Robert Kirkman makes a nod to another one of his creations in the Prime Video series.
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Invincible Season 2 finale.
The Big Picture
- Mark Grayson encounters flesh-eating zombies in a familiar universe in the thrilling Season 2 finale of
Invincible
. - Varied dimensions in the finale feature nods to DC, Marvel, and
The Walking Dead
, making it a must-watch for comic fans. -
The Walking Dead
universe zombies in
Invincible
speak, and more crossovers between the franchises are possible in future seasons.
Invincible Season 2 is in the books, and the Part 2 finale, “I Thought You Were Stronger,” was an emotional rollercoaster. Mark Grayson, aka the superhero Invincible, was forced into a confrontation with the unhinged Angstrom Levy, while he was holding Mark’s mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh), and Mark’s infant half-brother, Oliver, hostage. The fight with Angstrom took Invincible across the multiverse, as the villain dropped Invincible in and out of various dimensions as part of his sick game of revenge. The trips across dimensions were full of fun references and Easter eggs, but one dimension stood out above the rest. At one point, Invincible is left stranded in a dimension full of flesh-eating zombies. It was none other than The Walking Dead universe, which is another famous comic book creation by Invincible creator Robert Kirkman.
Invincible
Invincible is an adult animated superhero series that revolves around 17-year-old Mark Grayson, who’s just like every other guy his age — except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man. But as Mark develops powers of his own, he discovers his father’s legacy may not be as heroic as it seems.
- Release Date
- March 25, 2021
- Creator
- Robert Kirkman
- Cast
- Steven Yeun , J.K. Simmons
- Main Genre
- Superhero
- Seasons
- 2
- Developer
- Simon Racioppa
Mark Grayson Gets Stranded in ‘The Walking Dead’ Universe in the Season 2 Finale
The multiversal theme of the Season 2 Part 2 finale of Invincible was a total trip. At one point, Mark stops in the DC Universe and meets Batman (who remains mostly offscreen and is never formally named or speaks). In another universe, Invincible meets expies (exported characters) resembling Spider-Man and Doc Ock of the Marvel 616 universe. However, Mark Grayson getting stuck in The Walking Dead universe truly takes the cake for the finale.
Invincible doesn’t spend too long in The Walking Dead universe. He notices a group of undead Walkers gathering in the street, and they start to surround him before the scene switches back to the Grayson home with Debbie and Levy. Soon, Invincible gets switched to another dimension. Mark’s trip to The Walking Dead Universe worked much the same way as in the comics. Angstrom Levy previously made a stop in this dimension in Season 2, Episode 6, “It’s Not That Simple,” which is probably how he got the idea to send Mark there later on. Considering Kirkman’s history as co-creator of both iconic series, it’s fun to see the references from the comics get brought to life in the animated series adaptation of Invincible. It’s probably for the best that viewers don’t find out if Mark can withstand the Walkers or the undead virus from The Walking Dead.
There’s a Key Difference Between ‘Invincible’ and ‘The Walking Dead’s Zombies
Interestingly enough, there’s a noticeable difference between the Walkers who appear in Invincible compared to their comic book and live-action series counterparts: the undead Walkers actually speak. After they discover Mark and start to swarm around him, they all start chanting, “Meat.” Thus far, Walkers in The Walking Dead universe haven’t proven to show this ability. This could’ve been a way to unofficially reference The Walking Dead in Invincible, while visibly showing these zombies have a slight difference from the Walkers of The Walking universe, similar to how the same episode got away with depicting characters resembling Spider-Man, Doctor Octopus, and Batman.
While some of the Walkers have exhibited interesting or hive-mind-like behavior in The Walking Dead, they’ve never proven to be able to verbally speak in actual words, even though the zombies only grunt one word, “meat,” in Invincible. The variation was likely done to potentially avoid any copyright issues, considering AMC Networks produces and owns the media rights for The Walking Dead universe.
Forget Violence, This Is Where ‘Invincible’ Excels
Will they or won’t they?
The ‘Invincible’ Comics Hint at Potential for More Future References to ‘The Walking Dead’
Considering that Invincible has been a relatively faithful adaptation of the comic series, viewers can likely expect fun references and Easter eggs to The Walking Dead universe later on in the show’s run, since they occurred in the comics on multiple occasions. The good news is that Invincible is already confirmed for Season 3, and the wait for the next season won’t be as long as the one for Season 2.
Both seasons of Invincible are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.
Watch on Prime Video
This article was originally published on collider.com