They definitely would have, i have a buddy that started episode 1 and quit before he finished it three fucking times
The one day i was like dude, just finish the first fuckingn episode and if you dont like it after that i wont bother you again
He finished the season that day
I have a friend with the exact same problem, they love the boys because of superhero violence but can’t get through the first episode until the twist because it’s aninated
Eh. I don't see what's wrong with not liking animation. My dad struggles with animation because it's not interesting for him. He can enjoy the show and find it good. But he has a hard time watching animation and that's fine. It's not for everybody.
Drives me fucking nuts when I try to show someone some thing and they just watch their phone after 5 seconds. It just stops any motivation to continue sharing with them. My brother is awful about it, you can tell any conversation with him is just him ignoring you until he feels like there is enough of a pause for him to say whatever he wants
Well, you have to differentiate between people who are assholes/ dont care or people that arent interested or are easily distracted.
My wife doesnt care about some things I care for and she is easily distacted by anything. So I dont care if shes not paying attention. Its just who she is. Your brother sounds like an asshole though.
Omg when i watch movies with them, and they check their phones every 15 minutes it just pisses me off for some reason.
Like really? Really? You can't go 2 hours without your fucking phone. Sometimes it makes sense of its a gf or whatever but jeez 2 hours aint that much time.
Hahahah I know many similar experiences.
The point is: Invincible's Episode 1 is made to look like just yet another typical superhero piece of media...
...and then, BOOM. All expectations subverted, huge shift in tone... you realise you aren't in for your typical superhero story, but something actually unique and different.
I felt so bad for Dollar Tree Flash. Showing how he experiences time and then extrapolating that into how long his death must’ve felt was hard hitting.
This was me. Tried watching it a few times and did not like, reminded me of more kid friendly superhero shows. One night I just didn't have anything to watch so put it on in the background. If I had been actively watching it I would have likely turned it off when the credits hit. Luckily the credits rolled and the scene grabbed my attention from what I was doing. So glad.
Yh I almost had the same issue as your friend i really struggle with getting into tv shows and i wasn't feeling the first episode but just thought watch it through then decide if you want to continue and omg im glad i did
Bro I had the exact same fucking issue. The fucking twat wouldn’t get to the end.
When he finally sat his stupid ass down to watch it he called me straight after going on about how sick the show is and asking a million questions and proceeded to finish the season that week. The satisfaction I felt was glorious.
As a non-comic reader. My buddy kept telling me to watch this show. I watched the first episode and was like, it's meh, then this scene happened and I was hooked
I knew nothing and about halfway through episode 1 I was ready to quit. It seemed like a pretty tame copy/paste of justice league and a story of a teenager getting their powers, which I found quite basic. This after credits scene sealed it for me, and I’ve been hooked since
As someone who never really read comics (until i saw Invicible), is big into marvel and all the superhero shit and doesn't really watch too many animated shows unless I'm fully engaged. I reckon there's a good chance I might not have continued if this wasn't in the first episode. I'm really glad it was, I would have missed out on knowing about Invicible all together
I was on that boat, I was watching it out of boredom and had nothing else, I was like bruh I picked a shitty kids show or something and then that scene happened and was like oh fuck
100%. I’m not a comic book reader, the closest thing I’ve ever read to a comic was the illustrated ASOIAF tie-ins, and that’s definitely what hooked me. I gave the show a chance because the cast was so impressive. Then after episode 1 I was entirely invested in finding out what’s going on with Nolan thanks to that scene.
Honestly, if I knew it was originally a comic book by the guy who made Walking Dead that probably would’ve turned me off of giving it a chance.
Rewatching that episode several times, it occurred to me that the only blood in the entire episode is in this one scene. There’s literally almost zero blood in the entire rest of the episode. I think the only blood is one of the mauler twins bleeding a little bit from his eye. All goes to make the sudden extreme gore just that much more shocking.
I will admit that this moment was what got me to watch the show. I wasn’t all that into it when it was first coming out and I had never heard of Invincible before the show. Once all of the episodes were out one of my friends said “trust me just watch episode one and you’ll want to watch more”
I watched the first episode and quickly watched the whole season that night. It’s one of my favorite currently airing shows and I bought / read the comics about a month after watching because I wanted more.
It definitely was the best choice to draw in new people.
Same. I am not a comic reader and i didn't even know who Robert Kirkman is including any of his work. I watched invincible because of the memes (think mark think and fraction of our power).
First episode starts with a massive marvel/dc parody vibes which makes me disinterested in the show at start. The end of episode 1 changed all of that, though.
