SDCC 2023: Amazon brings Invincible to Comic Con ahead of Season Two
Robert Kirkman leads the cast and crew of Invincible at San Diego Comic Con 2023.
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After Invincible Season One changed superhero cartoons forever, fans were clamoring for a return to the show. Now, Prime Video is bringing Invincible to San Diego Comic Con 2023 for a panel featuring reveals from and exploring the plotlines of the hotly anticipated second season.
Invincible creator Robert Kirkman leads the panel which will feature members of the cast and crew that make up the hit animated series - if you've been wanting more content from the Grayson family since the first seaosn left off, there's no better panel to be at!
Can't make it to SDCC? Don't worry, Popverse will be live in the room for this panel to break the biggest news and the most interesting insights about the whole thing. You can follow along live with our play-by-play, or come back later for a beat-by-beat recap of the entire thing.
Follow along to Prime Video's Invincible panel from SDCC 2023, as it begins Friday, July 21 at 5:45 PM PST, 8:45 PM EST.
Popverse saw it and did most of it, and you can find all about our guide to All the big news, magic, and moments from San Diego Comic-Con. And if you want to go to SDCC next year, we have the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 dates as well.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Hi and welcome to our liveblog of the SDCC conversation with Robert Kirkman and members of the cast and crew of Amazon Prime's Invincible!
The panel will start in about ten minutes.
Kirkman, Cory Walker, Ryan Ottley and others spent the last hour talking here about the 20th anniversary of the Invincible comic.
Asked at that panel where the live-action adaptation of Invincible stood, Kirkman was "very excited to announce..."
*drum roll*
"...that there is nothing to announce."
In case you were wondering, Kirkman does indeed remain the greatest tease in comics.
The lights are going down. Here we go.
We got an advertisement for all of Amazon's shows. There was about 3 seconds of Invincible.
Steve Weintraub from Collider just brought Robert Kirkman to the stage. "There is so much cool stuff about to happen."
Why the eff has it taken so long to get season two? Weintraub asks.
Kirkman points to the changes in work caused by the pandemic. Also "this is a really difficult show."
Kirkman promises that the changes they've had to make now mean this kind of time lag will never happen again.
Kirkman says "it's amazing" to be working on season two and season three at the same time. Also "nervewracking" to keep on top of it all.
Season two and season three are each going to be 8 episodes.
But, he adds, "There's an extra element. Pay attention to the panel."
Kirkman confirms same exact format, same episode length, some longer than others, just like season one.
Kirkman loves having a full road map in his head of the entire show would be lay out. It's very different than doing Walking Dead, where the comic was going concurrently with the show.
Kirkman says season two didn't need as much rearranging as season one. But he promises more wild storytelling approaches, because people seemed to love that in season one.
Season one "we were in a vacuum not knowing if it would land."
We're now getting a video recap of season one.
Weintraub wonders what they've learned from season one to bring into season two. Kirkman says he learned a lot, even just how to animated scripts are written or scenes are structured.
Weintraub wonders how Kirkman works with Amazon in terms of developing the season. Kirkman says he's dealing with "very cool people" who let them "go in some really bizarre directions."
Kirkman says he sees his job as continuing to push the envelope with Amazon. He's pleased that they have yet to say he's crossed a line.
Kirkman says it takes roughly two years from writing a script to seeing it on screen. "It's a long process."
What's something that would surprise everyone to learn? Weitraub asks. "Everyone who makes this show loves it as much as you guys do."
Looks like we're about to get some season two teases!
The release date is not December 31st!
The release date IS November 3rd!
Kirkman reveals the series will do one episode every week.
"I firmly believe that the weekly release is community building, it gievs you time to digest the show and anticipate the next episode."
There will be a break in the middle of the season; the second half will be in early 2024.
"After you see what you're doing in season two, you're going to need that holiday break to be with your family," Kirkman says.
We're getting the trailer. Vroom vroom.
Lots of fighting, but the big reveal is SO MANY new actors joining the season.
It was like a whole screen filled with names of actors. Tatiana Maslany, Sterling K. Brown, many many others.
