On Friday, March 26 Amazon Prime will debut the first three episodes of Invincible. Adapted from the unforgiving, no holds barred comic book of the same name by Robert Kirkman. We’ve had the opportunity to check out the first three episodes of the season and here are our spoiler-free thoughts.
Watching the series pilot you could be forgiven for thinking this was just another superhero series. It almost borders on family friendly at times. But eventually, and perfectly in-keeping with the source material, Invincible yanks the rug out from under the viewer to reveal its true colours.
Staying faithful to the source material was clearly important to the creative team here and it shows. Invincible presents the standard superhero tropes and subverts them excellently and when you least expect it. Being lulled in to a false sense of security, even after having read the comics, was a perfect way to kick off the series. It feels familiar and in many ways welcoming. So when the subversion kicks in it feels all the more shocking.
The first episode dutifully takes us through the origin of Steven Yeun’s Mark Grayson. It hits all of the beats that superhero fans would expect and that’s not a criticism. Yeun is perfectly cast as our hero. There’s a youthful enthusiasm to his portrayal that perfectly fits the overall aesthetic. Peppered through the pilot are hints that there’s something more bubbling underneath and the payoff is certainly worth the wait.
Moving through the series second and third episodes the curtain continues to be pulled back. Supporting characters and storylines from the comics are pulled in naturally as the narrative progresses. Characters are given developmental challenges which allow for more of the trademark Kirkman humour to shine through. Mark has all the aspirations of our favourite DC and Marvel heroes but Kirkman takes every opportunity to beat those hopes down in the most bloody way possible.
Mark struggles to balance his personal life and his duties as a burgeoning superhero. It echoes the stories of Spider-Man and plenty of other teen heroes. But even when the journey ahead feels familiar, Invincible manages to feel refreshing to the genre. It has the sensibilities of been screen heroism and capitalises on bringing that to a small-screen, animated format.
Invincible has a killer cast to back up Yeun. Having J.K. Simmons and Sandra Oh for parents is a perfect start. Both bring an expected level of warmth to their characters. Fans of the comics will know the likely turns with Simmons’ Omni-Man (our Superman) and his casting is perfect to carry that off. The series also features plenty of The Walking Dead alum in 2021’s unexpected reunion with Lauren Cohan, Chad Coleman, Michael Cudlitz, Lennie James, Ross Marquand and Sonequa Martin-Green all turning up across the course of the season.
The series sits well on Amazon Prime alongside a similar property, The Boys. Amazon is clearly looking at the superhero genre and exploring every potential option to subvert our expectations at all costs. As with The Boys, Invincible executes its purpose flawlessly. Whilst episodes do run a little long the story is just about engaging enough in these three episodes to carry it off.
Invincible is produced by Skybound and executive produced by Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert (The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead), Catherine Winder (The Angry Birds Movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) with Supervising Directors Justin Allen & Chris Copeland (Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man), and Linda Lamontagne serving as casting director. Invincible, Kirkman’s second-longest comic-book series, concluded in February 2018 after a 15-year run.
Following the series 3-episode debut the remaining five episodes will debut weekly on Friday’s through April 30.
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