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Amazon Prime's “Invincible” series brought Robert Kirkman’s comic to life with gripping twists and changes that reshape the story you thought you knew. From intense battles, deeper character backstories, altered team dynamics, to new emotional layers, this video dives into the most significant ways the show expands, redefines, and sometimes omits key elements from the comics.
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00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the biggest changes between
00:11Amazon Prime's Invincible series and its comic source material.
00:16If you aren't caught up on the first three seasons, beware of spoilers ahead.
00:39While the show has included most characters from the source material, there are a few
00:44minor ones who have been left out.
00:46As seen in the show, Black Samson was a member of the original Guardians of the Globe line-up,
00:51but was forced to leave when he lost his powers.
00:54He's able to join the new version with the help of a power suit.
00:58However, in the comics, he also had an Alfred Pennyworth-type butler named Sanford.
01:04Upset over Samson's firing from the team, Sanford steals the suit meant for his employer
01:09and attacks the funeral for the Guardians of the Globe.
01:12Though he means to burn their bodies, he's quickly defeated by Omni-Man.
01:1729.
01:18Magmaniac and Tethered Tyrant First seen as Machine Head's hired goons in Season
01:231, Magmaniac and Tethered Tyrant are equally minor villains in the comics.
01:29However, the show gives them more depth when they return in Season 3 with a six-minute,
01:34entirely dialogue-free sequence.
01:36Accompanied by a heartbreaking score, it shows their attempt to start a new life together.
01:41While things go well for a time, their struggles to make money, even losing their homes, leads
01:47them back to a life of crime.
01:53This segment takes two characters, only designed to be minor obstacles for Invincible, and makes
01:59viewers feel for them.
02:01Although they do return to crime in the comics, it's only after laying low until they are running
02:05out of money for groceries.
02:1428.
02:15Learning From Mistakes During his first fight against Angstrom Levy,
02:24Mark struggles against his portals to alternate worlds.
02:27He is sent through multiple terrible dimensions and eventually becomes trapped.
02:31So, during their next encounter, the series shows that he has learned from his mistakes.
02:36After the world is left devastated by the alternate versions of Invincible, the hero seeks out
02:41Levy for justice.
02:43This fight, like many others, was expanded on from page to screen in unique ways.
02:48Specifically, Mark shows much greater control of his speed and flight, deftly avoiding falling
02:54into the same trap.
02:55This isn't in the fight in the comics, neither is the extensive training sequence this season
03:00opens up with, but both serve to visually show the hero growing more capable.
03:1127.
03:12The Alternate Marks Speaking of those alternate versions of Mark,
03:16the show naturally got to include a lot more when it came to their personalities.
03:20This is shown clearly during individual fights against them.
03:24But, since the comic event is much shorter, most of them only ever get to say one or two
03:29lines, if they speak at all.
03:31One of the biggest differences comes during a scene with the eight surviving invincibles.
03:36We get bits and pieces of their characterization and their motivation for agreeing to help Angstrom
03:42attack Mark's world.
03:43In the comics, they're all simply evil, only wanting to expand their empires into other dimensions.
03:49The show set out to make them all feel different.
03:5426.
03:56Atom Eve's Origins
04:02In between seasons one and two of Invincible, Amazon released a special dedicated to Atom Eve.
04:08It showed her origins, revealing how she was the product of a government program to produce
04:13genetically engineered superhumans.
04:15While the story mostly followed the events of the two-issue comic, there are some notable
04:20differences.
04:21Eve's childhood friend Val, who ends their friendship upon learning of Eve's powers, is
04:26an original character.
04:27It's a bit more clear in the comics that Eve was made by the Global Defense Agency since
04:32Donald makes an appearance.
04:34And during the fight against her siblings, Eve gets a chance to be far more creative with
04:39her powers.
04:5125.
04:53Oliver's Growth
04:59Some time passes between seasons two and three, and one way it shows this is through
05:05Oliver's literal growth.
05:07Although he ages quickly in the comics as well, there's still a toddler phase the show skips,
05:12moving from baby to kid.
05:14His character growth and even personality is also different.
