Invincible has always been known for its gore and brutality. One could say that its violence is an integral part of the show’s personality. After three seasons of following Mark Grayson’s troubled life as a superhero, it doesn’t look like Season 4 is going to slow down with the blood and guts.
Scenes like Season 1’s train massacre, Season 2’s Angstrom Levy beatdown, and Season 3’s finale Conquest fight are all vicious ones that are seared into the minds of audiences. Invincible Season 4 hasn’t arrived yet, but it features an intense scene that even its creators squirm at to this day.
The Direct sat down with Invincible co-showrunners Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa, who explained how they’re able to keep leveling up the show’s violence while also revealing that one Season 4 scene will surely shock audiences.
Speaking on the increasing intensity of Invincible's violence as the show goes on, Kirkman confirmed that "the escalation is deliberate," and they are always thinking about "how to top that, so that [they] know where [they're] going to go." With that said, the co-showrunner added that "it's all about the emotion of the scene," and "it's never just done for gratuity's sake."
"We want to make sure that as the show progresses, there's still that same sense of, 'Oh, my god, what am I watching?'" he explained. Kirkman elaborated that "you never want the audience to be able to get used to what they're seeing, or to be numb to it."
There is one Season 4 scene in particular that is so incredibly brutal that it arguably tops anything the show has done so far. "It even gets us," Kirkman admitted, adding that "[they] squirm while [they're] watching it, too."
Racioppa added that even after 100 viewings, they're still asking themselves, "Did we go too far?"
More of The Direct's interview with both Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa can be read below. Invincible Season 4 hits Prime Video on Wednesday, March 18.
Invincible Season 4 Has the Show's Most Brutal Scene Yet
"Did We Go Too Far?"
- The Direct: "The gore and violence of this show has always been a key part [of the series]. I consider it part of the show's personality. This season amps it up to a whole other level, somehow. In fact, I think it's got one of the most brutal scenes of the series so far. Can you tease, just to the audience, how violent this season is compared to previous ones? And how do you manage to keep raising the bar?"
Robert Kirkman: I mean, the escalation is deliberate. Every time we're putting together one of the big key scenes of the show, we're trying to make sure that we have in the back of our mind, like how to top that, so that we know where we're going to go. But yeah. I mean, it's all about the emotion of the scene. It's never just done for gratuity's sake.
We want to make sure that as the show progresses, there's still that same sense of, 'Oh, my god, what am I watching?' that you got from the Omni-Man fight at the end of the first episode to the various things that we did in Season 2 and the various things we did in Season 3. You never want the audience to be able to get used to what they're seeing, or to be numb to it. And so we're always trying to maintain that.
I mean, the scene in question that I believe is the one you're talking about in Season 4, it even gets us. We squirm while we're watching it, too. That's when we know we've done a good job.
Simon Racioppa: Right. When you see it for the 100th time and [for] the 100 times, you're still like, did we go too far? Maybe, maybe not.
Keeping Invincible's Fight Scenes Fresh & Unique
"Everything Comes From Character..."
- The Direct: "There are obviously tons of fight scenes in this show, and a lot of them, especially this season, [are] indestructible people against indestructible people. It's very easy to fall into just people punching each other for a prolonged amount of time, and there's nothing interesting happening. How do you guys avoid that pitfall, especially four seasons in and knowing that you have multiple more to go?"
Robert Kirkman: Everything comes from character, and when you focus on that, the nuance and originality and uniqueness of the fight just kind of emerges. So as long as you're building your characters up properly, and you know why they're fighting, and you know what the stakes are, you find those differences, like as you're writing it, and when you're going over the storyboards with the directors and the board artists, and it just kind of comes together.
I think if we were just focusing on the fights first, and [go] 'All right, this guy's fighting this guy, and let's figure out why,' Then the fights would become very repetitive. It's always kind of built in from the story. And so it seems to work out.
Simon Racioppa: It's about the context, which I think is exactly what Robert is saying. None of the fights exists in isolation. They're happening because of events, traumatic events that happened before, and then they also have, again, like we said, repercussions. They have context and effects afterwards. I don't think you could pull any of the fights out of the series and have it not change something. They always have an effect on character. They always have an effect on the story. They're never gratuitous, at least that's the plan.
