Why Invincible's Season 1 Finale Could Only Be Told in Animation

Now that Invincible wrapped its first season, series writer and co-creator Robert Kirkman discussed why the season finale could only be adapted to an animated medium.

When Kirkman was asked about adapting the fight between Mark Grayson/Invincible and Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man in the finale, he told The AV Club, "Every episode was constructed with the knowledge that this would be an animated show and we can use that to the best of our ability. The whole series was conceived in the first place because of it being an animation."

In Season 1's finale, "Where I Really Come From," Mark Grayson's father Nolan revealed that he did not come to Earth to act as its savior, but to prepare it for conquest by the Viltrumite Empire and that he wants Mark at his side for it. Mark rejects him, resulting in a fight that not only takes the pair across the world but causes a truly staggering amount of collateral damage.

Kirman added, "That sequence from the finale between Mark and Omni-Man would be almost impossible to do even in a $200 million blockbuster, to go from fighter jets to collapsing buildings in the city to snow-capped mountains and avalanches to fighting under the ocean. I’m glad we were able to do it in animation, it shows the strength of the genre because it utilizes the best of what comics are able to do with storytelling."

The co-creator also discussed how Nolan may not be as heartless as he seems, noting, "We spent a lot of time to show the hesitation and humanity in Nolan. He is saying that his life with Debbie and Mark was an act, but I hope the audience can see confidence in Mark when he says, 'There’s no way you could have faked that; you were that person.'"

"Having watched the finale, if you go back and watch from episode one, you’ll see that in the first episode, Nolan is upset when Mark gets his powers," Kirkman continued. "He didn’t want that to happen and wanted him to continue his normal life. Now he has to fulfill his Viltrumite duty and that’s something Nolan isn’t initially happy about. There’s a lot of layers to the character."

Invincible stars Steven Yeun, J.K. 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, Khary Payton, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound, and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. The first season is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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Source: The AV Club