Invincible Season 2’s Star Trek Reference Perfectly Highlights A Brilliant Casting Decision

Invincible season 2 made a brief reference to Star Trek that seems like a throwaway gag, but it actually shines a light on a key member of the Invincible cast. The line itself isn’t presented as a joke, but it’s an amusingly meta connection between the two franchises. Invincible isn’t the kind of show to make too many direct references to other properties, so this one feels especially poignant.

The characters in Invincible all have incredibly rich backstories. As well as having heroes born on Earth, certain figures have extraterrestrial origins. Due to this, Invincible season 2 has shifted much of its focus to adventures among the stars. Moving the story away from Earth has afforded the show new opportunities that could be built upon for the remainder of the season and an inevitable Invincible season 3. The adjustment to season 2’s setting is also what allowed a certain reference to take place.

Robot’s Star Trek Quip Acknowledges Zachary Quinto’s Time As Spock

Quinto may yet play Spock a fourth time

Invincible brings together stars from various franchises. The properties represented by the Invincible voice cast include Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, The Walking Dead, and Star Trek. The latter of these three is referenced by Zachary Quinto’s Robot in Invincible season 2, episode 6, “This Must Come as a Shock.” When questioned by a member of his crew if their shuttle has shields, Robot replies with, “This isn’t Star Trek, we’re unarmed.” The joke is fairly benign, but when it’s considered that Quinto played Spock in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek movies, the quip becomes something much more.

Zachary Quinto played Spock three times between 2009 and 2016. Even though the third Abrams reboot movie, Star Trek Beyond, was released eight years ago, a fourth entry into the film series is still expected to be made. Therefore, Quinto could still return to the role of Spock while also voicing Robot in Invincible. While Robot’s comment doesn’t canonically connect Invincible to Star Trek, it’s still a fun moment.

Robot & Spock Have More In Common Than Just Zachary Quinto

Quinto plays Robot very similarly to how he plays Spock

The Star Trek reference from “This Must Come as a Shock” does more than just prod fun at certain science-fiction tropes. Both Quinto characters actually have many shared traits that the connection highlights. For instance, both Robot and Shock struggle with processing and learning about human emotions. They both come across as cold and logical, but they each often make decisions based on feeling and gut instinct.

The similarities don’t end there. The speech patterns of Robot aren’t dissimilar to those of Spock. The way both characters speak displays a calm, measured disposition, with every word being carefully weighed before it’s imparted. Quinto’s experience with portraying a character like Spock may very well have contributed to him being cast as Robot. So, even though Quinto’s Invincible character is only playfully referencing his Star Trek counterpart, the pair of fictional figures share more than a meta connection.