Invincible Season 4 is having some enjoyable, and this time the joke lands squarely on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most recent episode sneaks in a intelligent dig at one of many MCU’s most recognizable quirks, these immediately disappearing helmets that by some means clear up each dialog drawback mid-battle.
Spoilers forward for Invincible Season 4, Episode 4.
Proper in the midst of Mark Grayson’s show-exclusive journey to the Beneath-Realm, issues take a weirdly humorous flip. As Mark dives right into a pit with Damien Darkblood, voiced by Clancy Brown, the mission is severe, they’re searching Volcania, however the dialog shortly veers into one thing far more relatable for superhero followers.
With nothing however time on the way in which down, Mark begins questioning Darkblood’s helmet state of affairs. The demon casually drops a line that sparks the entire trade:
“[I] converse extra clearly with out [a] helmet,” Darkblood says after being quizzed by Mark.
Mark, clearly not shopping for it, fires again with a query that feels prefer it’s aimed toward a a lot greater franchise:
“Do you assume I am unable to hear you whenever you’re sporting a helmet?” Mark replies. “It appears fairly difficult. Why not add a microphone or one thing?”
What follows is a reasonably nice back-and-forth about how the helmet appears versus how sensible it’s. Darkblood shrugs it off with fashion factors:
“Appears cool.”
However Mark isn’t finished, throwing out the likelihood that perhaps “demon nanites” are concerned.
If that sounds acquainted, it ought to. The second performs like a wink straight at characters like Iron Man and Black Panther, and the MCU’s long-running behavior of utilizing nanotech helmets that magically seem and disappear at any time when a personality must emote or ship dialogue. It’s develop into such a staple that it virtually goes unnoticed, which is precisely why this joke lands so properly.
Invincible, created by Robert Kirkman, has by no means actually performed by the identical guidelines as its superhero friends, and it clearly enjoys poking at them. This isn’t even the primary time the collection has riffed on Marvel.
Season 2 already had its personal spin on a crossover that followers thought would deliver Spider-Man into the combo. As an alternative, the present launched Agent Spider, voiced by Josh Keaton, alongside a parody villain named Prof Ock. It scratched that crossover itch whereas nonetheless doing its personal factor.
The Beneath-Realm storyline itself can also be new territory. Followers of the comedian may not have seen this coming, however Kirkman has been open about pulling from concepts he didn’t get to discover earlier than:
“There’s a storyline from the comedian that I by no means received round to doing. Each superhero story has some chapter the place they go to hell and so they struggle the satan. It occurs in DC and Marvel comics. It’s an enormous deal,”
He’s additionally hinted that not every part launched right here will likely be wrapped up neatly, leaving room for future seasons to circle again: “Dangling threads. that would doubtlessly be picked up on in future seasons.”
That blend of recent materials and self-aware humor is precisely why Invincible retains standing out. It delivers brutal motion and character drama, however it additionally is aware of when to step again and chuckle on the style, particularly with regards to issues followers have been side-eyeing for years.
You’ll be able to watch the clip beneath!
