As Mark Grayson prepares to become his own superhero in Amazon’s Invincible, the series takes a cunning blow to the first Avengers movie.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Invincible Season 1, episode 2, “Here Goes Nothing”, available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
The new animated series of superheroes from Amazon Invincible Good-natured, he mocks some prominent tropes of the genre as much as he embraces and celebrates them. The second episode of the series really allows teen protagonist Mark Grayson to shine in his newly created superhero alter ego, Invincible, by getting him to team up with Teen Titan to repel not one, but three different alien invasions. And in doing so, the series also takes the opportunity to take a quiet shot at an important point in the plot of the 2012 Marvel Studios film, The Avengers.
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With Omni-Man still hospitalized due to serious injuries sustained in the series premiere and the rest of the Guardians of the Globe brutally wiped out – by Omni-Man himself – it is up to the young superhero squad, the Teen Team, to prevent a massive extraterrestrial invasion . The ensemble is joined by Mark, who is still learning how to become a superhero and his new superpowers without the benefit of his father’s guidance. With the battle in full swing and the Teen Team almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of invaders, a contingency plan involving the city being bombed by the military is suggested, but quickly dismissed as a completely stupid idea.
The idea of bombing a large American city in the face of an ongoing alien invasion was a critical point in the plot in the final battle of The Avengers. While the Chitauri descended from a portal above Manhattan as part of Thanos’ first attempt to conquer Earth, the World Security Council ordered a nuclear attack against Nick Fury’s wishes when they felt that the newly formed super-team could not handle the invasion alone. Iron Man was able to intercept the warhead and send it through the portal before Black Widow closed it, effectively ending the invasion and delivering a paralyzing blow to a Thanos force in a nuclear fire. 2016 Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice he would also see the military attempt to blow up Gotham City while the heroes’ fight against Doomsday was out of control, only for the Man of Steel to send the warhead into space.
Ultimately, Teen Titan and Invincible do not need the help of the military, discovering that as the passage of time moves at an accelerated rate in the world of aliens, they will age to the point of death when they are on Earth for a period prolonged. The aliens attempt a second invasion, armed with devices to protect them from the flow of time, but the heroes target the devices to ward them off. A third attempt is thwarted by a recovered Omni-Man, who alone turns the tide of battle before venturing into the world of aliens to sadistically take the fight back to them.
The idea of the military taking drastic actions that potentially endanger the lives of millions, just for heroes to intervene and save people from alien invaders and their own government is commonplace, especially in superhero cinema. But Invincible cut off this well-used trope before it can fully bear fruit while showing Mark and his new teammates in action while the young heroes fill the void left by their murdered counterparts.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, JK Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Gray Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. The episodes open on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.
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