"In season two we're entering into Invincible kind of finding his own way."
Angstrom Levy is going to be a huge throughline.
Kirkman reveals they've offered Bryan Cranston a role each season and each season he's said he's very busy. He's hopeful at some point that'll work out.
Sterling K. Brown is playing Angstrom Levy.
(Kirkman was not supposed to reveal that, apparently.)
Optimus Prime himself Peter Cullen is also joining Invincible.
"I have never cried so much in a voice recording," Kirkman says.
"It's a tremendous honor. This year I got Omni Man in Mortal Kombat and I got to work with Peter Cullen. This is crazy!"
If he had to save any Optimus Prime, Kirkman says he'd save Power Master Optimus Prime.
We're being told not to photograph what's coming.
It's a clip from season two!
In the clip Invincible visits Midnight City for the first time and encounters Darkwing!
It had a lot of fun repartee between the two.
In season two, Kirkman says, Mark is very worried about whether he will in fact become his father.
Season two picks up right where season one left off. "Maybe a day later."
Kirkman won't say how many issues of the comic are covered in season two or three. "I will say that all three seasons cover different lengths of episodes."
"Sandra Oh is such a great actor" we can expect a lot more stuff with Debbie Grayson, Kirkman says.
Kirkman reveals that when Ryan Ottley came on the book, the comic got much more violent in every scene.
Kirkman says his initial idea of the book was to write a certain number of issues, 100, 200, and then hand it off.
"But I fell in love with the characters so much" he didn't want to let them go.
"The most original thing we thought we could was to write a super hero story that had finality to it."
Kirkman says he really never left Invincible; when the comic ended the show started. "When the show ends we'll bring the comic back."
Kirkman is announcing that there is a special Atom Eve episode on Prime Video that debuts TONIGHT.
They're going to show us a teaser for it now.
It looks like it's going to be an origin story. People are very pleased.
Weintraub wonders if there are other specials like that in the pipeline. Kirkman has nothing to say.
Fan Q&A.
Someone wonders if there will be fans at the Atom Eve event later tonight. Kirkman: no because the WGA and SAG are on strike. Everyone cheers.
Kirkman: It's an infleciton point in entertainment where the move to streaming and the way our business is evolving is very quickly changing in ways that actors and writers are compensated. This is possibly the last opportunity to maintain the way of life that writers and actors have experienced. It's a very important time."
Kirkman then yelled, "BUT SAY HELLO TO STEVEN YEUN!" to great laughter.
Asked about the music in the show, Kirkman says "I will admit the music in the comic sucked."
Fan wonders if Omni-Man will have a redemption arc. Kirkman says this is very hard. But read the comic book.
Kirkman says he loves the idea that aliens would have different sensibilities, rather than the same kind of familial relationships, life goals, sense of right and wrong. He likes the idea of exploring Viltrumite life.
A fan wonders which voice he heard in his head when he was writing Invincible. Kirkman says he doesn't think in terms of real life voices. But once a character is cast, that's all he hears.
Will we ever hear Allen the Alien do Seth Rogen's signature laugh? "I'm gonna say maybe."
They tried to get Rogen to record his laugh in season one. He told them "I can't just do that spontaneously. You have to make me laugh."
What was the hardest part of transitioning the production during the pandemic? "Finding the perfect team. And I think we've done it."
What's your favorite change from the comic to show? "I think it was really important to diversify the cast. So solidifying the Graysons' ethnicity, and updating characters like Amber."
Kirkman is asked to sign something. He says he shouldn't but then he does.
With all the comics and movies dealing with multiverses, what's the Invincible-r take?
Kirkman: "We're going to be using the multiverse as a mirror to show different things that could have happened with our characters." It's a character study.
If you could do a full length film of Invincible would you do it? Kirkman says he likes the episodic nature of the story, but maybe there'll be opportunities to tell longer stories along the way.
The panel is over. Everyone is happy. Go check out Atom Eve tonight!
(They didn't tell us a time for the debut, btw.)
