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Are you patiently waiting for the next season of Invincible? The next season of Prime Video’s animated superhero drama premieres March 18, 2026, but if you’re curious about what happens next, you could always read comics. Of course, this raises the question of how closely the Invincible television series follows the Image Comics series by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley. Let’s explore the various ways the Invincible cartoon series differs from the comics…

Does the Invincible television series closely follow the comics?

Overall, the Invincible television series closely follows the storyline from the comics. While some of the story beats and subplots are tweaked, the overall Invincible saga has played out exactly as it did in Robert Kirkman’s comic. In fact, many of the scenes are faithful to the comics, recreating entire conversations or battles panel by panel. It’s not a 100% faithful adaptation, but it’s one of the closest things you can get, especially for a superhero television show.

Invincible differences: The timeline

While the Invincible television series is largely faithful to the comics, it plays around with the timeline. Some key story beats are moved around, taking place at a later (or earlier) point in the chronology. For example, in the comics, Mark faces D.A. Sinclair in Invincible #20, shortly after enrolling in Upstate University. In the television series, Mark’s first encounter with Sinclair happens in season one, before he graduates high school.

Since Mark hasn’t graduated yet, his presence at Upstate University is part of a special college tour. Another example is Mark’s trip to Mars and meeting the Sequids. In the comics, this occurs in Invincible #18, after Mark has already fought his father. The television series places it earlier in the timeline, before Omni-Man’s epic battle against Invincible. There are numerous examples like this throughout the television series.

Invincible differences: Debbie Grayson’s emotional journey

One of the biggest improvements the Invincible television series makes to the source material is the way it handles Debbie Grayson. The comics didn’t spend a lot of time exploring Debbie, and she was largely reactive to whatever was going on with Mark or Nolan. The television series gives her more agency, showing how she became suspicious of Nolan early on. Seasons two and three create a new storyline for her, which explores how she put her life back together after Nolan’s betrayal.

Invincible differences: Donald disassembled

In Invincible #38, Donald Ferguson casually reveals that he’s part android. Donald explains that he had died years earlier, and his brain had been placed in his current android body. In the television series, this revelation had a lot more weight. In fact, it was a running subplot in season two. The animated version of Donald wasn’t aware of his cyborg physiology and was trying to make sense of the vague memories he had of dying. Donald eventually discovers that he’s part android and has an identity crisis.

Invincible differences: The problem with licensed characters

Like most comic book series, Invincible has had its fair share of crossovers. However, as Robert Kirkman explains, lawyers make it more difficult to do this on television. Characters like Spawn and Savage both participate in the Invincible War storyline, but they’re absent from the television adaptation due to licensing issues. Similarly, Spider-Man’s appearance from Invincible #33 was replaced with a new character called Agent Spider. However, Agent Spider was voiced by Spectacular Spider-Man voice actor Josh Keaton, so it was still a cool Easter egg.

Invincible differences: Shrinking Ray/Rae

In the comics, Shrinking Ray was a member of the Guardians of the Globe who met his end after being swallowed whole by Komodo Dragon. In the animated series, Shrinking Ray is reimagined as a female hero named Shrinking Rae. Unlike her comic book counterpart, Rae survives her encounter with Komodo Dragon. Rae develops a relationship with Rex Splode, which tragically ends when he sacrifices himself during the Invincible War.

Invincible differences: The Amber of it all

In the comics, Mark’s girlfriend Amber Bennett is Caucasian, while her animated counterpart is African American. The animated version of Amber also figures out Mark’s secret identity much quicker than the comic version did. The animated medium explores their relationship a bit more, giving it more depth. Both versions of the relationship end for similar reasons (Mark’s life as Invincible pushing them apart), but the animated breakup is a bit more nuanced and paced better than the one from the comic books.

This is just a small sample of the many ways the Amazon Prime Video series has tweaked the Image Comics storyline. Speaking for myself, most of the changes have been fun. The series has managed to stay true to the comic, while finding new and interesting things to say about the characters. Plus, it’s led to some surprises, like Shrinking Rae’s new role, and fun stuff like Josh Keaton as Agent Spider. It will be interesting to see how Amazon continues to reimagine the series with Invincible season four.

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