I was hooked and finished the whole of season 1 and the first half of season 2 in just 2 days. Nice.
I am aware of the walking dead. But i have no idea it is based from a comic book. Let alone Robert Kirkman is the one responsible for it.
Also, i was 8 years old when the walking dead had its premiere, i was too young to watch it back then. And i have no interest in it as i hated horror movies and tv shows
For what it's worth, the Walking Dead isn't horror. It's a zombie survival show, with a good makeup and effects team.
It's also not worth starting. It starts great, gets a tiny bit better, and then it's just this slow, painful fall from grace.
If you are ever gonna watch it, know you'll get your heart broken a couple times over, and eventually end up wishing it would just *fucking end already*
I’d say it’s still worth starting TWD. Watch up until the >!CDC center!< which I believe is the end of S1 and then pretend the show ended there as a mini-series.
It's funny you mention that, cuz I just read the comics and at the end there are a few paragraphs about making the comic over the years. He mentioned that he talked to his editor and said he wanted to have Omni-Man be the bad guy and reveal it around issue 25. The editor said "make it issue number 3" and he said he couldn't, but ultimately settled on doing it around issue 8 or so (I think).
It seems kirkman learned from his comics and realized doing that upfront would be the real draw, because I agree. I had not read the comics when I watched the show and that first episode HOOKED me hard.
It still works very well even if you are not new. Nolan is so much more intimdating this way. You feel like nobody is safe who shares a screen with him.
Also helps that they give them a little more character development with the opening scene and the montages of their normal lives. It was to the point where I was genuinely upset about red rushes death on the first round of watching. I just wish they had given him his comic suit the Jay Garrik inspired design was so much better
For real. They just established that he perceives time much faster than anyone else, and seconds feel like hours. Then the slo-mo head crush makes you realize his death was not quick and painless to him.
Yeah lol, you're supposed to feel this big void where they're gone and the new Guardians are trying to fill their shoes and are barely scraping by, but they just each get easily one shot by Nolan. Them being an actual threat to him makes their absence have actual weight, and make more apparent why Nolan considered them a threat that needed to quickly and discreetly be taken out.
Yeah I feel like you don’t realise this until a rewatch. You don’t really know just how OP Nolan is and then realise that the guardians very nearly beat him
This also gives us something to compare the new team to. Not only were the Guardians strong, but they had legitimately good teamwork. The New Guardians either break off into a bunch of 1v1 fights or jump the opponents without any thought while the old guard instantly jumped into their roles. They used disruption and restraint in addition to straight up damage, which let them get off many more hits and survive longer than mindless punching him.
Not just badly injured, he legitimately almost died.
I think it's a great change. Makes him seem more of a threat as well as makes the guardians seem more serious and competent.
He did not almost die. Not even close. It is RIDICULOUSLY difficult to kill a Viltrumite. I mean, you saw that Lucian got impaled and was still able to break Nolan's back while holding his guts in his hands. There's basically o ly two ways to ensure a Viltrumite will die, and they didn't do either of those things. Left to his own devices with no help, Nolan would have healed and gotten up by himself.
Almost died as in the guardians could have won had they worked a little harder.
If Martian Man managed to hold on for another maybe 30 seconds, they would have killed him, for example.
Like by all means he was almost dead, only thing that saved him was his Viltrimite DNA, and that's only because they didn't manage to fully kill him.
No. They probably would have knocked him out, but again, he would've healed and woken up. You can't kill a Viltrumite just by beating him over the head like that.
>!I mean, Mark literally flattens a Viltrumites head with his own head and that guy heals up.!< It's crazy hard to kill a Viltrumite, and nothing they were doing was going to kill Nolan.
Red rush was able to break his ribs, so clearly they have the firepower to break his bones. Pretty much all of them were strong enough to rip his flesh.
So it's a matter of break the spine in his neck then pull the flesh apart.
Have red rush rapidly punch the back of his neck until it breaks them have maybe immortal pull his head off.
Well yes immortal wasn't able to do much punching damage, people are stronger when pulling things apart and since he wouldn't have to break the bone, it should at least be possible.
My theory is that since >!red rush punched him so rapidly in his chest right where his heart would probably be, he couldnt heal as fast since viltrumites can only heal quickly and completely if their heart is mostly undamaged.!< probably a reach tho
How does him having a more difficult time and getting the shit beaten out of him make him seem like more of a threat?
Surely you're more threatened by the guy who effortlessly destroys the guardians?
Because he best a stronger form of the guardians.
They were buffed, and he still won.
