Every time a comic gets an adaptation, an anxious fan fears his favorite story ever will be massacrated in front of his eyes. Thankfully, we’re talking about Invincible, and it keeps on being one of the best super hero shows out there.
Even so, it doesn’t escape having to go through a few adaptations here and there. So, we’ll take a look at the major comic book changes in Invincible season 4. The show excels at adding new dialogues, jokes, and side plots. But this season also saw at least one pretty controversial change, which we’ll discuss.
Let’s get to it, and break down all the major changes from the comics by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker, to the Prime Video animated series.
Episode 1 – “Making the World a Better Place“
There are two great changes, and the first one is something you probably aren’t expecting. The conversation with Eve’s dad in the comics is… to say the least, disgusting. He only spills out nonstop sexist nonsense that leaves Mark and us speechless. However, his dialogue in the show isn’t anything like that, and it relates to what Mark has been feeling lately.
Then, at the end of the episode, we have the Sequid invasion. Mark has to choose between waiting for Bulletproof, risking to fail the mission, or killing Rus. Ultimately, he chooses the latter in both versions. However, the comic actually didn’t present any choice, since there were no disruptors left. This change presents a darker and more interesting shift to Mark’s personality and decisions.
Episode 2 – “I’ll Give You the Grand Tour“
Here we have one of the biggest and greatest changes: Omni-Man’s flashback. In the comics, we only see him talking a bit about how the Scourge Virus hit Viltrum. The show builds on that, adding Omni-Man’s day of adulthood, when he fights his parents, and his life during the Scourge Virus catastrophe.
In the comics, Nolan is far readier to join the war. This means we never see many interactions between him, Allen, and Thaedus about the subject. Besides, it makes his character development feel faster and a bit more forced.
Episode 3 – “I Gotta Get Some Air“
If you enjoyed seeing a giant dragon beating up Oliver, thank the show. That’s almost 100% original from the animation, since there’s a fight with Mister Liu, but it’s quite different and doesn’t involve Oliver at all, only Mark.
The battle against the Flaxans sees quite an improvement in the show, too. It gives a bigger focus to Rex, with us understanding how fighting the sequids before affected him. Thanks to that, we also see the might of the inter-dimensional race.
While Robot and Monster Girl get stuck because they’re fixated on terminating their dangerous enemies, the comics make it feel like Rex is just dumb and obstinate. The battle’s also shorter in the book and feels more like a joke at times, since Mark is on the phone the whole time and not engaging a lot.
Episode 4 – “Hurm“
Almost everything here is new. The Mummy subplot is completely original, so there’s no Ka-Hor nor Riley in the book.
Damien Darkblood and Mark fighting in Hell is another original story. Kirkman created the character for that purpose, and he regretted not having the characters from Invincible traveling to the Underworld. So this episode was basically made to explore that idea.
Many people are calling it filler, but it’s quite interesting seeing the mythology involving Hell, Damien’s family, and Volcanikka. Also, Volcanikka appears in the comics, so we’re definitely seeing more of her. Not to mention, Damien leaves the Underworld at the end, meaning he’ll appear in a later season again, making this episode even more important.
Episode 5 – “Give Us a Moment“
Starting with the controversial change first. Here we have the Tech Jacket gender swap. The armored hero Zack Thompson from the comics becomes Zoe Thompson. With that, we lose some jokes, such as the one about him growing a beard in space. Still, fans can rest assured that Tech Jacket’s participation in the war against Viltrum stays mostly the same despite that.
We also have a few changes in Omni-Man’s talk with Debbie. In the comics, he suddenly pops out, says he’s sorry, and leaves. Their conversation doesn’t last more than a page.
This moment in the show is so much better right from the start. Having Omni-Man struggle to open the door, showing his doubts, and Debbie opening it and staring at him, highlighting her courage, is incredible. Their argument is longer, and it does wonders for Debbie’s character development. It’s emotional, hard-hitting, and one of the best changes in the season.
