Warning: This post contains SPOILERS from Invincible comics
The trailers for Amazon Prime Video's animated Invincible TV show hide the biggest twist in the comics. Robert Kirkman's acclaimed superhero comic is finally being adapted in a new medium, with the reach of Amazon Prime opening up the story of Mark Grayson aka Invincible (Steven Yeun) to a wider audience. The early marketing materials for Invincible have mostly focused on teasing Mark's transformation into a superhero and the high-level of violence that the adult animated series contains. While that has seemingly given potential viewers a good understanding of what the show is about, the truth is that the trailers are covering up the biggest twist.
One of the many reasons that Invincible gained a large and passionate following is how Kirkman's story defied expectations and superhero tropes. There's no better example of the comic flipping the script on what readers expected than what happens with Mark's father, Omni-Man. The comic sets up Omni-Man as a Superman-like hero and he tells Mark that he was sent to Earth to help protect the planet. Omni-Man looks and acts the part of a superhero worthy of praise and attention, but Invincible shocks readers and Mark with the reveal that he's actually a destructive and deadly villain who went to Earth to make it more suspectable to a takeover by the Viltrum Empire.
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Invincible's big Omni-Man twist comes at the end of the tenth issue, which both gave viewers enough time to grow accustomed to him being a hero and early enough in the comic's run for him to play a very different role moving forward. While this means Omni-Man is more villain than hero throughout the comic, the best part of Invincible's marketing is that the twist remains intact. There hasn't been any footage released that blatantly spells out the Omni-Man twist. Instead, the trailers have hinted towards the twist to the point where comic readers will know what is about to happen or already did happen, but casual observers are still left in the dark.
With the Omni-Man twist smartly being saved for the show itself, the moment could send shockwaves through pop culture once more. Fans of the comics are already bracing to see the violent and heartbreaking reveal happen in Invincible but most have no idea what is about to happen. The show is also going to flesh out different parts of the story, so there's a chance it can build up Omni-Man even more so than the comics. How great of a hero he is, his love for his wife Debbie, and the care he has for Mark can all be fleshed out with the hour-long runtimes of each episode. If this is done correctly, the Omni-Man twist could hit even harder in Invincible.
It will be fascinating to see when Invincible's big twist happens too. The first season only consists of eight episodes, but the runtime of each should guarantee multiple issues will be covered at a time. Amazon plans to release the first three Invincible episodes at once in March, and the end of the third episode could be where Omni-Man's true self is revealed to audiences. That could explain why those three are dropping all at once, and it would leave viewers on a huge moment for a full week. And with Invincible's marketing barely scratching the surface as to what the show contains, many should be in for a big surprise once they start watching.