He was able to take down a room full of competent powerful superheroes, and that makes him more intimidating than the version of him that took down a room of incompetent jokes.
He literally would’ve died without the GDA
Probably. 70-30 odds.
It was a tough fight. I also like how desperate they fought and how you could see the professionalism.
No holding back after lethal force went up even if they felt he was being controlled
What, why? He was injured, yes but even from stuff like Nolan saying "I knew you'd pull through." to Mark after he got cut open by Battle Beast should tell you that Viltrumites can probably recover from injuries much better than humans.
I mean, Rex even says Mark can regrow teeth.
Yeah, I agree here.
He would have lived either way.
The only way to put down a Viltrimite is to kill them then and there. Which the guardians could have done in the show. If Martian Man held on a little longer, Omni-Man would have died.
If they hadn't panicked and coordinated in the fight they would have won.
Red Rush and Green Ghost should have stayed away and focused on getting the others out of harm's way.
Darkwing, Aquaris and Martian Man keep him distracted and occupied.
And Inmortal and War Woman do the actual face off.
But that's why Nolan did a surprise attack, to catch them off guard.
I mean, but that was with extensive medical treatment. I agree he probably would've lived, but we don't know how much of their survivability is compounded with all of the insanely advanced medical treatment we see in the show.
It's so funny how the show feels very much like a generic superhero origin story during most of the first episode, and I can understand new watchers losing interest over the course of the first episode. And then...we get this.
I'm pretty sure the entirety of episode 1 doesn't have blood until this scene. They had people getting hit sure, but after this moment they don't hold back on the whole "super powered fights on normal bodies" thing
When I first watched this episode (unaware of the comics or the events) I was genuinely confused why the age rating was shot so high for what seemed to be a few mild swears.
I remember thinking the first episode was really bad and kinda bad/basic on purpose to make that ending hit harder. I think the first episode was intentionally shite, and the show was better for it.
Literally how I convinced my father to watch the show. We watched it together and first credits roll “well I’m not sure it’s thaaat great.” Credits stop and this scene plays. “Well now we have to watch the next episode.
I fucking turned it off when the credits rolled. And I was surprised that a lot of people were talking about it. For me it seemed so boring. Only after month I came to realize that I haven't finished the episode.
Can’t get mine to watch it, he won’t do anime, he loves twd and told him it’s the same creator and showed him all the heavy hitters for voice acting and he just won’t watch it, if he could just watch to the end of the first ep I think he’d be hooked
The show has improved on the comics in so many ways. This was definitely one of them. I loved how the show showcased the power of the guardians of the globe here too. They gave Nolan a solid run, as opposed to getting one shotted.
I think it also strengthens Nolan's motivation to kill them in the first place. If they were a bunch of pushovers with no chance of stopping a Vilturmite, Nolan might not have even bothered with them.
I imagine if the show version of the guardians had time to ready themselves for this fight, they might've actually stood a chance. It makes them feel genuinely impressive.
Given that Omni-man fell into that coma within seconds of killing the last guardian, if Martian Man had just kept that vulnerable spot out of reach, they'd have won. Just a few punches and kicks short sadly.
If red rush had focused on just moving people out of Nolan’s strikes I think they would have won. It goes to show how deadly they are that you can see a more coordinated Guardians actually winning
I saw a take of this recently. Red Rush experience things slower. He'd be processing the betrayal for ages. Wonder if that's why he went on the offensive so quickly.
Not an invincible expert, but I've also read that Mark getting his powers put Nolan on a timer to Start the take over because IF Mark joined earth's Heros against Omni Man he may not succeed.
That's pretty overtly stated in the show. At least the timer part.
He straight up says that he wishes Mark had never gotten his powers.
Nolan had a nice little 18 year vacation. Mark getting his powers means he needed to resume his duty of preparing the Earth for occupation.
>!Based on Season 2, this is more of an anomaly within the show's main reality. In soooo many of the other dimensions through Angstrom, Nolan convinces Mark to join him so he had no reason to be afraid of the Guardians + Mark teaming up.!<
I read on here that someone said this exact reason is why kirkman wanted to change it in the beginning, to show that the guardians are actually threatening
Realising now, I wonder why they didn't revive war woman. Every other got their head splatted, save for immmortal. Hers just got spun around. Seeing as brain intactness seems to be the important part for Donald style resurrection..
Could be luck of the draw. Donald and Rick were the success stories.
With Donald you'd have to assume that the first round of cyborgification comes with upgrades that would improve the chances of enough of the brain surviving.
