Invincible’s showrunner commented on how the show's team pulled off the big cameo who was, but wasn't, Spider-Man himself.
Ahead of Season 2, Part 2, many were hoping for the long-awaited Spider-Man crossover, which was actually teased in one of Season 2’s trailers.
The moment in question originates from the 33rd issue of the comic series, where Mark Grayson is sent through one of Angstrom Levy’s multiversal portals right into the Marvel Universe itself. Once there, he gets to spend a little quality time with the fan-favorite webhead.
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That Big (Sorta) Spider-Man Cameo
Warning - this article contains spoilers for Invincible Season 2, Episode 8.
Invincible showrunner and producer Simon Racioppa sat down with The Direct's Russ Milheim to discuss the big cameo in the Season 2 finale that was, but wasn’t, Spider-Man.
During a confrontation with Angstrom Levy in the season finale, Steven Yeun’s Mark Grayson flies through a Multiversal portal and gets sent to a universe where a hero named Agent Spider (voiced by The Spectacular Spider-Man’s Josh Keaton) is fighting the metal-tentacled villain Omnipotus.
This is a clear play on Spider-Man and his infamous rival, Doctor Octopus. But why not use the webhead himself?
Racioppa noted that they "wanted to replicate" the moment from the original comics, but there were "challenges" due to rights holders:
"I mean, that's something from the comics that Robert [Kirkman] had in the comics that we all wanted to replicate in the show. And obviously, there are challenges. Comics are a little more open about that kind of stuff, I guess, than television is. Right holders in television are a little more firm with rights than in comics, it appears…"
The showrunner pointed out how the original comic first ran "probably 15 years ago" and "some things have changed since then:"
"Also, 'Invincible' was—I don't know how many years ago that issue was, but it was probably 15 years ago, if not more. Some things have changed since then. We just wanted to do something like that. And we wanted to get as close to what was in the comic book as possible. And I think that's kind of what we achieved on the show. So it would've been great to go further. But this is what was possible given the current state of who owns what in the superhero world."
When pressed for more details about the specifics of what challenges they faced in regards to rights, he admitted he couldn't get into all the details but that what audiences see "is the most fun [they] could have with it legally:"
"I mean, I can't get into exactly how that all went down. I can just tell you that this is the most fun we could have with it legally."
"It would be awesome to have a ton of other characters from other comic worlds like DC" as well, Racioppa admitted, as they "joke about that all the time:"
"In the comics Invincible does do a crossover with a bunch of Marvel characters. And then he appears in a couple of Marvel books, which is fun.. It would be awesome to have a ton of other characters from other comic worlds like DC, as well, and Marvel and stuff In our show. We joke about that all the time; we talk about how cool it would be. It's not impossible, but it's very difficult to do today with everything being siloed and stuff."
With the opportunity to throw in fun Multiverse gags and cameos, one can't help but wonder what might not have made the cut. However, according to the showrunner, "all the ones [they] talked about are in the show:"
"I think all the ones we talked about are in the show, believe it or not. I don't think we cut much. Because, again, it matches mostly what's in the comic book. So we sort of went to the comic book. We're like, 'Oh, there's a whole bunch right here. Let's just use these.' Now. Obviously, there's a zombie world. We have a zombie expert on the show who, you know, created 'The Walking Dead'."
When asked if it happened to be the exact same universe as The Walking Dead series, the showrunner couldn't go as far as confirming that assumption, but just simply that it had "what appeared to be zombies in it."
We Have Spider-Man at Home
It’s understandable that the creatives weren't able to get Spider-Man himself due to rights issues. However, one would have hoped animation could have been a little less complicated than something in live-action.
At the end of the day, what they were able to pull off certainly did the trick. It is also a little ironic, in a sense, that they could only use a knockoff version of the webhead—given Invincible’s satirical roots.
Many fans were probably also thrilled to hear Josh Keaton in the role. So far, it’s the closest anyone has gotten to a continuation of The Spectacular Spider-Man (besides his cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, of course).
Invincible Season 2 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Read up on more Invincible:
Invincible Season 2 Episode 5 Release Date & Remaining Schedule Confirmed
Invincible Season 2: Who Is Anissa? Controversial Character Explained
Invincible Season 2 Showrunner Defends Changes from the Comics (Exclusive)