Nolan’s meeting with almost everyone is different, since Oliver isn’t angry at Omni-Man in the comics. His father actually invites him to join the war in the original story, rather than trying to leave him on Earth. It’s a change that alters their entire relationship during this episode and the next, which also generated a few debates online.
Last but not least, Omni-Man doesn’t drink with Art in the comics. Imagine losing the “I dress heroes” line, probably one of the best in the whole show.
Episode 6 – “You Look Horrible“
The biggest change here is how Oliver and Omni-Man bond. The fight against Conquest is pretty much the same, so both of them end up having to survive together while protecting Mark. That leaves a lot of time for them to talk.
In the comics, Oliver wasn’t mad at his father in the first place, so things are pretty chill. But the Oliver in the show heard Omni-Man saying he didn’t love Andressa, his mother. They talk a lot about her, Debbie, and their relationship, even going a bit into Oliver’s time as a baby. It’s a sweet and emotional conversation, all in all.
Also, Mark isn’t healing properly on the show, which is probably done to give more tension to Oliver and Omni-Man’s bonding time. That means that the comics don’t have the father-son duo fighting the alien monster to get its eggs to feed Mark, for example.
Thaedus’s personality changes, since he’s a lot angrier in the comics, which might seem strange for series-only watchers. He freaks out and shouts many times, and he even tries to kill the character he thinks the mole is while still fighting the Viltrumites.
Episode 7 – “Don’t Do Anything Rash“
Thragg’s flashback goes more in depth into his relationship with Argall, showing more scenes of Viltrum’s revered Emperor. It doesn’t add anything to the story, but it’s also nice getting a glimpse of younger Nolan during this backstory.
There’s no conversation between Thragg and Omni-Man in the comics. Which means, the regent doesn’t offer Nolan a chance to return to Viltrum, nor does he speak so much about his planet and his thoughts.
The destruction of Viltrum changes right from the start, as well. Thaedus comes up with the idea, and its depiction is shorter in the comics. It only shows the planet exploding, instead of showing the Viltrumite trio crashing into it and traveling through the whole planet until it slowly dies.
The fight against Thragg also plays out a little differently in the comics. The mad regent almost crushes Mark’s head, which makes his chase of the boy a lot bloodier and tenser. Also, many people missed seeing Omni-Man trying to sacrifice himself for Mark and telling his son he loves him.
Episode 8 – “Don’t Leave Me Hanging Here“
Episode 8 has so many major changes, but it also feels so right. It’s another great example of Invincible‘s thoughtful adaptations. The most glaring change is Thragg and Mark’s encounter. First of all, the protagonist’s nightmares are much more frequent, and most of them only involve Thragg, highlighting how much he fears the Viltrumite regent.
In the comics, Mark and Omni-Man find him right after they arrive on Earth. However, we just see that at the end of the episode. Not to mention that Mark’s all alone on the show. That makes him the only one responsible for allowing the Viltrumites to stay on Earth. The decision becomes tenser, and you can bet we’ll see how it weighs on Mark’s shoulder in the following season.
In the comics, Paul is awful to Debbie, so he isn’t there to encourage her to see Oliver. Because of that, the way Debbie goes to space with Omni-Man is completely different. In the show, she demands to go with him, since she’s worried about Oliver. However, in the comics, they’re already kind of back together, and she seems excited to explore space while visiting Oliver.
To conclude, Eve’s pregnancy sees a few changes as well. In the comics, she finds out about it much earlier and tells Mark even later. It only happens when they have dinner with Dupli-Kate and Immortal, and Eve confesses she had an abortion. The weird thing is, not knowing about that, Dupli-Kate makes a joke right after.
The dinner hasn’t happened on the show, and the subject is dealt with in a more emotional, serious, and intimate way. That seems to be the best way to talk about such a tough and complex matter, to be honest.
That’s it! There are a few other minor changes in dialogue, cronological order, and such. But these are all the major and most debated changes in Invincible season 4.
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