05:17In the comics, he speaks more proper and matter-of-factly.
05:21The adaptation shows him to act more like a kid, even taking up skateboarding with some
05:26friends, a scene original to the show.
05:29Another key difference is how he takes the lives of the Mauler twins.
05:32Where the comic shows him as cold, the series has him more emotional.
05:4424.
05:46Powerplex's Motivation
05:50Appearing in Episode 6 of Season 3, Powerplex seeks vengeance against Invincible over the
05:56death of his sister during the hero's Season 1 fight against Omni-Man.
06:00While this is his motivation in the comic, the show reveals his sister was a woman Invincible
06:05specifically failed to save.
06:07It also gave her a daughter to make things even sadder, and showed the destruction from
06:12Powerplex's perspective with an opening flashback.
06:22Powerplex's plan also came with some new additions, including a confrontation with Atom
06:27Eve at a memorial for those who lost their lives during the event.
06:31The show also implies that the plan to stage Powerplex's wife and son as hostages was
06:36his wife's idea, not his like in the comics.
06:4323.
06:44Conquest's Loneliness
06:53The Viltrumite threat that was promised at the end of Season 2 shows up at the end of
06:58Season 3, and Conquest certainly lived up to fan expectations.
07:02He is vicious, unrelenting, and fights with absolute joy for violence.
07:07The fight plays out more or less the same way, although Eve does get more to do.
07:12But by far the biggest difference is Conquest's admission about how lonely he is to Mark.
07:18He tells him about how his brutality has caused other Viltrumites to fear him, even though
07:23his actions serve their purpose.
07:25He only admits this since he thinks he's about to kill Mark, but it adds a nice layer
07:30to the villain beyond his sheer strength.
07:3922.
07:41Prison Break
07:58Episode 5 of Season 3 dealt with Duplicate's villainous brother, Multipole, and his ties
08:05to an organization known as The Order.
08:07Much of this episode was entirely new, including the sibling's power stemming from an ancient
08:13family curse and Machine Head taking over the order in the episode's aftermath.
08:18Multipole's Prison Break, which was a pretty minor event across a couple of pages, was a
08:24much larger set piece on the show.
08:26Not only did we actually get to see Paul using his abilities instead of just waiting to get
08:31broken out, but the conflict was much more involved since Eve was there to help Invincible
08:36in the fight.
08:5021.
08:52Damien Darkblood
08:59As you might have been able to guess, the demon detective known as Damien Darkblood is
09:05a parody of Dark Horse's Hellboy.
09:07In the comics, that's all he is.
09:09He tries to solve the mystery behind the murder of the Guardians of the Globe, but is unsuccessful
09:14and treated like a joke before disappearing.
09:18Obviously, that isn't the case in the show.
09:20He's actually competent and is on Omni-Man's trail before Cecil sends him back to Hell.
09:26The show isn't done with him either.
09:28He appeared in a mid-credits scene during the season 3 finale.
09:32Here, he summoned a demon lord and promised the vessel of a powerful surface dweller, teasing
09:38future appearances unknown even to comic readers.
10:01Mark Grayson is a huge comic fan.
10:04His all-time favorite is Seance Dog, about an anthropomorphic canine who dresses like
10:10Marvel's Doctor Strange.
10:12However, in the comics, the character is called Science Dog.
10:16The reason for this change is that the show doesn't have the rights for Science Dog, even
10:22though he and Invincible share the same creator, Robert Kirkman.
10:26This isn't the only rights issue that has caused changes in the show.
10:30During the Invincible War storyline, many other heroes from Image Comics crossed over
10:36to help fight, including Spawn.
10:38In the Season 2 fight with Angstrom Levy, Mark is sent to the dimension of Agent Spider, an
10:44obvious Spider-Man parody.
10:46But in the comics, he really does meet Peter Parker.
10:57The Mummy Cahor was introduced in the show's first season, cursed to remain entombed until
11:06a worthy vessel appears so that he can possess them and escape.
11:11In Season 1, Invincible unknowingly stops this from happening by causing a sandstorm to bury
11:17his tomb after it's discovered.
