Invincible Makes A Marvel & DC Trope Darker Than You Thought Possible

The following contains spoilers for Invincible Season 2 Episode 5, “This Must Come as a Shock,” now streaming on Prime Video

Invincible season 2 has a decidedly brutal take on a classic Marvel/DC trope, highlighting how easily superhero stories can become absolutely horrifying. The Prime Video superhero series has never backed away from portraying a traditional superhero narrative with a brutal edge. The show (which has a confirmed season 3 on the way) has tackled alternate realities, alien invaders, and colorful heroes with gleeful abandon. The traditionally bright and fun attributes don’t keep those characters safe, with the show featuring a lot of gruesome and grisly turns that underscore the potential danger of superheroes.

This carries over to the latest episode of Invincible, “This Must Come as a Shock.” The episode’s B-Plot plays with classic tropes of superhero narratives, giving some of the Guardians of the Globe’s underpowered characters a chance in the spotlight instead of just Steven Yeun’s Invincible. Sadly, this sudden importance comes with a lot of inherent danger that Invincible plays completely straight, with the ensuing battle taking the traditional superhero narrative into a brutal and realistic direction.

Invincible Season 2 Recreates The Classic “Reserves” Trope – But Much Darker

Invincible season 2 episode 5, “This Must Come as a Shock” utilizes the “reserves” superhero trope to dramatic and horrifying effect. Much of “This Must Come as a Shock” is focused on the Guardians of the Globe responding to a global threat from Mars. This leaves the team’s less powerful heroes to protect the planet — Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, and Shrinking Rae. The Lizard League forces them into action, playing into a classic superhero trope. Plenty of Marvel and DC stories have forced the underpowered, backup, or reserve members to protect the world while the big guns are otherwise distracted.

In most iterations, the reserves prove their worth by fighting above their weight class to save the day. However, that’s not how things play out in Invincible. Instead, the trio put up a great fight but are overwhelmed by the Lizard League’s super-strong Komodo Dragon. Despite their best efforts, Dupli-Kate and Shrinking Rae are met with apparent sudden deaths. Even then, Rex doesn’t kill the villain so much as get lucky, as an overconfident Komodo bites off Rex’s hand — and gets his head blown up as a result. It’s vicious, horrifying, and a thrilling take on a classic trope.

Why Invincible’s Tonal Shift Is So Effective (& Brutal)

What makes Invincible‘s take on the “Reserve Superheroes” trope so effective is the way it uses the set-up to ratchet up tension. “This Must Come as a Shock” initially plays the trope straight, with the three young heroes rushing into battle and holding their own against the Lizard League. The tension stems from their increasing exhaustion, with the audience left worried over the mortal peril they’ve found themselves in. The show’s typically brutal take on the genre is on display with Dupli-Kate’s various demises, but the episode takes a hard turn when Kate is finally dispatched for good.

Suddenly, the traditional superhero story takes a darker turn. The brutal fates of Dupli-Kate and Shrinking Rae are vicious and blunt, the realistic result of getting within arm’s reach of a superstrong killer. Rex’s victory is a panicked one that leaves him severely injured, and unable to escape the grasp of King Lizard. It highlights the brutal potential of the “superheroes reserve” trope and adds massive tension to a fight that had seemed only moments earlier to be a standard superhero conflict. The danger in the episode highlights how superhero stories like Invincible can effectively ratchet up tension without warning.

Invincible’s Best Strength Is Undercutting Classic Superhero Narratives

This is far from the first time Invincible has subverted the norms of the superhero genre to brutal effect. In the show’s first episode, the seemingly heroic Omni-Man highlighted the true dangerous potential of a Superman-style character by viciously dispatching his teammates with mortal blows. The subversion of the “Superhero Reserve” trope only reinforces the show’s commitment to exploring a brutally realistic superhero story. Despite their best efforts, sometimes the underpowered heroes just aren’t built to stand up to the kinds of enemies the Guardians of the Globe have to encounter.

Notably, the trope still technically plays out like it normally does. The underpowered heroes get the chance to prove themselves as they refuse to back down from an overwhelming threat. Invincible is still very much a classic superhero story, but one where consequences come suddenly and brutally. The remaining Guardians of the Globe throw themselves into danger and prove themselves heroes, but at a grisly cost that will inevitably shake Invincible‘s central team to their core.