In an era when the cultural dominance once enjoyed by the MCU seems to be slipping, and DC Comics is still trying to get some coherent version of a shared universe off the ground, our continued love affair with superhero media is being propped up by stories outside the Big Two’s framework. Amazon’s adaptation of The Boys was a massive success for five seasons, and even though it and its YA college-set spinoff Gen V are ending, the upcoming prequel Vought Rising means that its vision of superheroes as mascots for military agitprop and capitalistic advertising will stick around in some form. Amazon also has the other big current superhero fixation that doesn’t belong to Marvel or DC: Invincible, an adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s nearly 20-year-long superhero satire/parody/epic.
So much of what made the original comic work was Kirkman’s ability to both lampshade and engage with longstanding superhero trends: weightless fights between walking weapons of mass destruction, an overabundance of alternate universes, the meaninglessness of death, company-wide reboots. Part of what allows the Amazon adaptation to still feel fresh and engaging is that it can now respond to a larger ecosystem of superhero media that’s still repeating those trends, while also updating certain aspects of the story for a new medium and a new audience. Now, Mark Grayson and his supporting cast are looking to repeat those successes in another new medium, and with the help of a clever gimmick.
The new story teaser for Invincible VS, the upcoming video game developed by Quarter Up and published by Skybound Games, gave us our first real look at the idea driving the game’s conception. Skybound Entertainment was founded by Kirkman himself, and he helped craft the story with the game’s writers: a story that looks to rewrite Mark’s destiny as Invincible by asking what would happen if Nolan had never changed, and instead returned to Earth in command of several major Viltrumite antagonists. The game is primarily based on the Amazon series, with a few cast members returning (Gillian Jacobs as Atom Eve and J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man), but several changing (Aleks Le as Invincible and Gavin Hammond filling in for Walton Goggins as Cecil, among others).
Invincible VS taking place in an alternate universe aligns perfectly with the wider franchise; the comics introduced the idea fairly early on with the 2009 “Invincible War” storyline, which the show adapted in its third season. Based on how closely the show clings to its source material, especially towards the end of the saga, that won’t be Mark’s last encounter with an alternate version of his life. It’s fun and intriguing to know there’s another major timeline variation out there with twists waiting to be revealed (the presence of Conquest in the game means it won’t be limited to the show’s first arc), and it’s also exciting to entertain the idea that the show’s Invincible and the game’s Invincible could potentially cross paths.
The idea also synergizes well with the very conflict-oriented nature of video games. Kirkman has previously said that a fighting game was the perfect fit for Invincible, as it’s able to show off the massive ensemble of characters while also giving players another way to experience the sheer brutality of their battles. But it’s also a subtle, thoughtful engagement with the themes of the comic and show; so much of the story develops and shifts in unexpected ways because Mark is able to change his father, and if that didn’t happen, there would be even more planet-obliterating dust-ups.
So many fighting games treat their story modes as afterthoughts to the multiplayer component, and while the genre is primarily fit for exactly that, they still have interesting worlds and characters that would benefit from an equally interesting narrative. Even if the ultimate focus is satisfying superhero beatdowns, it’s nice to know that Invincible VS is offering a genuinely compelling narrative along with them.