11:28In Season 2, two women rediscover Cahor, bringing the Mummy dissatisfaction since he must possess
11:35a male host.
11:37Then Invincible accidentally causes another sandstorm, burying him once again.
11:54This character doesn't exist in the comics, and seems to have been created as a running
11:59gag villain that Invincible stops without even realizing it.
12:0418.
12:05A Missing Villain
12:13So far, the show has adapted most of Invincible's gallery of rogues, even more minor ones.
12:20But there's one who appears early in the comic run that has been left out entirely, David Hiles.
12:26He was once a weapons engineer for the military before his son took his own life due to torment
12:32from his peers.
12:34Hiles then lost his job, got divorced, and ended up a teacher at Mark Grayson's high school.
12:40He began kidnapping popular kids he felt similar to those who led to his son's death, strapping
12:46them with bombs, before detonating them around the city.
12:50He even armed himself with one in an attempt to take out Invincible and Atom Eve, before
12:56Mark threw him into the sky.
13:06Race and Gender Swapping
13:09There are several changes made to character ethnicities and gender throughout the adaptation,
13:14including Invincible himself.
13:24Although his race is ambiguous in the comic, the show's Mark Grayson is biracial, with
13:30his mother Debbie now being Korean-American.
13:33Mark's romantic interest, Amber Bennett, has also been changed from Caucasian to African-American.
13:43The Guardians of the Globe members Green Ghost and Shrinking Ray have also been changed from
13:49male to female.
13:51Creator Robert Kirkman stated these changes were not only made to benefit the show, but
13:56also to bring more representation for a wider array of viewers.
14:13Life as a teen superhero can be tough, but at least Mark has his best friend William to
14:18rely on.
14:19When the show begins, William is already out as gay.
14:23But in the comic, his true sexuality isn't revealed until issue number 80.
14:29William even dates Atom Eve for a time, though the relationship doesn't last long.
14:34The show and comic version still share the same endgame romance, college RA Rick Sheridan,
14:41but the two begin as friends.
14:48When Rick is kidnapped, William still leads the charge to find him, though it's more
14:53out of worry for his friend than the possible love of his life.
15:02Some of Mark's closest allies are the members of the Teen Team.
15:07The group, made up of Atom Eve, Robot Rexplode and Duplicate, are there to help Mark in his
15:14early days.
15:15But the manner in which he meets them in the comics is quite different.
15:19The Teen Team stumble upon Mark fighting one of the Mauler twins, a constant, but usually
15:25easily handled threat.
15:26However, the show immediately places them all in a dire situation as their first encounter,
15:32a battle against the extra-dimensional Flaxons.
15:37Having the team rescue Invincible from such a formidable foe better showcases each member's
15:43powers and helps progress their relationship earlier on.
16:05There are many events that play out similarly in the comics, but whose placement in the timeline
16:11is quite different.
16:12The most notable example is the reveal that Robot is not merely a robot.
16:18He's remotely controlled by Rudy, a genius with such severe physical deficiencies that
16:25he must live his life inside a tank.
16:27This reveal and his use of the Maulers to create a new body based on Rex's DNA occurs
16:34in Season 1.
16:35However, in the comics, this happens a fair bit later.
16:39If it had not been pushed forward, it would have happened in Season 2.
17:04In Season 2, Mark learns of a troubling Atlantean custom.
17:08The person who kills their king must marry his widow.
17:12However, with Omni-Man gone, that duty falls to Mark.
17:17When he gets there, he learns that the law has been abolished, and he must instead fight
17:22a massive sea monster.
17:24In the comics, the law is still in place, and Mark must convince the queen to marry her
17:30advisor instead.
17:32This change has a larger ramification in Season 3.
17:35The sea monster emits a harmful sound that damages Mark.
17:40Cecil is able to recreate this and transmit it to an earpiece installed in Mark's head.
17:45During this confrontation in the comics, it's a vague implant designed to attack Mark's
17:51equilibrium.
18:06It's not just a change of race that the show makes to Amber's character.
18:10Not only does she appear much earlier on, but she is also given more depth.
18:15In the comics, she mainly serves to drive a wedge between Mark and Eve.
