The Marvel And DC Comics Cameos That Probably Won't Make It Into Amazon's Invincible
Between the star-studded voice cast and the flexibility of animation, Invincible is looking to be a blast. Whether you're a fan of the comics co-created by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker or just a superhero fan in general, the upcoming show should have a lot to offer. The question is: How close is the story going to stick to the source material? If Amazon's other comic book-based superhero series The Boys is anything to go by, the transition from page to small screen will come with some changes.
Based on the teaser trailer, however, many of the story's focal points and themes should remain relatively intact: Invincible's origin story, his relationship with his father Nolan/Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), and the bloody brutality central to many of the series' superpowered fights. It's hard to say exactly what will be changed, but there are certain cameos from the comics — more specifically, Invincible #33 by Kirkman and Ryan Ottley — that Amazon would have to jump through a number of flaming corporate hoops to include.
Image Comics crosses over
Without revealing anything too specific in the event that the storyline makes it onto the show, Invincible has a highly personal reason to butt heads with Angstrom Levy, a supervillain with the ability to open dimensional portals. Provoking Invincible's anger, Levy sends the hero through portal after portal, intending to tire him and eventually strike a coup de grâce. The first of these portals lands Invincible in a dimension where dinosaurs survived and can talk; he even finds himself in a The Walking Dead-esque universe, which could make it onto the show since Kirkman's one of the executive producers.
What's likely not appearing on the show is the second dimension Invincible ends up in: the Marvel Comics universe. Careening through the portal after another sickening taunt from Levy, he crashes straight into Doctor Octopus in the middle of a fight with Spider-Man. Neither Marvel characters' face (or mask, in Spidey's case) is shown, but it's very clearly them. The meeting is expanded upon in Marvel Team-Up #14, a fun read by Kirkman and Walker in which Invincible crosses paths with other Marvel staples as well, from Mary Jane Watson to Iron Man.
The seventh dimension Levy's able to send Invincible to (it ends soon after) is none other than that of Marvel's long-time competitor DC Comics. As if getting Marvel to allow the Spider-Man cameo on the show wouldn't be difficult enough, Marvel and DC? It'd be quite a feat. Regardless, the DC crossover only lasts a single panel, and Invincible meets Batman (again, no face is shown, but it's obvious). Kirkman takes the opportunity to poke fun at superhero naming tropes with Invincible's dialogue: "No, I mean — you dress like a bat and your name is — I mean, don't you think that's kinda lazy?" Ottley's art really helps sell the humor, with Invincible's confusion visible even behind his mask.
Cameos or no cameos, Invincible is a series with a lot of potential. The comics manage to upend many superhero tropes while simultaneously expressing a deep love for the genre, so here's to hoping the show follows suit.