Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show. I’m your host, Paul, aka the guy that couldn’t think of a witty intro, so we’re just skipping over it and getting right into our breakdown of Invincible.
The first three episodes have just dropped on Amazon Prime Video, and throughout this video, we’re going to be breaking down all the story, easter eggs, and the way the book handles things differently.
BREAKING DOWN INVINCIBLE’S FIRST EPISODES
Robert Kirkman recently stopped by Kevin Smith’s podcast, Fatman Beyond, to promote the show, and he said that because he wrote the original when he was about 23, he’d come up with a lot of new ways to handle the storyline, and those changes are clear from the start.
I’ve recently been a bit of an Omni-man myself and gone through the Omnibus, and I was surprised to see how differently things were handled. One of my big criticisms about the work is that things come very easy for Invincible early on. Though this sets up the big plot development that I won’t spoil here, the first three episodes definitely put way more roadblocks in Mark Grayson’s way, and it also introduces several characters far earlier than they appear in the source material.
Now we open on two security guards at the White House discussing superhuman evasion training before the conversation moves to one of their step-sons. This guy talks about going to London with his boy Matt, and the introduction of episode 1 and 2 mirror each other quite a lot. Similar to what we see here, we get two people talking about family in front of a famous building that switches from the White House to Buckingham Palace.
We learn that Matt has had a rough time, and it’s clear that his step-dad cares about him greatly, even though they disagree on certain things. This father-and-son relationship is very much going to be mirrored in Nolan and Mark, who will have to tackle their differences the further we get into the story.
Unfortunately, this touching intro is broken up by the arrival of the Mauler Twins… or rather clones. Though they look like your typical super thugs, the pair have a genius-level IQ, and this has allowed them to master several things such as cloning. Now throughout the work, the pair constantly argue about who the original really is, and every time they pop up, it gets more entertaining. Come the end of the episodes, there’s actually a big change-up where one of the twins uses the other as a shield, which leads to his death. This is completely absent in the book, so it’s going to be interesting to see whether he returns or not.
Now here to save the day are the Guardians of the Globe, a Justice League parody whose name plays on the Guardians of the Galaxy.
In the source material, they don’t actually appear until episode 7, and they’re introduced in the scene in which we see them being called together by Omni-man.
Among their members are Dark Wing, a Batman parody, Red Rush who is the Flash, War Woman and Martian Man, as well as the funniest Aquaman Parody I’ve ever seen.
Now I love actually getting to see these in action, as in the comics, they get taken out almost immediately after we meet them. Here we get to see them in action, and the animation, which is handled by the same team that does a lot of the DC animated films, is stellar.
It perfectly sets up that there are heroes on Earth and also leads into why Omni-man does what he does. Now their backs are against the ropes until he shows up, and it seems like he’s Earth’s perfect protector.
Now one thing I always wondered with the character is whether he was purposely supposed to resemble J Jonah Jameson or not. My itch over this has been made even worse by the fact that he’s now voiced by JK Simmons, who of course played him in the Spider-man movies.
As for Omni-man, in the first couple of issues of the comic, HE informs us that he’s from a planet known as Viltrum, which possesses a highly advanced civilization. The people of the planet are very much gods, and throughout the universe, they have sent their scouts to be the protectors of peace and justice. Throughout the work, we learn more about Viltrum and their overall plans in the galaxy that I think a lot of people are going to love who are coming into the show with fresh eyes.
The older Viltrumites are, the slower they age, and on Earth, Omni-man adopted the name Nolan and became a best-selling author. With his wife Debbie, voiced by Sandra Oh, they’ve raised their son Mark, voiced by Steven Yeun. The family, known as the Graysons, are of course named after Batman’s sidekick Dick, and Mark himself even looks like him in several ways.
Now we are introduced to Mark reading a comic called Seance Dog, who we learn is a master of the metaphysical arts. When we see it in a poster (29:30 roughly), it does look like it’s wearing a Doctor Strange costume, so he’s definitely tied in with that. I’m guessing he’s sort of playing on Krypto and Ghost Dog too, and ey, we want more Seance Dog.
Waiting for his powers to manifest, he’s lived a pretty normal life aside from having a superpowered father.
In school, Mark wants to stand up and do the right thing, and he attempts to get a bully named Todd from harassing a girl named Amber. This goes badly, and he gets the crap kicked out of him. Now why I was talking about how easy he has it in the work is because when Todd first fights him in that, he already has his powers, and it’s very one-sided.