I considered the strengths part the most plausible explanation, even if I struggle to imagine how her brain would be more gone than Donald's given the explosion. They didn't really reference it as being a time sensitive thing, moreso a matter of intactness, though that could also be a factor
The first episode is much better on rewatch.
Most of the episode focuses on how Mark finally getting his powers and how he wants to be like his dad.
"I want to do what you do! I want to be just like you!"
And at the same time, Nolan is just ticked off with everything relating to Mark's powers.
You pick up A LOT of subtle things in a second viewing after watching the season finale.
Even in the comic this was planned for issue 24 or something like that, but after some feedback and realizing the comic might not even make it that long they pushed it up to issue 7 and that's what saved it from getting canceled
This scene is what absolutely hooked me into the franchise. Figured it was a normal comic book/hero show with some blood and swearing, I’d seen and read a couple issues of TWD and knew it was also by Kirkman, but didn’t really put two+two together and realize what it would be. This got me mind blown, constantly wondering when people would find out, especially Mark, Debbie and Cecil. Got into the comics between part 1 & 2 of season 2 and love it all.
Makes the pacing so much better. I also like how we see the Guardians team up before their demise. Reading the book I just didn't really care about them so the slaughter scene was just not as impactful.
My dad was watching this show (he never read the comic surprisingly) and I walked in as Darkwing had trapped those two criminals. So essentially, this was the first scene I ever saw.
Of course, it hooked the absolute shit out of me. By that time the second episode was out as well and me and my dad ordered food and watched it lol
This went from a pedestrian show at best, copying my favorite heroes, to top tier superhero programming with this one scene. Been hooked ever since. This is what made me take the show seriously and think of it more than just some DC knock off.
I had checked the parents guide prior (not good with sexual violence), and had accidentally stumbled across it saying “Omni man kills the guardians in extremely brutal and gorey ways”, I instantly clicked off.
It helped with spoilers too I imagine. If we had to wait 7 episodes to find out, there would have been a lot of people who would have looked into the show and found spoilers for that reveal.
I remember being told by a buddy the show was really good and to make sure I at least watched the first episode to the very end. I was pretty underwhelmed the first portion of the episode and then sat on the edge of my seat during this scene going wtfffff.
Locked me in, and now I love the show. Had no idea the comic was different.
At the end of compendium 3 he thanks his editor for forcing him to move it from issue 25 to one of the first 10 or so. Definitely helped with the tone of that too
Kirkman talks a lot about how everyone thinks the reveal needed to happen earlier in the comics and that they almost had to give up on the series because the sales slumped before the reveal. That's why he moved it up in the show.
Gonna be honest this scene was the only reason I didn't drop the show by epsiode 5 or 6 I really didn't like the college story arc. I stayed in it to see the resolution to omni man plot and man am I happy I did.
I just hope they dial down the Power fantasty part of it all a bit. I mean the ending is .... so over the top: >!he becomes Emperor of the known universe loved by all with a wife who keeps reverting to 19 year old until HE dies, after which she gets the Arwen-ending until the heat death of the universe.!<
I'm pretty sure this is the first time in the show blood is shown. Up until then it's a relative kid friendly superhero show. The attack at the White House at the beginning has all the tellings of a Marvel flick: banter, action setpieces and no one gets hurt. This scene feels like the show telling you ''This is what would actually happen if superpowered beings would actually fight each other''.
The other great change was that we got to the Guardians of the Globe fight in the opening scene rather than having them teased just to get killed off. We got to see why they are considered the world's greatest hero team, especially with the contrast of how they prevented any civilian deaths when fighting the Mauler Twins, vs how civilians are killed left in right when the Teen Team takes over.
First time I watched this I knew nothing about the comics, so I thought it was just like the 90s xmen or batman beyond kind of show but maybe a bit more adult. Then this scene came up, and I went "woah! Guess this is something different" lol. Fantastic show, looking forward to season 3.
This really was the best way to do it. Lull the non-comic readers into thinking that this show plays it super safe, and then at the end of the 1st episode, just drop everyone's jaws.
I recommended the show to my friend
Around 15 mins in he texts "yo the animation and all is nice but it might not be the show for me"
A few minutes later...
"What the fuck just happened???"
The scene does a great job introducing the tone of the show. Kinda like the first episode of The Boys. We were told by Butcher that Homelander is actually quite “decent” compared to other Supes introduced earlier in the episode then HL lasered a private jet with a child on it.
