Each member of Invincible's voice cast has changed their characters from how they were portrayed in the comics. While the cast has received plenty of praise, some readers of the comic are less than pleased with a few of the voice performances.
The show, based on the Image Comics series by Robert Kirkman, is an adult animated drama about the developing superhero career of Mark Grayson, better known as the hero Invincible. Mark finally gets his powers just before his eighteenth birthday and is the son of the world's most famous hero, Omni-Man. Considering the popularity of The Walking Dead, the other big Kirkman adaptation, it's no surprise that Invincible has managed to put together a truly star-studded cast. Steven Yeun plays Mark, along with J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man, Sandra Oh as his mother Debbie, and Gillian Jacobs as fellow teen superhero Atom Eve. These actors give great performances that are very much in-line with how the characters are portrayed in the comic. Others in the cast, however, have shifted their characterizations with the performances they've given.
One of the big examples of this is Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman, Invincible's Nick Fury parody. Goggins is a great actor and his performance gives the character a believable sense of authority and experience, but it doesn't quite fit the Cecil of the comic. For one thing, Goggins is much younger than the character, and by playing him straight in the first few episodes he's lost some of the wry humor present in the comic. The opposite effect happens with Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien. Rogen plays up the casual and friendly side of Allen, which is not a bad choice for the character. Still, Rogen's natural energy is more laid back and a little dumb, which doesn't quite line up with Allen's usual characterization as an alien who is friendly but still takes his work as part of the Coalition of Planets very seriously. These interpretations have rubbed some the wrong way, even if on their own they're solid performances.
There have been other drastic changes to the characters too, but these have been mostly for the better. The practice of changing certain characters' races based on who was cast in the role is a small but welcome one, and something more animated shows will hopefully adopt going forward. There's nothing about Amber Bennett or Rex Splode that makes them inherently white, so changing the characters to more closely resemble Zazie Beetz and Jason Mantzoukas doesn't feel like that far of a leap. Filling out the supporting cast with voice acting veterans like Mark Hamill, Clancy Brown, Grey Griffin, and Kevin Michael Richardson also helps to give even minor characters in Invincible more than enough personality to help them stand out in the show's growing ensemble.
As the show goes forward in its first season, and hopefully more seasons beyond that, more characters from the comic will be introduced. This means even more chances for actors to interpret these beloved characters, and Invincible will either stick more closely to the source material or continue to change the characterizations to fit the show's unique adaptation.