The same thing happens at Burger Mart, and Mark just quits his job, no questions asked, which doesn’t even annoy his father. I’m glad they took the time to properly put obstacles in his way so it’s not just an easy ride.
Now similar to the book, Mark discovers he has powers when taking out the trash at Burger Mart, and he learns to fly with his dad. Initially in the work, his powers were thought to be solar-based, similar to Superman’s, however, he can operate fine without being powered up by a sun, making him far superior.
Upon returning home, Nolan states that he kinda wishes Mark hadn’t gotten powers at all, as this complicates things. Clearly, he now has more of an attachment and knows the perils his son will face, but if you’ve read the book, then you’ll understand why this talk is important.
I’ll stop just glossing over stuff like that though and focus more on the initial episodes that we get.
Now school life is very much kept separate from the powers side of things, as in the original work, there was actually a plot involving a teacher that was kidnapping students and strapping explosives to them. Todd tries to beat up Mark, and when this fails, the latter realizes that he needs something to punch. Donning a homemade costume, he travels out to stop some bank robbers that are in league with a supervillain called Titan, who’s voiced by Mahershala Ali.
Titan is basically Johnny Storm but with rock powers instead of fire, and he even encases his body in stone by saying ‘Rock On.’
This entire scene is taken directly from the comics, and it’s an awesome first fight for the character against someone that will be popping up later down the line.
Shortly after his father takes him to a superhero costume designer named Art Rosenbaum, who’s voiced by Mark Hamill. He wants to hook him up with an iconic costume, but first, he needs a name from Mark. Now I absolutely love how throughout the show, the first time that Invincible is said in an episode that it leads into the title screen with it getting bloodier and bloodier.
Hopefully, the gorier it gets, the more this does too, as it’s an awesome way to keep us engaged with the title.
At home, Mark’s mother, Debbie, says that she feels a bit left behind because he’s starting to become more like his father. A big thing that Mark will likely wrestle with throughout the series is which parent he is most like, and in the book, we do see variations on the character in other dimensions who have taken on different paths.
With his father, the pair play catch around the world, and this father and son moment is pretty much lifted directly from the comic. I love how it shows that the pair do have similarities with humans, but in terms of scope, they’re far above what mortal men are capable of.
It’s at this point that Mark gains the name Invincible, and whether this is true or not is something that is constantly put to the test with the character.
Mark has his first flight in the new costume, and this involves him going stratospheric and he goes outside of the earth before returning to the planet to glide through the vast skyscrapers of his home.
This joy is quickly cut short though when a supervillain attacks, and Mark takes down his first bad guy in his new persona.
Cut to what I’m calling the credits scene, and we see a part that is lifted directly from the comics. As mentioned earlier, this is how the Guardians Of The Globe are introduced, and we see them being called together before they’re brutally murdered by Omni-Man.
I absolutely love how Red Rush talks about how because he’s so fast, even small conversations feel like agony, and it’s difficult to keep his attention. This is something that Barry Allen has also wrestled with, and across the globe, we see Immortal taking on a villain who is similar to the Vulture from Spider-man. In the comics, we learn that he actually has cancer, much like the vulture did, but Immortal doesn’t web him up and instead just tosses him into space.
Aquarus’ home of Atlantis also seems to be based on the Gungan city in the Phantom Menace, and it seems like he just sits about waiting for stuff to happen. Jump to War Woman, and we see her as the CEO of a company, which is something that DC has done with Diana Prince from time to time. In the comics, this scene showed her with her girlfriend, and the pair were attacked by the God Of War, who was obviously playing on Ares.
The team unites at their base, and we realize they’ve been summoned by Omni-Man, who shows up and absolutely annihilates them. This over-the-top gory scene is amazing, and they managed to recapture the feel of the comics perfectly, while also taking things almost above that with just how brutal Nolan becomes.
I loved watching Red Rush trying to punch him as his head was crushed, and it lets us know instantly that this wasn’t your typical superhero cartoon.
INVINCIBLE: EASTER EGGS AND BOOK COMPARISONS
Now a big difference to the book is that Omni-Man remains with the bodies of the Guardians, whereas in the source material, he flees. This makes the government start to investigate the character, but here it’s clear straight away that they know something could be off with the circumstances.
The Immortal is beheaded, but as I’m sure you can guess from his name, he can be resurrected, and this is why we see his body being sealed and taken off in Episode 2.
