As a fan of the Invincible comic book, there are certain moments that I’m waiting for when watching the show. However, this was the first time in the show’s history that almost everything from the episode wasn’t in the source material. And, let this writer tell you, it was a joy to watch and not know most of what was going to happen.
In the series, Damien Darkblood was a joke. It was so bad that he learned that Omni-Man was the one who killed the original Guardians of the Globe months after he went on his rampage and destroyed his son, Mark (a.k.a. Invincible). After that, he wasn’t seen again. During the show, he figured the truth out, and Cecil banished Darkblood to Hell before he could expose the truth. Now, he’s back and in a big way.
WARNING! SPOILERS FOR INVINCIBLE SEASON 4, EPISODE 4
An Invincible Recap
After completely decimating Hell’s warriors, Volcanikka (voiced by Indira Varma) sends Damian Darkblood to Satan (Bruce Campbell) to tell him that she is the Great Beast now and that he is nothing. With their defeat, Darkblood summons Mark from Earth to help him keep Hell in order. And that’s where a bomb is dropped: Satan, Darkblood, and the other demons are from the fifth age, and previous ages are what created some of the monsters that Invincible fights.
Among these aforementioned previous age monsters is Volcanikka, who is from the fourth age. And, without demon sacrifices, humans don’t evolve. What’s even more interesting is that Hell is actually on Earth and is called the Under Realm. It's just so deep that even Invincible may die trying to fly to reach the surface.
Lastly, and most importantly, the episode concludes with Eve preparing to tell Mark that she’s pregnant, but like the comics, it doesn’t happen. She was interrupted by the return of Earth’s former great champion, Omni-Man, who tells his son that it’s time to go to war.
Invincible highlights
Within that short amount of time, a story that wasn’t told in the source material became legendary. While some comic book lore has monsters created by radiation (which Invincible mentions), some of them were beings from a previous age. Plus, the fact that Hell isn’t the awful place that the Bible says is an interesting new take.
The best part of the episode was Mark and Damien falling down a (not so) bottomless pit. During their freefall, Darkblood explains the reality of there not being a balance of things (there’s no Heaven). This makes Invincible sad, but Damien brings up a beautiful point, saying that people should make the life they live Heaven instead of waiting for one.
Beyond the seriousness of that conversation, there was a goofy topic about Darkblood’s disappearing and reappearing helmet, a fight with Cerberus, and an underwhelming fight between Invinicible and Volcanikka. This helped balance out the heaviness that had previously happened and the return of Omni-Man.
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