Invincible Season 3 gives Mark Grayson a brand new suit, and the big move is something that reminds fans of another classic superhero who shoots webs.
As previously revealed, Invincible will be ditching the yellow and blue costume in Season 3. Now, he'll be sporting blue and black.
This new outfit isn't just a stylistic change—it also marks a new era in his life, one that doesn't go all too well. It's not all too different than how messy Spider-Man's existence gets when he dons the black Symbiote suit.
The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with Invincible creator Robert Kirkman and showrunner Simon Racioppa to talk about the upcoming third season, its villains, and Mark's new suit.
Invincible Creator on How Mark's New Suit Is Similar to Spider-Man's Black Suit
"We Very Much Tried to Play Up the Tropes of the Comic Industry."
- The Direct: "Invincible gets a new suit this season, you know, donating his blue and black attire, and this suit is, you know, just reading and talking to other fans, it's often compared to that of when Spider-Man has his Symbiote suit in just that things just don't work out. It's a darker era of his life. How much did you tailor the story to emphasize that element of Mark's life?"
Robert Kirkman: That's definitely by design. When Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley, and I were doing the comics, we very much tried to play up the tropes of the comic industry. The superhero getting the new costume is something that happens in almost every superhero story.
You know, there's a lot of stories that come from that change and Spider-Man is a good example of that. The kind of darkness that comes from that change and the emergence of Venom as a clear villain that comes from that is a really cool addition to the mythos of [Spider-Man].
And I think there are a lot of worthy additions to the mythos of Invincible that show up during this costume change, that kind of mirror, what happened with Spider-Man.
Robert Kirkman on Season 3's Initial Lack of New Overarching Villain
"There's a Danger That's Looming..."
- The Direct: "In Season 3, one thing I noticed is that there isn't really a new overarching villain or antagonist for the most part [in the first six episodes]. Can you guys talk about that choice and kind of going in that direction and balancing the story elements to make sure that the narrative is still engaging throughout?
Robert Kirkman: Yeah, I think that saying that Angstrom Levy was the overarching villain in the second season, you know, there's still a ton of other stories that happened in that season that really kind of filled out the narrative. I think that Season 3 is kind of more of that. There's definitely an overarching theme.
And I think that when people see the last two episodes, it kind of comes together and coalesces in a pretty clear way. And I think that there's a danger that's looming, and there's an overall sense of what's coming that I think is kind of replacing the overarching villain in the first six episodes, at least, if I could sound cryptic.
- The Direct: "Despite there not being, you know, any new villain, someone who does get a spotlight is Cecil, who does get into a little disagreement with Invincible. Can you talk about bringing him into the spotlight in a new way and, finally, getting to shed some light on just who he is as a character that audiences haven't seen yet?"
Kirkman: Well, I mean, I'll start by calling out Walton Goggins. His performance has really defined that character in some really cool ways and has definitely allowed Simon [Raccioppa] and I to try to find ways to push that narrative as much as we possibly can from what was there in the comics.
I think that Cecil is a character that has been very present from the first season on, and I think that we all kind of, over the course of the first two seasons, got a sense of who he was as a human being, and I think that a lot of that kind of led to some brewing conflict that is now coming to a head with Season 3.
There are just certain things that he believes and a certain way of operating that you know were inevitably going to come into conflict with Invincible at some point, and that's finally happening in this season.
Simon Racioppa: Cecil's story was there in the books. We just found a couple of places where we sort of just go a little deeper, spend a little more time on it, show you a bit more of his backstory, and just let you know where he's coming from.
I think one of the great things about the comic, and hopefully the show, is that no one's truly all evil, no one's truly all good. They're all shades of gray. They're all somewhere between this, between those extremes, and they move depending on the circumstance of the show. And Cecil is just one of those characters that we got to show a little bit more about what he actually believes, what he stands for. And like Robert said, that brings him into conflict with some other characters in the series.
Invincible Season 3 starts streaming on Amazon Studios' Prime Video on February 6.