Here we see the other side of Matt and his step-dad’s trip as the pair visit London and also discuss tyranny and the Queen. Matt’s dad states that though the old lady looks sweet, she actually comes from a long line of tyrants, and this is, of course, reflected in Omni-Man, who seems like a good guy but clearly has a darker side to him.
The Burger Mart trash bag Mark tossed too shows up at this point, and it segues beautifully into the cleanup of the Guardians Of The Globe.
Now it’s at this point that we’re introduced to Cecil Stedman, who shows up way earlier in the story than he did in the comics. Stedman, voiced by Walton Goggins, is the head of the Guardians, and he’s such a high-ranking member of society that the CIA don’t even know that he exists. He has a teleportation device that apparently costs the taxpayer millions of dollars every time he uses it, and he becomes very much the person that sets the missions for Mark.
Deb is worried that Nolan hasn’t come home, and this is sort of reordered from the comics as he actually got trapped in the dimension that he does at the end of the episode, which caused a lot of her anxiety. Here though it’s because he’s recovering from the attack on the Guardians, but I do appreciate how they changed things up.
With Omni-Man and The Guardians looking a little worse for wear, Mark goes and takes them on, and we learn that in our world that they age rapidly. This makes them call off the invasion, but they do return throughout the series to try and invade the planet.
Now through this action scene, we’re introduced to the Team Teen, a play on the Teen Titans. Headed up by Rexplode, their members include Duplikate, Robot, and Atom Eve who becomes a big character in the series.
Eve is one of the most powerful heroes in the Image Comics universe, and she has the ability to rearrange matter at a molecular level. However, because she’s just a pretty girl that occasionally shoots pink lights out of her hands, that’s all she’s really seen as. Even in high school, she’s not recognized, and the series very much follows her as she gains her independence.
Dating Rexplode, the character is cheated on and really is put through the ringer, and she’s probably my favorite character in the series.
A love triangle sort of develops between her and Mark and Amber, which too reflects the journey with his parents. He has someone he could live a superpowered lifestyle with or a more grounded person that will bring a better focus to his humanity.
Now Mark’s personal life definitely takes a bigger focus in this episode, but we also see more action too when another invasion happens.
In the comics, we learned that in their own dimension, the aliens had actually had the equivalent of thirty years in which they could work out the kinks in their rapid aging on Earth. They now have bracelets which counter this, but Invincible and the Teen Team manage to take them out.
Nolan comes out of his coma, and above the house, he and Mark practice fighting. Cecil comes in and informs them that a threat to Earth has returned. Over the decades an attacker known as Allen The Alien has arrived to take on Earth’s best champion in order to test their defenses. Typically Omniman has handled this; however, Mark has been given the job this time, and he actually talks it out with him.
We discover that he Allen was actually assigned to Urath and not Earth, and he goes back to his people embarrassed. He does return later in the show, to fill in one of the bigger mysteries, so keep an eye out for the guy, and shoutouts to Seth Rogen for doing the voice.
The invaders return once more, but this time they’re beaten by Omniman, who travels into the dimension with them to destroy from the inside. Debbie is no longer worried by him being missing, and she has accepted that he’s going to be okay. In the Flaxxons dimension, Omniman says, ‘you don’t understand, Earth isn’t YOURS to conquer,’ and if you know how things go, then you’ll understand why this line has so much importance.
Nolan spends months there wrecking shop, and the Flaxxons open a portal for him to return home in.
Back on Earth, it’s become public knowledge that the Guardians Of The Globe are dead.
Cut to episode 3, and we see a ceremony for the group that’s headed up by Omniman. I was kinda gutted that Savage Dragon from Image Comics didn’t show up here as he did in the source material, but I guess they’re just trying to keep the universe streamlined.
This develops into their funeral, and we see as Nolan gives a touching eulogy on them that describes their lives, which are heavily linked with their DC comic book counterparts. This includes Martian Man, who was ousted by his own people, and War Woman, who came from another time.
Now it’s at this time that demon investigator Damian Darkblood starts to narrow in on Omniman. He kinda becomes a bit of the butt of a joke in the comics, hence why I haven’t focused on him too much, but it is possible that they may change things up. The government put a surveillance team on the house, and this wasn’t the case in the source material as Omniman didn’t remain at the scene of the crime, so he was never a suspect.
Robot, voiced by Zachary Quinto, is signed up to create the new Guardians of the Globe, and we’ll discuss later on what his overall plan could be.
