Amazon’s Invincible is upon us but who are the stars behind the heroes?
Invincible is here. An upcoming TV project that holds a special place in this writer’s heart, Invincible is one of the greatest comic book series ever written.
That isn’t hyperbole. The original comics have all of the elements that you could want from a truly great story. Moreover, the costume designs are excellent as they are bright, fun and match the heroes and villains’ abilities. It’s greatest aspect, however, is the story itself – which is incredible. It’s rare that you find a comic book where there’s progress every issue. And, most importantly, the characters – from the main protagonist to the most deplorable villain – are all very engaging.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why fans were excited when Amazon announced an animated TV series. And when that series was announced, one of the first things that came to mind was who was going to voice the characters? After all, the wrong voice actors could ruin the whole series. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here as the selections were spot on. With that in mind, let’s break down the Invincible characters and see who’s voicing them.
Let’s start with the two main protagonists. The heroes who are going to steal your hearts as the show progresses.
Steven Yeun as Invincible
The titular character isn’t always the most important in a project. In this case, however, he is. Mark Grayson (Invincible) leads the charge as the face of the series and he is everything you could want from both a hero and a main character. Not because he wins every fight. He loses a lot and, sometimes, his defeats are spectacularly bad. Mark is special because he continues to follow a hero’s journey, learning from every loss and taking on new lessons and respect for everything that he has.
Steven Yeun will be bringing Mark Grayson to life in Invincible. Yeun is undoubtedly best known for portraying Glenn Rhee in The Walking Dead and Ben in Burning. He recently starred in the movie Minari and his performance earned him an Academy Award nomination.
Though this writer isn’t overly familiar Steven Yeun’s work, he’s confident the right choice was made. After hearing Yeun voice Mark in the preview clips (and seeing the animation), it’s clear that he’s perfect for the role. And, whenever this writer now goes back and reads Invincible, he’s certain that Yeun’s voice will be the one he hears Mark’s dialogue in.
Gillian Jacobs as Atom Eve
Adam Eve’s role in Invincible is as important as Mark’s. She may be his love interest, but Eve is so much more than that. A strong character in her own right, she’s crucial to Mark’s growth as a man and a hero and she never let him get away with things, immediately calling him out if he messed up. And whenever he needed a pat on the back or a shoulder to cry on, she was there for that as well. Their relationship was one of the best in any genre.
Gillian Jacobs may be best known for Community but she has a good amount of voice acting work under her belt and it comes from amazing shows as she has featured in Rick and Morty, Regular Show and Adventure Time.
J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man
Omni-Man has to have a balance to his voice. First, he has to give off a fatherly vibe. We instantly get this in the teaser trailer when he’s playing catch with Mark (you can see it in the clip above). He also has to be intimidating.
J.K. Simmons was, without a doubt, the right choice. He already has a very parental sounding voice – one capable of making you feel like everything’s okay. On the other side, there will come a time in Amazon’s Invincible where Omni-Man will be something different (can’t give this spoiler away). When he does, Simmons will undoubtedly excel at this too. And if it works out the way we know it very well could, this role could be up there with the actor’s greatest performances alongside his iconic J. Jonah Jameson role.
Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson
Debbie Gibson is the wife to the strongest hero on the planet and mother to the son of a hero. You need a tough, layered woman to voice that character – someone who can talk to either of them without showing fear or hesitation. Sure, there are going to be times in the series where Debbie gets beat down by life, nonetheless, she picks herself back up every time.
Sandra Oh may be the best selection on here. From her legendary performance as Chrstina Yang in Grey’s Anatomy to her award-winning turn on Killing Eve as Eve Polastri, Sandra Oh is no stranger to bringing strong characters to life. This writer can’t think of a better pick for Debbie than her.
Michael Dorn as Battle Beast
Michael Dorn is another member of nerd royalty. He played Worf in the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. You can’t hear his voice without thinking of the tough and honorable Klingon warrior.
The character he’s playing here, Battle Beast, is like Worf but with the volume turned up to the max. He has honor, but his goal in life is to find the one person who can defeat him in battle. Until then, he fights anyone he can to prove their superiority. He’s angry, stubborn, and willing to eviscerate himself to make a fight even. This writer can’t wait to hear Michael Dorn bring Battle Beast to life on screen.
Titan as Mahershala Ali
Titan is a bit of a joke in the Invincible comic book. When we first see him, he’s getting beaten by Mark Grayson in one of his first missions. Every time he fights anyone, he seems to lose. For all of his lack of physical fighting skills, however, he’s crafty. He found a way to put himself in charge of a crime family. Here’s the best part; he used his enemies to do it.
The veteran Mahershala Ali has played crafty in the first season of Luke Cage and he will undoubtedly do it again here. This writer doesn’t think there’s anything Mahershala Ali can’t do, so it goes without saying that he’ll be as phenomenal as always.
Mark Hamill as Art Rosebaum
It’s Mark Hamill, so every fan of nerd culture is all in, right? Art Rosebaum was a nice pick for the Star Wars legend. He isn’t one of the main characters, but he’s still a very important one.
