Binge-worthy: Animated series Invincible makes superheroes relevant again
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Freed from PG13 restrictions, the heroes on Invincible are free to be as wholesome or weird as the show’s R21 rating will allow.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
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Invincible 2 (R21)
Prime Video
4 stars
The idea of superhero shows for grown-ups is not new. The stylishly violent Blade (1998), based on the Marvel Comics hero of the same name, broke the PG and PG13 barrier and paved the way for harder-edged heroes such as The Punisher (2004), Deadpool (2016) and Logan (2017).
On streaming services, a new generation of blood-soaked superhero shows flaunt their M18 and R21 certifications like a badge of honour.
The better ones add a new ingredient: subversion.
On Prime Video, The Boys (2019 to present) presents superheroes as the coddled tools of corporate America, as neurotic and narcissistic as rock stars and just as mentally unstable.
Also on the streaming service is the animated series Invincible, the creation of comic book writer Robert Kirkman, who was behind The Walking Dead comic book.
Here are three reasons to stream Invincible, which is in its second season.
1. Superheroes with hidden agendas
In Invincible’s first season, the story revolved around Omni-Man (voiced by J.K. Simmons), an unstoppable force from another planet who fights supervillains while also trying to be Nolan Grayson, a husband and father.
His wife Debbie (Sandra Oh) is a real estate agent who accepts that her husband puts the welfare of Earth ahead of his marriage. Their son Mark (Steven Yeun) has his father’s powers, but in the fights he faces as an average high-schooler, superpowers are of little use.
Invincible 2 features superheroes coping with everyday issues on top of battling alien monsters, and includes characters such as Invincible/Mark Grayson (left, voiced by Steven Yeun) and Debbie (right, Sandra Oh).
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
So far, it all seems to be a variant of the Superman-Smallville story. However, Invincible dares to position Mark’s journey as a somewhat realistic coming-of-age drama, when on Disney+, teen heroes such as Ms Marvel (2022) are cast as wholesome family sitcoms.
The biggest deviation from the trope of the alien god who has come to save Earth comes at the end of Season 1, when – spoiler alert – it is shown that Omni-Man, Earth’s greatest protector, is its biggest predator. He is the advance party for an invasion by his home planet.
It is as if Superman dropped his mask to show the face of a colonial master intent on genocide.
2. Cartoon fun
On the surface, the show flatters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman by imitation.
It features heroes with familiar powers. But freed from PG13 restrictions, these Avengers and Justice League lookalikes are free to be as wholesome or weird as the show’s R21 rating will allow.
It is not afraid to venture into Rick And Morty (2013 to present) cartoon bizarreness. It shows an interspecies romance between a human-bodied person and an alien that looks like a grasshopper, and plays it not as a joke, but as an authentic and loving relationship.
This is where satire comes in.
Unlike The Boys, which believes that when you scratch a superhero, you find a pair of laser-beam eyes with anger issues, Invincible is subtler.
The show’s focus on Mark and his angst makes it more like the teen drama Riverdale (2017 to 2023), if it featured attacks by monsters from another dimension.
Disney would never allow Kamala Khan, also known as Ms Marvel, to face the same issues as Mark.
The irony is that in making Mark emotionally realistic, the show defines itself as a force that takes superheroes seriously. It makes Disney+ or HBO, the bastions of Marvel and DC respectively, look as if they are stuck in another era.
3. Animation moving into fresh genres
Science-fiction and fantasy animation for adult audiences is a relatively recent concept in Hollywood. In Japan, animation for every taste and age has flourished for decades.
American animation for the older set has been stuck in a sitcom rut, as seen in shows such as Netflix’s BoJack Horseman (2014 to 2020) or HBO’s Rick And Morty.
The bias against non-comedic animation is so strong that even when television cartoons are adapted for film, they become live-action spectacles.
Case in point: the Transformers franchise, which has spawned seven films (2007 to present).
Invincible is part of a recent trend in excellent animated shows venturing into the realms of horror, science fiction and fantasy. The martial arts series Blue Eye Samurai (2023) and the fantasy anthology Love, Death & Robots (2019 to present), both on Netflix, are moving animation into non-traditional genres.
Hollywood, at last, is getting the message that animation is not just for kids.