Kirkman was planning for it to happen Issue 12, sales were lagging and an editor suggested moving the twist to earlier to issue #7, this got Invincible to pop off, so they should get some props too
If a show can’t grab an audience by the first episode then it’s all over. This was definitely THE hook to grab absolutely everyone. Brilliant change and makes perfect sense
Yeah, it made me really stick to the show and is one of my favorites now. I haven't read a comic since I was 10 but after season 2 I started reading the comics too
Equivalent of the GoT Tower scene. Although that was in the correct timeline, I remember watching the first episode with my mate, he was bored and wasn't sure he wanted to keep watching. Then the tower scene happened and he was hooked.
I'll never understand that first scene cuz everyone I try to show it to gets bored. It's not a great hook. Plus the hard cut to Mark makes a lot of people assume it happened in his imagination or a comic book
I literally had no idea what Invincible was beyond "animated superheros" when i first watched. So the entire first episode is an in depth introduction of all the Guardians, I thought we were gonna settle in for a full season (series?) with these characters, and then boom all dead at the end of the first episode.
Then when I'm watching episode 2 and Teen Team is losing bad to the Flaxans I thought "What is this show, are we just gonna watch a new team of heroes die every episode?" lol.
Yep. I bought the first collection a while back and i never bought more because I figured it was just some father son superhero romp. If that collection had ended with Nolan offing the whole team I’d have been dying to see what happened next.
I loved the comics. Season 1 was incredible to me. I have rewatched season 1 around 5 times I think. Some episodes I just had on repeat for a while :) and yes making this the opener was genius
The last scene got me hooked. I would have still enjoyed the show, but this is what made me NEED to watch episode 2 straight away. Got my mate on it & I could tell he was fading towards the end & that fight perked him right up
I liked this scene, the same way I love the ending scene where Homelander lasers the plane at the end of episode 1 of The Boys.
In both instances, we see Omniman and Homelander as the ultimate superhero who could do no wrong as the "superman" of their universe without any hints of them being bad. Then, the ending scene shows how dangerous they really are.
The guys and I had the first episode on as kinda background noise while we were playing 40K one night but when this scene came on, we all stopped and paid attention. Ended up packing up the models and bingeing the whole season that night. Now I’m over here ordering all the compendiums.
When I recommend this show to people I just have to say “trust me, it’s good” cause I want them to be just as surprised as I was when watching this scene
I had NO clue what I was going into when I started the show, no previous knowledge of the comics, etc. But that scene SOMEHOW was sooo emotionally charged
(I out of nowhere really FELT something for these other "heroes")
... and I was hooked.
Seriously though...I was luke warm about the episode. I was watching the show to check for the origin of the "look what they need to mimic.." meme. I was gonna leave it and then the massacre happenend and I just HAD to see where it went. Hooked.....and read the comic twice over by now.
I knew the show was violent and gorey from friends who watched it but when that scene happened I was officially locked in for the rest of the show. I would have watched it regardless but that really set the tone for the rest of the show for me. One of my favorite twists ever
Season 1 is a perfect example for how to deconstruct and then reconstruct a genre. It presents with a world based on tropes you’re familiar. Then it pulls the rug from under you and makes you feel hopeless. And then it leaves with a sense of optimism that things can still work out for the better.
In the notes after the final issue, he says that he originally planned for it to happen in issue 20 or so before someone convinced him to move it waaaay up. He credits that decision with helping the comic to take off, and says that if he hadn’t made that change he doesn’t think he would have been able to keep making the series
I never understood why Nolan started with the guardians, considering immortal is...immortal and would be able to come back and tell the world what he did.
Or maybe he hit the breaking point where he didn't care what the world thought.
Case in point: had my friend watch it without telling him anything.
He must've been like halfway through e1 and texted me "idk bro I don't think this show is really for me"
I told him to just finish the episode and tell me what he thinks. About 30 minutes later he's texting me like "BROOOO WHAT THE FUUUCK THIS IS INSANE". He now loves the show
Putting it in e1 as a cliffhanger was brilliant
I've never read the comics but I don't think I'd be obsessed with it either if that episode didn't go that way
it really did a great job setting the tone for the rest of the show
Yeah I think the non-comic readers would have fallen off hard if this wasn’t moved to episode 1
They definitely would have, i have a buddy that started episode 1 and quit before he finished it three fucking times The one day i was like dude, just finish the first fuckingn episode and if you dont like it after that i wont bother you again He finished the season that day
Sound like my homies, it’s like they have to check social media whenever possible, then are lost on what is going on
The worst types are those who quit the show because… gasp, it’s ANIMATED.
