Superheroes
‘Invincible’ Does What Marvel and DC Can’t
Bold title, isn’t it?
As always, let me explain.
DC and Marvel have undoubtedly the most well-recognized casts of superheroes on the planet. Batman. Superman. Wonder Woman. Iron Man. Captain America. Hulk. That’s naming an absolutely tiny amount of heroes they have in their rosters. But (and here’s the truth) it’s all pretty convoluted.
After decades of multiple story arcs, character arcs, and end-of-the-universe stories, what else would you expect to happen? Suddenly a superhero dying in a Marvel or DC comic isn’t so…important. We all know they’ll come back somehow. And besides, that probably wasn’t even their reality or whatever. With that sort of writing, not every storyline counts or matters as much as it could.
Oh, you liked that Superman was in the USSR for a while? Is it interesting to you? Doesn’t really matter, because there are a million other Superman stories that either erase or don’t relate to it. Now, I understand the reasoning for this. It keeps things fresh; having multiple universes lets you explore different paths for characters and such, but what the hell’s the point? If a version of Peter Parker dies, I don’t care. There are a million others to pick from.
And don’t get me started on Marvel’s Multiverse — oh, the billions of dollars Disney are going to rake in from this nonsense.
But there’s something special in the wings. It may not be as popular, it may not be as well known, but damn is it better.
Invincible is the refresher of what a superhero story could be. It’s bloody, it’s painful, and it’s real. When a character dies, they stay dead (apart from one exception, but that’s a spoiler.) It shows what a real superhero fight would be — no silly one-liners, no half baked threats, and it somehow all boils down to one thing. It stays linear.
No multiple universes. No plot armour. No deus ex machina crap.
Sometimes Mark (our protagonist) gets his teeth kicked in. Sometimes he loses. Hell, sometimes he’s beaten into a coma. But you know what? It’s endearing. It’s captivating because we know that damn, maybe he won’t make it this time. Maybe he won’t be able to be the same superhero he wants to be.
In other words, it makes us care. We want to see Mark survive because some of the fights and scenes are so gruesome and gristly that you take a step back and wince whenever Mark flies into battle. That’s what a superhero battle should be — a collision of power and power. Not foot soldiers that never really pose a threat to the heroes, fighting with space guns against a literal Norse God.
Now, of course, Marvel and DC can’t go overboard with the blood and terror because they’re everyman studios. Fast food entertainment. Take your kids, your family, and your friends to watch the Avengers or Spider-Man, and have some popcorn whilst you’re at it. Go on, fill the House of Mouse’s pockets. But damn, it’s good to know there’s more than what the ‘big’ studios serve up every so often.
Do I recommend the show? Well, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be writing this.
This show gets a 10/10 from me, no doubt about it.
Now go on, watch the darn show already.