Art designs superhero costumes, but he’s more than that to the Graysons. Throughout the series, he’s the person that each of them confides in. Art has helped them in ways that isn’t always in his job description – because he’s not just their costume tailor, he’s family.
Hamill will do the same amazing job he always does. He’s a legendary voice performer and one you can trust to deliver. He’s voiced the Joker, Wolverine, Hobgoblin and so many of our favorite comic book characters. There’s no reason to doubt him now.
Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien
Admittedly, this isn’t the voice this writer envisioned when he thought of Allen the Alien. Does Seth Rogan have the voice acting skills to do this? More and more, the pick started to make sense. Allen the Alien isn’t serious most of the time. So hearing Rogan’s familiar voice when Allen speaks will make certainly people smile. When he gets into fights or angry, his gruff voice is going to make Allen sound angrier.
Seth Rogan loves comic books. It’s one of the reasons why Amazon’s The Boys and Preacher are so well-received. You can almost guarantee that he will do a great job here. He’ll definitely capture the character.
Zazie Beetz as Amber Bennett
Amber Bennett plays a crucial role in Mark Grayson’s life and he learns a lot of lessons along the way from her. Among them is that his life and personality doesn’t work with someone who doesn’t understand the life he lives. A situation where the phrase, “It’s not you, it’s me” is actually true.
Zazie Beetz may not have a lot of voice acting credits to her name, but she’s an immensely talented performer who has delivered in comic book properties – Deadpool 2 and Joker – before. She also has a beautiful voice and one of Hollywood’s most consistent performers. She will easily do justice to Amber and don’t be surprised if it leads to her taking on more voice acting work after this series.
Jeffrey Donovan as Machine Head
Machine Head has a small role in the Invincible comic book. We can’t say too much without spoiling major parts of other characters’ stories so let’s just say that he’s semi-important to a villain on this list, but he won’t be around too long.
Jeffrey Donovan is known as the star of Burn Notice. During his time playing the character of Michael Westen, he tackled a plethora of different approaches and, as a result, he gave us many different voices if you will. Playing a spy will have him do that.
This is just another challenge that he’ll conquer. The people behind Invincible can easily add a robotic sounding filter to his voice. Then again, it may not be needed. Jeffrey Donovan is talented enough to give Machine Man a voice of his own.
Kevin Michael Richardson as the Mauler Twins
Continuing the trend of amazing casting, we have Kevin Michael Richardson voicing the Mauler Twins. Now this is a voice actor you’ve probably heard more times than you realize. He was Goro in the original Mortal Kombat movie and Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge, Martian Manhunter in Young Justice, The Joker in The Batman and both Groot and Heimdall in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series.
When this writer found out he was playing the Mauler Twins, it seemed too good to be true. KMR is a superb voice actor and he’s going to have no problem bringing these two massive men with genius intellects to life. Don’t be shocked when they become fan-favorites and yet still be despised at the same time. That’s how know you have a good character.
Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Splode
You need someone to play a jerk? Jason Mantzoukas knows exactly how to pull it off because he has convincingly done it in previous roles. He first came under this writer’s radar in FXX’s The League. His character Rafi was a flat out pig. Now, Rex Splode isn’t as bad as Rafi by any means but he is something of a jerk.
Mantzoukas is another person on this list with extensive voice acting experience – most notably Big Mouth. He also voiced the Scarecrow in The Lego Batman Movie so he’s no stranger to comic book properties. Yes, it goes without saying that Jason Mantzoukas is going to make a great Rex.
Zachary Quinto as Robot
Zachary Quinto is another fantastic selection. He’s definitely this writer’s favorite, that’s for sure! You can practically hear Robot’s condescending voice giving orders. The character is someone that sounds narcissistic even when he’s trying to be humble. For all of his vast intelligence, he doesn’t understand that he sounds like a jerk.
We’ve seen Zachary Quinto play arrogant and larger-than-life characters before, most notably in Heroes and American Horror Story so there is no doubt he can do it here again. Having read the Invincible comic book series, this writer can safely say that he’s perfect for the role.
Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman
Cecil Stedman seems like a Southern American military man. Walton Goggins is from Birmingham, Alabama and he has the southern accent to prove it. In both The Shield and Justified, we’ve seen Goggins play different versions of vivid characters. His character in The Shield could be selfish and confrontational. In Justified, however, his character could be flat out evil. Goggins will do that again here.
Cecil isn’t evil, per se. He just sees the bigger picture and goes after it. Cecil would work with the Devil himself if it meant that America continued to prosper. He’s proved that time and again. Cecil is shifty, manipulative, and opportunistic. If you’ve seen Boyd Crowder in Justified you know Goggins can voice each of those qualities. Chalk this up for another role where we’ll hate Walter Goggins for being too darn good at his role.
These are only 14 of the main characters in Invincible. What other voice actors and characters are you looking forward to seeing? Let us know in the comments below.