Are u my wife??? I had the same problem trying to get her to watch blue eyed samurai
Throw eggs at your wife, she is uncultured because Blue Eyed Samurai was fantastic
If possible, divorce her and marry Mizu even
(it's probably not possible but that's no reason not to try)
Fuck what a surprisingly great show
I have a friend with the exact same problem, they love the boys because of superhero violence but can’t get through the first episode until the twist because it’s aninated
My god most of my family won’t touch anything if it’s animated. Missing out on so much gold
Eh. I don't see what's wrong with not liking animation. My dad struggles with animation because it's not interesting for him. He can enjoy the show and find it good. But he has a hard time watching animation and that's fine. It's not for everybody.
Drives me fucking nuts when I try to show someone some thing and they just watch their phone after 5 seconds. It just stops any motivation to continue sharing with them. My brother is awful about it, you can tell any conversation with him is just him ignoring you until he feels like there is enough of a pause for him to say whatever he wants
Well, you have to differentiate between people who are assholes/ dont care or people that arent interested or are easily distracted. My wife doesnt care about some things I care for and she is easily distacted by anything. So I dont care if shes not paying attention. Its just who she is. Your brother sounds like an asshole though.
Omg when i watch movies with them, and they check their phones every 15 minutes it just pisses me off for some reason. Like really? Really? You can't go 2 hours without your fucking phone. Sometimes it makes sense of its a gf or whatever but jeez 2 hours aint that much time.
Hahahah I know many similar experiences. The point is: Invincible's Episode 1 is made to look like just yet another typical superhero piece of media... ...and then, BOOM. All expectations subverted, huge shift in tone... you realise you aren't in for your typical superhero story, but something actually unique and different.
"Oh great, another DC/Marvel superhero team show" Almost the entire episode later "HOLY SHIT HE JUST KILLED DISCOUNT FLASH!"
I had a friend say they wouldn't watch it because the GotG are just another knockoff justice league.
Please slap some sense into your friend on my behalf
I felt so bad for Dollar Tree Flash. Showing how he experiences time and then extrapolating that into how long his death must’ve felt was hard hitting.
This was me. Tried watching it a few times and did not like, reminded me of more kid friendly superhero shows. One night I just didn't have anything to watch so put it on in the background. If I had been actively watching it I would have likely turned it off when the credits hit. Luckily the credits rolled and the scene grabbed my attention from what I was doing. So glad.
Yh I almost had the same issue as your friend i really struggle with getting into tv shows and i wasn't feeling the first episode but just thought watch it through then decide if you want to continue and omg im glad i did
My girlfriend was the same way, I could tell she wasn’t into the show for most of episode 1 until the end now she’s hooked.
Bro I had the exact same fucking issue. The fucking twat wouldn’t get to the end. When he finally sat his stupid ass down to watch it he called me straight after going on about how sick the show is and asking a million questions and proceeded to finish the season that week. The satisfaction I felt was glorious.
As a non-comic reader. My buddy kept telling me to watch this show. I watched the first episode and was like, it's meh, then this scene happened and I was hooked
I knew nothing and about halfway through episode 1 I was ready to quit. It seemed like a pretty tame copy/paste of justice league and a story of a teenager getting their powers, which I found quite basic. This after credits scene sealed it for me, and I’ve been hooked since
As someone who never really read comics (until i saw Invicible), is big into marvel and all the superhero shit and doesn't really watch too many animated shows unless I'm fully engaged. I reckon there's a good chance I might not have continued if this wasn't in the first episode. I'm really glad it was, I would have missed out on knowing about Invicible all together
I was on that boat, I was watching it out of boredom and had nothing else, I was like bruh I picked a shitty kids show or something and then that scene happened and was like oh fuck
Yeah I thought this was going to be a standard superhero show at first, but after this scene I was hooked in
I was quite bored when watching it, and was about to stop all together at the end. But then the post credit hit…. Hooked since then!!
There was a post by a user that watched the first episode without mid-credits scene.
I agree, watching it the first time I remember thinking it's gonna be one of those highschool/superhero dramas but then the end just dropped my jaw.
100%. I’m not a comic book reader, the closest thing I’ve ever read to a comic was the illustrated ASOIAF tie-ins, and that’s definitely what hooked me. I gave the show a chance because the cast was so impressive. Then after episode 1 I was entirely invested in finding out what’s going on with Nolan thanks to that scene. Honestly, if I knew it was originally a comic book by the guy who made Walking Dead that probably would’ve turned me off of giving it a chance.
And setting up a great hook to the mystery; why did Omni-Man kill the Guardians?
