Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. An alien comes to Earth. Blessed with the powers of flight and super-strength, he becomes Earth’s greatest hero. Splitting his time between living as a normal man and as a superhero, he falls in love with a human woman and eventually the two are married. This is the story of… “Omni-Man.”
Image source: INVINCIBLE on Twitter
Watching Invincible, it’s not hard to catch what’s going on. For the most part, the show is set in a world just different enough from that in the DC comics universe to not get slammed for copyright infringement. The Justice League are the “Guardians of the Globe” and the Teen Titans are “Teen Team.” Of course, it’s not all DC-inspired, there are plenty of other comic knockoffs as well—from Rex Splode (Gambit) and Monster Girl (Hulk) to Cecil Stedman (Nick Fury) and Damien Darkblood (Hellboy). However, as I implied with the first paragraph, Invincible’s story is more connected to the Superman mythos than anything else.
When it comes down to it, Invincible is built around two questions: What if Superman was hiding a dark secret and what if Superman had a teenage son? The way the story is structured, we spend most of our time following Omni-Man’s son Mark as he gets his powers and becomes the new hero “Invincible.” From the start, we see that Mark idolizes his father and has wanted nothing more than to be a hero like him.
Image source: Amazon Studios on Twitter
However, this series is quick to show both Mark and the viewer that the world of Invincible is a bit more realistic than those found in mainstream comics—i.e., a lot of people die in horrible ways. When aliens invade, people die. When heroes are punched through buildings, people die. When mad scientists experiment on civilians, people die.
Even Mark’s chosen hero name, Invincible, is little more than an ironic joke. While he is super strong and can fly like his father, he gets his ass royally kicked more than a few times in the series—with him ending up close to death more than once. Being a superhero may be a glamorous job but it is not a safe one. However, in a world where the Guardians of the Globe have been murdered by Omni-Man, the inexperienced Mark may be the world’s best chance at survival.
Image source: Amazon Studios on Twitter
So while much of the series is spent on Mark’s growth—both as a hero and a person—the real driving force of the series is the mystery set up in the closing minutes of the first episode: why did Omni-Man kill the Guardians of the Globe? Over the course of the season we get hints that things have never been what they seemed. Omni-Man plays by the rules of a hero but doesn’t believe in them. When he isn’t being monitored, he has no issue killing his opponents—or destroying cities filled with civilians for that matter. More than that, it becomes clear that he has a completely different thought process from normal people. Things he deems as “important” take precedence at all time—even over the fate of the planet. Yet, when confronted about his odd actions, he always seems to talk his way out of it—gaslighting those around him with the skill of a natural psychopath.
So while Omni-Man’s motivations are kept hidden till the final episode, the series gives you plenty of information to make an educated guess. And to the series’ credit, the revelation does explain everything that came before—even if not directly.
*Spoilers Begin*
Image source: Amazon Studios on Twitter
The TL;DR is that Omni-Man was sent to Earth to weaken it and make it easier for his people to conquer when the time came. By playing the hero, he was able to keep the more dangerous humans (i.e., villains) from gaining any real power. Meanwhile, those with codes and morals holding them back could be dealt with when the time came. It was simply a waiting game until his people arrived.
To stave off boredom, he made a family, lived as a human, and had a wife and kid. However, as a nearly immortal being of seemingly limitless power, he viewed humans not as equal lifeforms but as pets. Sure, you love a dog and you’re sad when it dies but it’s not the same as a real “person.” However, everything changed the instant Mark gained his powers.
Image source: INVINCIBLE on Twitter
At that moment, there was someone on the planet who could challenge his strength. While Omni-Man may have had the edge in power and experience, should Mark team up with Earth’s heroes, he might lose. Thus, Omni-Man had a choice, kill the heroes or kill Mark. And as Mark is a Viltrumite like his father—and therefore a real person—it was obvious who he would be killing.
This is also part of why the series ends as it does—with Mark getting beaten to a bloody pulp but not being killed before Omni-Man gives up and leaves the planet. As Mark is a “person” in Omni-Man’s eyes, he is reluctant to kill him. But that alone is not enough to save Mark—after all, the Viltrumites mercilessly culled half their population. What really does it is that Omni-Man’s time on Earth has affected him more than he is willing to accept. Despite how he views humanity as a whole, his wife did teach him one thing. That’s what saves the world—not some fight between superpowered people but the love of a father for his son.
*Spoilers End*
Image source: INVINCIBLE on Twitter
All in all, if you like your superhero stories realistic—i.e., brutal and bloody—Invincible is well worth a watch. While Mark’s high school drama pales in comparison to the overall conflict, it does ground him—and make us understand why he would choose humanity over his father and their people. I, for one, am excited to see where things go from here. However, given the brutal world we’ve seen so far, I hold out little hope for anything even approximating a happy ending.
Invincible can be seen on Amazon Prime.
I just wanted to give out a big thanks to Joshua Ott for sponsoring this review with his Patreon donation. (At the $60 a month tier, you are allowed to pick anything up to an including a 13ish episode series to be reviewed–which is released in addition to the one article a week I normally put out here on BiggestinJapan.com.) So thanks again!
Top image source: Prime Video on Twitter.
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