18:19And while the character still fulfills that purpose in the show, it isn't her only one.
18:24She's shown to be much more caring, spending time as a volunteer at a community center.
18:30But she also has much more of an edge.
18:35When Mark reveals his heroic identity to her in the comic, Amber is more or less supportive.
18:42But in the show, Amber still resents the fact that Mark lied instead of trusting her, a change
18:49that made some fans dislike her character.
19:03Mahershala Ali's Titan was one of the more interesting villains Invincible had to offer.
19:08And it's partially due to the changes made to his backstory.
19:12In the comics, Titan is merely a small-time criminal who wants to overthrow his boss, Machine
19:19Head, out of concern for his own safety.
19:22But in the show, Titan is given a family as a reason why he turned to crime in the first
19:27place.
19:35This addition adds an emotional layer to the character.
19:39It also sets him up to play a more important role later after taking over Machine Head's
19:45empire.
19:49But in the comics, he only makes a few more minor and, ultimately, insignificant appearances.
20:06Like Amber's general characterization, her breakup with Mark is given more depth in the show.
20:12In the source material, their relationship ends due to Mark being away constantly, which
20:17is brought up in the show as well, and her growing closer to another classmate named Gary.
20:22However, the major turning point comes from when Anissa, the Viltrumite, shows up to confront
20:28Mark and threatens to end Amber's life if he doesn't listen.
20:32In the comics, Anissa shows up while Mark is with his mother, Debbie.
20:36The show version of this event is made much more dramatic, as Amber understandably fears for
20:42her life.
20:43Mark doesn't want anything to happen to her because of him causing the relationship to end.
20:48But my life matters, too.
20:51Maybe it's small, maybe it's not earth-shattering, but it matters.
20:57And it doesn't matter when I'm with you.
21:00Worse than that, it's a weapon someone can use against you like that woman did.
21:16In both the show and comic, Omni-Man's time on Thraxa helps him discover his drive to protect
21:22those weaker than him.
21:24However, his reason for being on the planet is quite different.
21:27In the show, Omni-Man contemplates throwing himself into a black hole over the guilt he
21:33feels of how he acted on Earth.
21:35It's then that he saves a ship of Thraxans, who take him to their planets and gives him
21:41a new lease on life.
21:43In the comic, he initially wants to rectify his failure in taking over Earth by conquering
21:48another planet.
21:49He only finds Thraxa, while searching for a new planet to give to the Viltrumite Empire.
22:08Angstrom Levy's Motivations
22:20Angstrom Levy is one of Invincible's most devious villains, though his motivations are
22:25more explored in the adaptation.
22:28The comic shows that it is mostly due to Mark's interference with his experiments,
22:32which leaves Levy horrifically deformed.
22:35However, their confrontation in the show adds an interesting layer.
22:39Because the failed experiment melded the memories of multiple versions of Levy,
22:44we see several terrible acts committed by alternate-reality Marks that earned him their hatred.
22:51This version of Levy has lost his mind due to his brain overflowing with such memories,
22:57to the point where he refuses to believe that this version of Invincible could ever be a hero.
23:02He's a murderer!
23:06A monster!
23:08I would never save him!
23:12Never!
23:13He deserves to die right now!
23:35The gender swap of Shrinking Ray is far from the only change made to the hero.
23:41In the comic, the male version is a very minor character,
23:44and during a fight against the Lizard League, he shrinks down before being eaten by Komodo dragon.
23:51This event still happens in the show, though it is made much darker and more violent as she tries
23:57and fails to regrow while inside the villain. However, while the comic version perishes here,
24:03the show version survives, albeit badly injured. She makes a return in season 3, and with this trauma,
24:10her character is given more depth. She even begins to form a bond with Rex,
24:15obviously a new addition to the story.
24:18I heard you came to the hospital a lot.
24:20Of course I did! We almost got killed together, so that makes us like, uh…
24:25Losers?
24:26Ah, I was gonna say too hot to live, too cool to die, but sure.