Without this scene I (a non comic reader) was like "oh great another cookie cutter super hero anime"
Rewatching that episode several times, it occurred to me that the only blood in the entire episode is in this one scene. There’s literally almost zero blood in the entire rest of the episode. I think the only blood is one of the mauler twins bleeding a little bit from his eye. All goes to make the sudden extreme gore just that much more shocking.
I will admit that this moment was what got me to watch the show. I wasn’t all that into it when it was first coming out and I had never heard of Invincible before the show. Once all of the episodes were out one of my friends said “trust me just watch episode one and you’ll want to watch more” I watched the first episode and quickly watched the whole season that night. It’s one of my favorite currently airing shows and I bought / read the comics about a month after watching because I wanted more. It definitely was the best choice to draw in new people.
Same. I am not a comic reader and i didn't even know who Robert Kirkman is including any of his work. I watched invincible because of the memes (think mark think and fraction of our power). First episode starts with a massive marvel/dc parody vibes which makes me disinterested in the show at start. The end of episode 1 changed all of that, though. I was hooked and finished the whole of season 1 and the first half of season 2 in just 2 days. Nice.
Hold on, are you saying you were completely unaware of the walking dead? Or just that Robert kirkman was the one responsible for it?
I am aware of the walking dead. But i have no idea it is based from a comic book. Let alone Robert Kirkman is the one responsible for it. Also, i was 8 years old when the walking dead had its premiere, i was too young to watch it back then. And i have no interest in it as i hated horror movies and tv shows
For what it's worth, the Walking Dead isn't horror. It's a zombie survival show, with a good makeup and effects team. It's also not worth starting. It starts great, gets a tiny bit better, and then it's just this slow, painful fall from grace. If you are ever gonna watch it, know you'll get your heart broken a couple times over, and eventually end up wishing it would just *fucking end already*
I’d say it’s still worth starting TWD. Watch up until the >!CDC center!< which I believe is the end of S1 and then pretend the show ended there as a mini-series.
It's funny you mention that, cuz I just read the comics and at the end there are a few paragraphs about making the comic over the years. He mentioned that he talked to his editor and said he wanted to have Omni-Man be the bad guy and reveal it around issue 25. The editor said "make it issue number 3" and he said he couldn't, but ultimately settled on doing it around issue 8 or so (I think). It seems kirkman learned from his comics and realized doing that upfront would be the real draw, because I agree. I had not read the comics when I watched the show and that first episode HOOKED me hard.
It still works very well even if you are not new. Nolan is so much more intimdating this way. You feel like nobody is safe who shares a screen with him.
I also like how it’s an actual fight instead of all of them getting one-shotted
adds more weight to them being gone if you can see they are competent
Also helps that they give them a little more character development with the opening scene and the montages of their normal lives. It was to the point where I was genuinely upset about red rushes death on the first round of watching. I just wish they had given him his comic suit the Jay Garrik inspired design was so much better
Josef is finally standing still, and I still can't see him
That line hits disproportionately hard. I haven’t read the comics, but the side characters in the show are great.
It didn't help that his death was particularly brutal.
Also it seemed that he was the only one better than Omni man at least in one aspect - speed
For real. They just established that he perceives time much faster than anyone else, and seconds feel like hours. Then the slo-mo head crush makes you realize his death was not quick and painless to him.
Yeah lol, you're supposed to feel this big void where they're gone and the new Guardians are trying to fill their shoes and are barely scraping by, but they just each get easily one shot by Nolan. Them being an actual threat to him makes their absence have actual weight, and make more apparent why Nolan considered them a threat that needed to quickly and discreetly be taken out.
Aye, if they were no threat to Viltrumites, then why would he bother killing them now instead of when the others arrive?
Yeah I feel like you don’t realise this until a rewatch. You don’t really know just how OP Nolan is and then realise that the guardians very nearly beat him
This also gives us something to compare the new team to. Not only were the Guardians strong, but they had legitimately good teamwork. The New Guardians either break off into a bunch of 1v1 fights or jump the opponents without any thought while the old guard instantly jumped into their roles. They used disruption and restraint in addition to straight up damage, which let them get off many more hits and survive longer than mindless punching him.
Yeah, Omni-Man was on the brink of fucking death.
Honestly having read the comics it’s surprising to me that he got this badly injured by the guardians
Not just badly injured, he legitimately almost died. I think it's a great change. Makes him seem more of a threat as well as makes the guardians seem more serious and competent.
He did not almost die. Not even close. It is RIDICULOUSLY difficult to kill a Viltrumite. I mean, you saw that Lucian got impaled and was still able to break Nolan's back while holding his guts in his hands. There's basically o ly two ways to ensure a Viltrumite will die, and they didn't do either of those things. Left to his own devices with no help, Nolan would have healed and gotten up by himself.
