A new hero from Amazon: ‘Invincible’
“Invincible,” which premiered its first three episodes to Amazon Prime audiences on March 26, is a gory animated superhero series for adult audiences. It features the bulging eyeballs, bloodshed, and splattered guts that would realistically come with a punch from Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), the strongest man on earth — and not to mention a formidable cast to back it up: Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Mark Hamill, and Mahershala Ali just to name a few.
In addition to being a sought-after hero, Omni-Man is also the father of Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), a 17-year-old who has just hit super-puberty. It’s now his turn to save the world of comic book writer Robert Kirkman’s creation.
However, Mark’s trusty best friend — William Clockwell — is not in on the secret. He’s also gay. This is introduced in a classically awkward high school moment: by unknowingly professing his love for Omni-Man’s mustache to the man’s own son. Sensing his friend’s discomfort, Will moves on to “straight stuff” — as does the audience. His proceeding screentime is spent fostering Mark’s romantic relationships, not his own — straight stuff.
At this point with only three episodes released, it is unclear if the series will remain content with this level of background representation, or if the Omni-Man mixup was a glimpse at what’s to come. Will Mark’s super alter-ego become the object of his best friend’s affection? Only time will tell.
Ultimately, “Invincible” appears to be attempting to compete in the same arena as DC/HBO Max’s “Harley Quinn” animated series which is equally irreverent in its gore, but as DC Comics and Harley Quinn herself had larger audience bases to work from, the Amazon Prime original faces an uphill battle. Image Comics — Invincible’s universe — is relatively unknown to wider audiences who are most familiar with the faces of Superman (DC Comics) and Spiderman (Marvel Comics).
That said, it’s an entertaining ride, but you’ve probably bought the ticket before.
