Allen the Alien is under attack. Has Mark's absence put all his friends and family in danger? Will he be able to put things right before it's too late? 20 pages, full color.
Robert Kirkman's "Invincible" comics have been a breath of fresh air since the yellow, black, and blue hero first flew onto shelves back in 2003. The series follows high-schooler Mark Grayson, who discovers he has superpowers much like his globally-revered father, Omni-Man. It's a violent, satirical, coming-of-age story which asks fans to look at the superhero genre from a cynical angle. The comic's meteoric success eventually caught the eyes of streaming services and studios alike, and Mark Grayson got his own gory animated series on Amazon Prime Video in 2021.
A live-action "Invincible" movie has been in the works since 2017, with Universal Pictures working on the project as part of Skybound Entertainment's first look deal with the studio. Seth Rogen and his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg will write, direct and produce the "Invincible" movie, while creator Robert Kirkman is onboard as a producer. Don't worry, the creative team is working hard to make the film its own entity compared to the animated series.
During a recent Comic-Con Home panel, Kirkman was asked about how the two projects will be different from each other. Although the creator didn't reveal much he teased that "there are massive efforts going in to make sure that the film experience is unique while also being true to Invincible." But let's take a look at what we know about the "Invincible" movie so far, who might be in it, and when we can expect to see it.
It's been four years since Skybound Entertainment first revealed its plans for the "Invincible" movie from Universal Pictures. In that time, the animated series from the same creative team got off the ground and onto Amazon Prime Video. So it doesn't look like the film will fly into theaters anytime in the near future. It's clear that it's still actively being developed thanks to Robert Kirkman's recent comments about the project, but it's just not clear when audiences will get to see Mark Grayson, Omni-Man, or Atom-Eve in live-action. Even if casting has already taken place, it's likely production wouldn't start till the end of 2021 or early 2022.
Even at the most optimistic of guesses, that would give the "Invincible" release date in 2023 at the absolute earliest. Given all the visual effects needed to bring the various superheroes to life would be pretty vital, there's no point rushing production. "Invincible" has the potential to be a truly grand superhero movie with a lot of heart — it'll be worth the wait.
Unfortunately, there's no casting news from the "Invincible" because it's still being worked on by the creative team, though it's highly likely that it won't use the same cast as the animated series on Amazon. As great as Steven Yeun's voicework is as Mark Grayson, he's a little too old to pull off playing a high-schooler. Hopefully the team will pick an unknown star to lead the role or someone age-appropriate (our suggestion would be 17-year old star Forrest Wheeler, who's best known as Emery Huang in "Fresh Off the Boat," as he'd definitely bring Mark's charming, but naïve sensibilities to life with ease).
But whoever winds up stepping into the Invincible supersuit needs to have an excellent dynamic with Omni-Man. It would be great to see J.K. Simmons reprise the role in live-action after his brilliantly ferocious portrayal of the Viltrumite hero in the animated series. But if he's not interested in donning the white and red costume, "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm would be an equally brilliant pick for the role. When it comes to Mark's mother, Debbie, Sandra Oh could also make the jump from the Amazon show to the big screen.
But since Robert Kirkman previously told Entertainment Weekly that the creative team is "working to make sure that the two can exist and complement each other," it's probably best that an entirely new cast takes over.
Much like the comics and the Amazon series, the "Invincible" movie's plot will probably revolve around Mark Grayson discovering he has superhuman abilities and trying to balance his respective responsibilities to the world, his education, and his friends. He'll (presumably) have to live up to his father's legacy because he's Omni-Man, the world's greatest superhero. However — without spoiling anything — not everything is straightforward, where Omni-Man is concerned. Because superhero origin stories have been done to death over the years, it wouldn't be surprising if Kirkman, Rogen, and Goldberg approach the film with a different formula. It might begin with Mark already established as a global superhero rather than starting with his origin of being half-human, half-Viltrumite.
Anyone who's read the comics or watched the series will know "Invincible" isn't for the faint-hearted, as things get bloodier and bloodier with each new chapter. So hopefully the movie attempts to keep a similar tone with an R-rating. There are obviously ways of working around the various gory moments, but they add to the satirical nature that's woven into the story. For example, Omni-Man's character arc will be much more powerful if the film is allowed to be as violent as possible. Hopefully other heroes like Atom-Eve, Rex Splode, Robot, and Dupli-Kate also make an appearance in the story since they heavily feature in Mark's journey.