Mark reaches out to Amber, but he quickly sees firsthand how difficult it will be to balance a relationship and be a hero. In the comics, he and Amber have a very strained relationship because he has to keep nipping off whenever there are problems, and this adds a lot of dynamics to the triangle between her, him, and Atom Eve.
Now, speaking of Eve, she catches Rexplode cheating with Duplikate, and I don’t know if this counts as a foursome or if it’s just a onesome because she can copy herself.
Either way, though, I feel like this references the scene in Watchmen in which Silk Spectre catches Doctor Manhattan duplicating herself while the pair get it on. I think, though, that might be a reach… a reach around.
Elsewhere, auditions are held for the Guardians Of The Globe in an arena that seems similar to the Danger Room from X-men. This recruiting new members storyline is a staple in comics, and my favorite take on it is from JLA by Grant Morrison, which led to Green Arrow getting recruited.
Several of the applicants here stand out, including a gorilla man, which is riffing on Gorilla Grodd from the Flash, and also a woman known as Shrinking Wray, who can change her size, similar to the Atom and Ant-Man.
The new team also includes Black Samson and Monster Girl, who is a 28-year-old that has been cursed with her body clock going backward, which means she constantly gets younger.
She can also transform into a giant green monster similar to the Hulk, and she kicks the crap out of Rexplode.
Now, she has a lot of similarities with Robot, even if she doesn’t think so. Similar to her, he’s judged a lot on his appearance, but we see throughout the comic that he has a lot of humanity within him that we will no doubt cover in later episodes.
Amber shows up to Mark’s, but he’s called out to attack someone attacking Mount Rushmore. Ripped directly from the comics, this villain says, ‘bow before Dark Seismic,’ which is a play on ‘bow before Darkseid.’
Atom Eve and Invincible team up to take him on, and we discover that he has bracelets which shoot seismic waves similar to the Shocker from Spider-Man.
Upon returning home, Omniman congratulates Mark for giving up on a girl to continue his duty, and it very much speaks to how he is willing to put his mission above his wants and needs. In retrospect, once you know his full arc, these conversations work really well, and I’d be interested to hear what people think of these moments in the comments below.
Eve takes down the photos of her and Rex and quits the team before traveling to see Mark’s to see him kissing Amber. At this point, she is very much carving out her own niche and making it on her own.
INVINCIBLE’S INITIAL ARC
We then travel to a supervillain prison similar to the Raft or Belle Reeve and see a guard who reminded me a lot of Steve Rogers. In the cells are several characters playing on villains like The Lizard and Killer Croc, Multiple Man, and Wendigo.
We see that the Mauler twins are prisoners here, but Robot frees them. One of the twins uses the other as a shield to escape, but I do feel like there will be some more cloning going on, as in the comics, they’re pretty much always a double act.
Now we will be discussing why Robot did this in the source material, so if you don’t want it ruined, then I recommend you turn off now. Also, thanks for sticking with me this far into the video, and make sure you drop a thumbs up if you’ve enjoyed the breakdown.
Anyway, Robot freed the character because, due to their scientific minds, they’re the only ones who can bring the immortal back to life. In the comics, they regenerate his body, and he seeks out revenge for Omniman for killing him.
Now, why Omniman did this is also another thing I think that many of you will have questions over, so I thought we’d discuss it here in brief detail just in case you can’t wait.
Basically, Viltrum isn’t this peaceful planet that we are led to believe it is, and they are actually conquerors that travel through space enslaving planets.
Because Earth has defenses like the Guardians Of The Globe, it’s almost impossible for a super-powered being to swoop in and just take things over, and thus, Omniman is sort of a Trojan horse.
The Vultrumites typically send a super-powered being to a planet, and they then have them masquerade as a hero. This allows them to carry out Guerrilla attacks to weaken the planet’s defenses, and this is why Omniman destroyed the Guardians.
I’m guessing the same thing could be happening, though there may be some change-ups.
Either way, what a great collection of episodes, and obviously, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them below.
As a thank you for interacting with the video, you’ll be entered into a prize draw on the 31st of March in which we’re giving away three copies of a Marvel 4K box set of your choice. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you subscribe with notifications on, and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode. The winners of last month’s competition are on screen right now, so if that’s you, then message me on Twitter @HeavySpoilers.
If you want something else to watch, then make sure you check out our breakdown of Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which will be linked on screen now. We break down the entire thing, so it’s definitely worth checking out if you wanna know more.
With that out of the way, thank you for sitting through the video. I’ve been Paul, and I’ll see you next time. Take care, Peace.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.