Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show; I’m your host, Paul, aka Multi-paul – a sort of Dupli-Kate joke there for fans of the comics. In this video, we’re breaking down Episode 4 of “Invincible.”
Throughout this, we’re going to be discussing the Easter eggs, major comic book differences, and our thoughts on where things could be going.
Now, I am going to try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, but due to discussing some of the changes, there may be some things that hint towards what’s happening in the show. I won’t reveal any of the major twists, but if you’re someone who likes to go into stuff completely blind, you might want to dive out now.
With that out of the way, thank you for clicking this; now let’s get into Episode 4 of “Invincible.”
INVINCIBLE EPISODE 4 BREAKDOWN
OK, so the episode itself has some big deviations from the source material, and I was actually surprised early on at how much things changed. While the Mars chapter is pretty much the central part of Issue 18, outside of that, there are some really cool change-ups that make it so you can’t really predict what’s coming, even if you do know the work.
We start off in Egypt and see a shady figure with a scarab tattoo on his hand approaching an excavation site. This scene isn’t in the comics at all, so whether it’s a gag or setting up things for the future, we don’t know yet. At this dig, they’ve unearthed the tomb of an ancient mummified godlike creature who will bring great suffering to the world. This moment is clearly a play on not only films involving the mummy, but I also feel that it’s aping Apocalypse from the X-Men franchise. Apocalypse was thought to bring forth… well, the Apocalypse, and this supervillain sprung from ancient Egypt on the world. The movie “X-Men: Apocalypse” features his resurrection, and though this one is cut short due to the tomb slamming shut on their head, expect to see some change-ups for this.
Whether this pays off in the future, we don’t know, but the episode is filled with foreshadowing, and a lot of this comes as we join Mark and his father flying across the Sahara.
Mark flies too close to the ground, causing a sandstorm to arise, which is later repeated on Mars when he does something similar.
Beyond that, the pair travel to Mount Everest, where they have a father-and-son moment.
Not to get too spoilery, but I’m sure you can already surmise that Mark and his father will probably end up fighting at some point. In Issue 12 of the comics, the pair end up fighting in a snowy landscape, which is where the fight culminates, and I feel that this father-and-son moment will be repeated later on in the season but with the pair at each other’s throats.
Nolan brings up that humans don’t appreciate how beautiful the planet is, which justifies the mentality he possesses that he should control it and decide what they do and don’t do. This is very much reflected in the speech in which he talks about Viltrum and how they as a race have ended many wars across the universe.
In Nolan’s eyes, they have brought peace, but as we get further into the series, we learn that the World Betterment Committee had some nefarious dealings. Nolan is an orphan who lost his parents, and he states that his wife, Debbie, turned Earth from a job into a home. Throughout this episode, we see their relationship far more fleshed out than it is in the comics and also get the feeling that Nolan is wrestling with choosing his duty over his family. The pair also race home, and Nolan wins even though Mark has a head start, cementing that he’s far more skilled than his son is.
Elsewhere, we join Deborah and Olga, the wife of Red Rush, who is furious that her husband’s killer has not been found. Debbie, being a real estate agent, agrees to sell her house. However, Olga carries a warning that everything isn’t going to be sunshine and rainbows like their husbands promised, and this clearly itches away at Deb.
She returns home and searches for Damian Darkblood, and it’s clear that the series is taking him in a brand new direction. I didn’t even really mention him that much in the breakdown last week because, in the comics, he’s pretty much the butt of a joke. Damian is enlisted to get to the bottom of who killed the Guardians, and it becomes public knowledge exactly what happened. He then shows up down the line, saying he’s cracked the case, but at this point, the entire world knows.
Voiced by Clancy Brown, this cross between Hellboy and The Question has a lot more to do in this story, and he very much surmises early on that Nolan is involved.
Nolan grows angry at him throughout the episode and worried that he’s going to give the game away, Cecil ends up exorcising him and sending him back to hell.
Now Darkblood makes it clear that he’ll return, but it’s obvious that Nolan and Cecil will be butting heads throughout the series.
The show also brings in a brand new character in the form of Shrinking Rae, who has the power to… well, shrink. They’re somewhat of an analogue to Ant-Man and can get into places that others can’t. This really opens up the possibilities, and though they’re not in the comics, I’m excited to see where things could be going with them.
INVINCIBLE EPISODE 4 ENDING EXPLAINED
There’s also a plotline involving Robot freeing the Mauler twins in order to get a sample of Rex’s blood. This differs from the comics where the Mauler twins break out themselves, and it hints towards the big change-up that’s going to happen with the character down the line.
There are also a lot of hints that Atom Eve is going to be leaving the team soon, and we see the breakdown of her and Rex’s relationship.
Amber and Mark’s relationship continues to grow, though he does have to leave her high and dry to go to Mars.
On the red planet, we get introduced to the Sequids, which are somewhat of a riff on the Venom symbiotes. They need a host to survive, and if they get to Earth, it could mean the end of humanity. This is a big part of the storyline in the comics, and here they’ve introduced it much earlier than I expected.
However, I don’t think that they’re going to go the same way with it, as the show seems to be setting up its own path.
Lastly, we have the title cards, which are getting bloodier and bloodier as the episodes go on. This is a nice little nod to how the series is going to get far darker, and though it’s a small thing, I appreciate the attention to detail.
Anyway, that’s the video; I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please drop a thumbs-up, and make sure you subscribe to the channel with notifications on so you don’t miss our breakdown of Episode 5.
I’ve been Paul, aka the guy who can’t watch a Martian scene without thinking of Marvin the Martian – that’s all folks!
Peace.
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