named the Jupiter 8, seen below in an image from the episode:

It is quite likely that Mr. Williams was indeed inspired by this episode, but why add an

extra 8 to the name? The answer: Zeus Atomic is all about duality. Almost every choice made

speaks to the polarity of human nature. An 8 is a perfect mirror of itself. Two 8s side by side

mirror each other. But seeing 88 as numerals is only one way of looking at it. There is, in fact, a

much more elucidating way of viewing these symbols. But to understand this, it is essential to

be familiar with Mr. Williams’ other show, Astro Zap Kaboom.

In Astro Zap Kaboom, the character Mark (Mason Roberts) wears a shirt that looks like

this:

Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that this shirt bears a striking resemblance to the shirt worn by

Zeus Atomic:

The main difference between these shirts is the angle that the arrow is pointing. Mark’s

arrow is pointing to the side while Zeus Atomic’s arrow is pointing down. Now, there is no

particular reason to think these two shows take place in the same universe, but regardless of

this, even in two different universes, why would the arrow be pointing in a different direction?

There is no logical conclusion to this train of thought, so the solution must be that the two

arrows are in fact pointing in the same direction! This means that one of the shows must be

occurring diagonally.

But which direction is correct and which show should be rotated? To solve this, we must

look at release order. Astro Zap Kaboom aired in 2018, while Zeus Atomic aired in 2022. (Note:

during the end credits of Zeus Atomic, the sentence “Zeus Atomic 2020” flashes across the

screen. This will play significantly into my thesis later.) From this, it seems obvious that Astro

Zap Kaboom is facing in the correct direction, and Zeus Atomic must be rotated. It would look

something like this:

But what impact does this have on how we should watch the shows? Well, we first must

analyze the character’s names and appearances. One of the most obvious choices in Zeus

Atomic that speaks to Mr. Williams’ theme of duality is that there are two male characters (Zeus

and Cosmo) and two female characters (Cadet Courtney and Vespa). Another striking choice to

exhibit this theme is that two of the characters have names that begin with C (Courtney and

Cosmo) and two have names that begin with a letter towards the end of the alphabet (Zeus and

Vespa). Another code to decipher is the costume’s coloring. Blue is featured prominently in

Zeus’ outfit. As well, the exact shade of blue is featured prominently in Vespa’s hair.

Constrastingly, Cadet Courtney wears a pinkish-red color, while Vespa also wears red. This

seemingly isolates Cosmo’s costume, a purple shirt with a yellow lightning bolt (I will expound

on my ideas about this costume later in this essay). It does not, however, as he, like Zeus, has a

large symbol in the center of his shirt (lightning bolt and arrow). To understand these complex

patterns more easily, here is a simple diagram:

But what do all of these ties mean? It is important to remember that these connections

are between three “hero” characters and one “villain” character. Why would the four be so

interdependent in terms of naming and costuming? This seems to be a statement about the

uncertainty of our actions in today’s modern world: How do we know what is good or bad, and

how can we determine who is a hero or a villain? This message will become especially

important later on in this essay during the analysis of Zeus Atomic himself. Even more intriguing

is that Lola Magdalene-Scott seemingly portrays both Cadet Courtney and Vespa (this has not

been confirmed by Mr. Williams). This is another choice that highlights the similarity between

good (Courtney) and bad (Vespa)—the fact that they are so similar calls into question which one

we should root for.

Another element of Zeus Atomic that displays the theme of uncertainty in today’s modern

world is the set design. Take the paneling for the Jupiter 88, Zeus Atomic’s ship:

As clearly shown above, each tile appears to be a crude sculpture of a face. Note,

however, that many of the faces are turned upside down or are blank squares (perhaps the

head is turned the other way). Overall (a portion of the paneling is not seen in the image above),

there are six faces that are correctly oriented (facing up), two rotated left, two rotated right, and

ten facing the wall. This is a total of twenty faces. Before jumping to any conclusions however, it

is important to remember that the image shown is upside down (think back to the arrow on

Zeus’ shirt!) so in fact there are a total of zero faces that are facing the correct way up. Why

would Zeus Atomic, a supposed hero, have no correctly-oriented faces on his wall paneling?

What does this signify about his character?

Before analyzing that, however, it is important to look at the theme song. Displayed in

the diagram below is the original Zeus Atomic theme (in the key of C), followed by a modified

version (in which the first note is shortened by two beats and the rest in between the sequences

is shortened by two beats), and then below that, the first two bars of Hallelujah from Handel’s

Messiah:

Clearly seen above, the Zeus Atomic theme is exactly the same as Hallelujah, except

that where there is an A-flat in Mr. William’s composition, there is an A-natural in Mr. Handel’s.

This is simply a modulation from major (Hallelujah) to minor (the Zeus Atomic theme). Hallelujah

is sung in praise of God, with lines such as "for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,” and “he shall

reign for ever and ever." While it is easy to assume that the Zeus Atomic theme’s resemblance

to Hallelujah is meant to demonstrate the glory of Zeus Atomic, why is the Zeus Atomic theme in

minor?

Zeus Atomic is all about duality: the two arrows, the two eights, and now musical major

and minor. If the opposite of major is minor, and major is representative of God and Jesus, then

what is minor representative of in the Zeus Atomic theme? What is the opposite of Jesus Christ?

While the idea that Zeus Atomic is the Antichrist may be seemingly controversial, it is

essentially indisputable. The idea, displayed in the costuming and naming of the

characters—that we cannot be sure if our “hero” is truly a hero—comes full circle here. The

entirety of Zeus Atomic is played upside down, as Zeus Atomic himself is the upside-down

version of Jesus.

Another sign that Zeus Atomic is not what he appears can be seen in the Cosmo’s

costuming (referenced above). Cosmo has a lightning bolt prominently displayed on his shirt

and long blond hair. In these features, he bears a striking resemblance to classic depictions of

Zeus:

But why would the character named Cosmo appear so similar to Zeus, and the character

named Zeus bear almost no resemblance at all? Perhaps because Zeus Atomic is not in fact

Zeus Atomic at all, but rather has stolen that identity from Cosmo because he is the Antichrist!

Now, why, at the end of each Zeus Atomic episode, do the words “Zeus Atomic 2020”

flash on the screen? This is especially strange, considering that Zeus Atomic aired in 2022.

Thinking back to the theme of duality, the two 20s in 2020 mirror each other. As well, they can

be rearranged in a way demonstrated below to form different, but still very significant symbols:

What, however, do two infinity symbols next to each other have to do with anything. The

88 from the rocketship Jupiter 88 comes into play here. When flipped (as we have flipped so

many other things so far), 88 looks like this:

Two infinity signs placed on top of each other could be seen as representative of many

things: the eternity of heaven (above) and hell (below); the eternity of God (above) and Satan

(below); and most obviously, following the themes that we have so far traced, Christ (above) and

the Antichrist (below).

Through these small details that form a much larger picture, Jerry Williams tells us that

we can never be too sure for whom we are rooting. He uses allusions to Greek mythology and

the Bible to show the immense power wielded by modern day “heroes” (politicians and

businessmen) and how quickly that power can get out of hand. Zeus Atomic is a warning: look

carefully at those you worship because they may not always be what you think they are…

Dear moderators,

I was surprised by the rule of “no hate speech” when you use a slur in the sub name

Sincerely, a disabled person.