Invincible just wrapped a stellar second season which continued to put Mark Grayson through the wringer. But for fans of the original comic books by Robert Kirkman, we know that the show has only scratched the surface when it comes to unfortunate things happening to our title character. If only he knew what was in store...
On the whole, Invincible is pretty faithful to its comic book source material, certainly moreso than the other big TV series adapted from a Robert Kirkman comic: The Walking Dead, which changed things early and often. But Invincible still does change things. Here are four big ones from the back half of season 2, Episodes 5-8.
1. Shrinking Rae's death
The Invincible show has a couple of changes when it comes to this universe's version of Ant-Man. For one, Shrinking Ray is a male character in the comics, but the show gender-bends her into a size-changing superhero named Shrinking Rae, voiced by Avatar: The Last Airbender veteran Grey DeLisle.
The other major change is that Shrinking Ray does indeed die at this point in the comics, whereas on the show she survives her encounter with the Lizard League in Episode 205. While most of the Guardians of the Globe are in orbit preventing the Sequid assault on Earth, Dupli-Kate, Rex Splode and Shrinking Ray handle the Lizard League's takeover of a nuclear missile facility. Unfortunately for Shrinking Ray, he dies when Komodo Dragon swallows him whole. However, Rae seems to have survived on the show; after Rex kills Komodo Dragon, she emerges unconscious from his body.
The last time we see her, Rae is recovering in what looks like an intensive care unit. It's pretty cool that the show has more in store for the character and I'm looking forward to what her arc will be like moving forward.
2. Mark and Anissa's fight
Although this encounter is fairly similar in the comics, there are some key differences. Instead of having a meal with his girlfriend Amber, as he does in Episode 207 of the show, comic Mark is dining with his mother Debbie when the Viltrumite Anissa arrives on Earth. This may seem like a small change, but when Anissa threatens Amber, it's what finally convinces her that a relationship with Mark isn't going to work, since she doesn't want to live her life constantly fearing for her own safety.
After helping Mark defeat the Kaiju and rescue the cruise ship, comic Anissa does not fight Mark. She simply grabs him by the neck and slams him into the ground. In the show, they have more of a back-and-forth skirmish, although it is still pretty clear that Mark is heavily outmatched. Also, on the show, Anissa just kind of leaves Earth after this encounter, whereas in the comic she gives Mark a timetable of a few years to prepare Earth for Viltrumite takeover...or else.
3. Donald's existential crisis
Donald finally confronted Cecil about the whole making-him-into-an android thing, which has been a fascinating addition to the stry that (mostly) wasn't in the comics. Donald is rebuilt in the comics, but the show goes further and explores his resulting existential identity crisis and investigation into the details, which is good stuff.
In the back half of season 2, Cecil reveals that Donald has been reconstructed dozens of times in the past. Moreover, Donald comes to realize that he authorized the reconstructions and for Cecil to wipe his memory to avoid the trauma each time. But Donald knows now, and it surely must hurt to know how many times you've died.
The show makes this arc even more compelling because Cecil uses the same technology to rebuild William's boyfriend Rick after the mad scientist D.A. Sinclair horrifically turned him into a cyborg. Rick is obviously pretty shaken up and he even contemplates suicide. That is until Donald comes and talks him off the ledge because he is literally the only person who can empathize with his situation. The scene is heartbreaking, unbelievably compelling television. For a series that features legitimate god-tier-powered beings, it's great that the creators are willing to take the time to tell original stories about how the little guys are being affected by the traumatic events of this universe populated by super-beings.
4. Agent Spider was acutally Spider-Man in the comic
While Angstrom Levy is shooting Mark through different universes in the season 2 finale, he finds himself face-to-face with a guy called Agent Spider, who is clearly a direct reference to the iconic Marvel superhero Spider-Man. Agent Spider is even voiced by Josh Keaton, the same actor who provided the voice-over work for Peter Parker in The Spectacular Spider-Man TV show.
But in the comics, it actually is Spider-Man in this scene. When Angstrom throws Mark through one of his portals, he crashes into the back of the infamous Spider-Man villain Dr. Octopus. In the corner of the frame, Spider-Man's colorful webbed costume can be seen. When Mark comes back, webs are hanging off of his back. In the show, Doc Ock becomes "Prof Ock," we assume for legal reasons.
Sony/Marvel were probably a bit cagey about letting Amazon use their cash cow character. Hence the Agent Spider gimmick. Honestly, having a near-identical rip-off is funnier in my opinion anyway, especially with Josh Keaton providing the voice.
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