Interestingly, the movie won't use the exact same plot as the animated series. Kirkman also told Entertainment Weekly "There will definitely be some significant differences between the movie and the television show." Also adding "People will easily be able to tell them apart..."
It's hard to believe, but it wasn't that long ago when the only superheroes most general audiences knew about were the big names like Spider-Man and Batman. Now, superheroes of all stripes dominate the multiplex while every cable channel and streaming service wants their own high-flying adventures to draw people in. It looks like Amazon Prime wasn't content with having just one superhero TV series in the form of "The Boys" as it added another big name to its roster with "Invincible."
Based on the Image comic book series created by Robert Kirkman of "The Walking Dead" fame, the TV show follows young Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), who receives amazing abilities courtesy of his Viltrumite DNA he received from his father, Nolan (J.K. Simmons), who's better known to the world at large as Omni-Man. Mark becomes Invincible, and while he just wants to help the planet, he soon finds himself on the wrong side of his father, who's harboring some dark secrets of his own.
With the first season in the bag, fans are no doubt waiting anxiously for more episodes. Fortunately, there are plenty more stories to tell as the series was picked up for both a second and third season shortly after the Season 1 finale aired. What can we expect in the near future? Here's the information we have on "Invincible" Season 2 so far.
While "Invincible" has received an order for two more seasons, there's no word as of yet regarding when we might see some of those new episodes. Most series tend to take about a year for production, so we'd assume the second season would be released sometime in April or May of 2022. However, animation can sometimes extend beyond that as fans of "Rick and Morty" know all too well. Still, a 2022 release date seems most likely.
With the dual-season order, those behind the scenes can hopefully get a jump on Season 3 as well. During the Season 2 announcement video, co-creator Robert Kirkman released on Twitter, he mentioned how he wants to do 100 more seasons if Amazon will let him. As long as the quality remains as high as it was the first time around, we'd say that's a very achievable goal.
"Invincible" has an absolutely stacked voice cast, and while plenty of characters bite the dust throughout the first season, it's probably safe to say most actors will come back to reprise their parts. That includes the main cast consisting of Yeun as Mark Grayson, Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson, Gillian Jacobs as Atom Eve, Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Splode, Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman, and Zachary Quinto as Robot. Omni-Man, as voiced by J.K. Simmons, may have flown far away from Earth in the Season 1 finale, but it's definitely not the last time we've seen him, so expect Simmons to return as well.
That list really only encompasses the tip of the iceberg as the first season also included the likes of Seth Rogen, Mahershala Ali, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Ezra Miller, Michael Dorn, and Chris Diamantopoulos. It's a big universe out there, so there's bound to be at least a few new faces (and accompanying voices) in Season 2, but we'll have to wait for more casting announcements to see who may join the party later.
There are plenty of plot threads set up in Season 1 that future episodes will inevitably follow, the biggest of which is that Omni-Man abandoned his post on Earth, making Mark the only Viltrumite around. Omni-Man likely won't stay gone for long, and when he comes back, there's a good chance he'll bring a swarm of other hyper-violent Viltrumites with him. Mark didn't even have a fighting chance against just one, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when he comes face-to-face with the full might of his heritage.
However, as Mark sits on the moon with Allen the Alien (Rogen), we get a flashback of everything transpiring on Earth he'll have to face coming up. This sequence of events depicts the Flaxans from Episode 2 plotting another invasion plan while Doc Seismic (Diamantopoulos) from Episode 3 has assembled a small army of lava-based monsters, and he's likely looking to get revenge on Mark and Atom Eve. Most interesting is the brief scene we see where D.A. Sinclair has created an army of his cyborgs under the watchful supervision of Cecil. Cecil seemed to hate the fact he had to use the cyborgs against Omni-Man earlier, but in this scene, we actually see him smiling. The GDA director definitely has more than a few skeletons in his closet, so it remains to be seen if he'll play more of an antagonistic role moving into the second season.
After hitting fans with a series of shocking, gory twists alongside its grounded teen drama, the first season of Amazon Prime's "Invincible" is coming to an end this week. If it seems like the hour-long animated series is over too soon with just eight episodes, well, you're in luck. Amazon Studios announced today that "Invincible" is being renewed for not just one but two more seasons.
To see more INVINCIBLE ---> CLICK HERE!!!
To see more ROBERT KIRKMAN ---> CLICK HERE!!!
To see more COMIC BOOKS ---> CLICK HERE!!!