24:326. Donald's Discovery
24:42During Season 1's climax with Omni-Man, Cecil's right-hand man, Donald, is killed. Or so it would
24:49seem. He returns in Season 2 as an android. What follows is an interesting plotline where he digs
24:57into his past, discovering that this was one of many deaths, with the Global Defense Agency
25:02rebuilding him each time. It also ties in with William and Rick's storyline,
25:07as he helps the latter come to terms with his rebirth after being one of D.A. Sinclair's victims.
25:14After dying in the Invincible comics, Donald just shows up again already as an android,
25:19a fact that's accepted by everyone. This plotline of Donald's Discovery is actually adapted from the
25:26Brick comics, but it is far more existential here.
25:30We're not our bodies, we're the decisions we make, the lives we change, the people we love,
25:37or who love us. I don't need to forget that, and neither do you.
25:435. Cecil's Fight Against Omni-Man
25:51In the comics, everyone but the reader is caught completely off guard when Omni-Man's true nature
25:57is revealed. Therefore, there's no time for anyone to intervene, but in the show,
26:03shady government agent Cecil has been monitoring Omni-Man, and he has a whole bag of tricks to throw
26:13at his former ally. The penultimate episode showcases the GDA's vast resources, including cloaked agents,
26:21Rhianna-Man, a satellite laser, a kaiju, and a teleporter that Cecil uses to stay alive.
26:30While both versions show Cecil's grief at the betrayal of his friend, the show gives him the
26:36opportunity to be more active as it reaches its climax.
26:51The show moves many events forward in the timeline, including its inciting incident. While the comic
26:58mentions the Guardians of the Globe, they aren't introduced until issue 7. And that just happens to
27:04be the same issue, Nolan murders them in cold blood. But where it's only depicted across a few panels
27:11there, the adaptation lets the Guardians fight back. Not only does it bring the conflict in earlier,
27:20but the brutal fight immediately puts Nolan's loyalty into question, and begins a season-long
27:26tension that is absent from the comic. Additionally, the show opens on a mission with the Guardians and
27:33Nolan, making the on-screen betrayal sting a little bit more.
27:41Debbie Grayson's Characterization
27:49Voiced by the incredible Sandra Oh, Debbie Grayson is depicted as a fierce mother digging for the truth,
27:56and while she does eventually become that strong character in the comics, she's initially not given
28:01much to do. With Nolan's loyalty not in question, until the Immortals return, comic Debbie only
28:08serves to support her superhero family. But in the show, her arc is much more interesting, as she begins
28:22questioning the person she built a life with. She also visits a support group for spouses of superheroes in
28:29season 2, which does a great job exploring the loneliness and guilt she feels after Nolan's betrayal.
28:35No such group exists in the comics, and Debbie is once again sidelined until later events.
28:56The dimension-invading flaxons are a much more serious threat in the show than they are in the comics.
29:03First appearing in issue number three, they're easily dealt with by Invincible and Omni-Man. With Nolan
29:10hospitalised at the time they appear in the show, it falls to the underprepared teen team to deal
29:16with them. The second time they invade, Nolan chases them back into their dimension. In the comics,
29:22he's kidnapped after their first appearance and helps lead a revolution against a dictatorship
29:28before he returns to Earth. But the series shows him decimating all flaxons until he forces them to
29:34send him home. The season 1 finale also sets them up to be a bigger threat in later seasons.
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30:031. Invincible vs Omni-Man
30:12The climactic fight between Invincible and Omni-Man has the same outcome in both versions. Friends
30:19and family members are left feeling utterly heartbroken at the betrayal. But the show's
30:24version is much more vicious and more impactful on the viewer. The comic certainly shows plenty of
30:30destruction as Omni-Man tackles Invincible through buildings. But there isn't the same focus on the
30:37loss of human life. Mark's failure to save a woman from a crumbling building and the unsettling subway
30:50sequence highlight his father's ferocious nature. And the flashback to Mark's baseball game, not seen
30:57in the comic, shows that, despite what he says, Nolan's time on Earth has indeed changed him.
31:11Do you know of any other big differences between the Invincible comic and TV show?
31:16Which changes do you think were for the best? Share your thoughts in those comments below!
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