Summary
- Invincible’s success lies in exceeding superhero genre expectations outside Marvel/DC.
- The show’s upcoming season hints at a significant plot deviation from the source material.
- Creator Robert Kirkman suggests a storyline involving Damian Darkblood that wasn’t explored in comics.
Invincible has been one of the most successful comic book adaptations of all time, and now the Prime Video show seems set to go even further by improving on the source material in a big way with a fiery addition in the next season.
Invincible has exceeded all expectations in the superhero genre, succeeding as an animated show outside of the Marvel/DC mainstream hegemony at a time when superhero fatigue was the word of the month every month in the industry. Ranking high even amongst the very best TV-MA superhero shows, the adaptation has been a major win for Amazon’s Prime Video platform alongside The Boys and earned a second and a third season as a result. With the latter recently concluding in fittingly brutal fashion on the streamer, fans and execs alike are looking forward to the show’s next installment as its performance has made rounding out the source material a foregone conclusion.
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In addition to very likely adapting all of the source material, the Invincible show now has a chance to improve on it. While there have been some notable differences between the Invincible comic & show, the adaptation’s next deviation from the source material might be the most interesting and uniquely fitting one so far. Speaking to Variety in a recent interview that touched on all the interesting things the show did in its now concluded third season, Invincible creator Robert Kirkman was asked about the season three post-credits scene featuring Damian Darkblood, a character that was sidelined early in both versions of the story. “We always wanted to figure out a way to get Damian Darkblood back into the show, and then — gosh, do I want to spoil this?” Kirkman questions before going ahead and spilling the beans. “There’s a storyline from the comic that I never got around to doing. Every superhero story has some chapter where they go to hell and they fight the devil. It happens in DC and Marvel comics. It’s a big deal. I never got around to doing anything like that in “Invincible.” I kept getting sidetracked and there was never a good time. So it’s entirely possible that we may be doing something like that in the show, and that scene at the end of that episode is setting that up.
The Invincible comics don’t do much with the character of Damian Darkblood, as he is more of a parody of DC characters like The Question and Rorschach, eventually simply being written off with a laugh when he succeeds in solving the mystery of the Guardians of the Globe murders… after everyone else found out the truth already. His banishment was one of the more prominent (and cool) changes that was made between mediums, but seeing as no one knew what happened to the show’s Damien Darkblood after that, neither fans of the comics nor new viewers expected him back. Kirkman’s admiration for the character is certainly a new development, as he was treated much better in the show and now has a chance to make a bigger mark (pun intended) on Invincible. Kirkman does leave a bit of room to not go through with the idea, but considering the fact that the next season is already in production, he probably wouldn’t have brought it up if it wasn’t happening.
Whatever the case, fans won’t have to wait long as Kirkman already promised Invincible’s future seasons will release faster as well as eschewing long mid-season breaks. The next season was already going to be a killer thanks to the introduction of some very powerful players from the Viltrum empire, and now even fans of the comic books can look forward to a completely new story arc rubber stamped by Kirkman himself. While it’s unlikely to alter the path of the story much, it should still be a fun ride that pays tribute to tons of comic books past, just like Damien Darkblood.
Invincible is available to stream on Prime Video.
Invincible
- Release Date
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March 26, 2021
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa
- Writers
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Robert Kirkman
- Franchise(s)
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Invincible
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Steven Yeun
Mark Grayson / Invincible (voice)
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Sandra Oh
Debbie Grayson (voice)
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J. K. Simmons
Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man (voice)
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Source: Variety