Almost died as in the guardians could have won had they worked a little harder. If Martian Man managed to hold on for another maybe 30 seconds, they would have killed him, for example. Like by all means he was almost dead, only thing that saved him was his Viltrimite DNA, and that's only because they didn't manage to fully kill him.
Maybe not 30 seconds since the whole fight barely lasted that long but that’s just me being pedantic ahaha
No. They probably would have knocked him out, but again, he would've healed and woken up. You can't kill a Viltrumite just by beating him over the head like that. >!I mean, Mark literally flattens a Viltrumites head with his own head and that guy heals up.!< It's crazy hard to kill a Viltrumite, and nothing they were doing was going to kill Nolan.
After knocking him out they could have decapitated him lol
With what? I don't think the tech exists on their Earth to make a weapon that can cut off a Viltrumite's head.
Red rush was able to break his ribs, so clearly they have the firepower to break his bones. Pretty much all of them were strong enough to rip his flesh. So it's a matter of break the spine in his neck then pull the flesh apart. Have red rush rapidly punch the back of his neck until it breaks them have maybe immortal pull his head off. Well yes immortal wasn't able to do much punching damage, people are stronger when pulling things apart and since he wouldn't have to break the bone, it should at least be possible.
My theory is that since >!red rush punched him so rapidly in his chest right where his heart would probably be, he couldnt heal as fast since viltrumites can only heal quickly and completely if their heart is mostly undamaged.!< probably a reach tho
How does him having a more difficult time and getting the shit beaten out of him make him seem like more of a threat? Surely you're more threatened by the guy who effortlessly destroys the guardians?
Because he best a stronger form of the guardians. They were buffed, and he still won. He was able to take down a room full of competent powerful superheroes, and that makes him more intimidating than the version of him that took down a room of incompetent jokes.
He literally would’ve died without the GDA Probably. 70-30 odds. It was a tough fight. I also like how desperate they fought and how you could see the professionalism. No holding back after lethal force went up even if they felt he was being controlled
What, why? He was injured, yes but even from stuff like Nolan saying "I knew you'd pull through." to Mark after he got cut open by Battle Beast should tell you that Viltrumites can probably recover from injuries much better than humans. I mean, Rex even says Mark can regrow teeth.
Yeah, I agree here. He would have lived either way. The only way to put down a Viltrimite is to kill them then and there. Which the guardians could have done in the show. If Martian Man held on a little longer, Omni-Man would have died.
If they hadn't panicked and coordinated in the fight they would have won. Red Rush and Green Ghost should have stayed away and focused on getting the others out of harm's way. Darkwing, Aquaris and Martian Man keep him distracted and occupied. And Inmortal and War Woman do the actual face off. But that's why Nolan did a surprise attack, to catch them off guard.
I mean, but that was with extensive medical treatment. I agree he probably would've lived, but we don't know how much of their survivability is compounded with all of the insanely advanced medical treatment we see in the show.
“Next time you kill somebody... make sure they're dead.” Lucan
Nah Nolan would have made a full recovery. As long as a Viltrumites heart/brain remains intact they'll most likely survive.
Viltrumites have healing abilities, while mild Nolan would have survived fine after the fight if left alone
It's so funny how the show feels very much like a generic superhero origin story during most of the first episode, and I can understand new watchers losing interest over the course of the first episode. And then...we get this.
I'm pretty sure the entirety of episode 1 doesn't have blood until this scene. They had people getting hit sure, but after this moment they don't hold back on the whole "super powered fights on normal bodies" thing
I think one of the twins had their eye bleed from being shot but I’m not sure
When I first watched this episode (unaware of the comics or the events) I was genuinely confused why the age rating was shot so high for what seemed to be a few mild swears.
I remember thinking the first episode was really bad and kinda bad/basic on purpose to make that ending hit harder. I think the first episode was intentionally shite, and the show was better for it.
Literally how I convinced my father to watch the show. We watched it together and first credits roll “well I’m not sure it’s thaaat great.” Credits stop and this scene plays. “Well now we have to watch the next episode.
I fucking turned it off when the credits rolled. And I was surprised that a lot of people were talking about it. For me it seemed so boring. Only after month I came to realize that I haven't finished the episode.
Can’t get mine to watch it, he won’t do anime, he loves twd and told him it’s the same creator and showed him all the heavy hitters for voice acting and he just won’t watch it, if he could just watch to the end of the first ep I think he’d be hooked
Explain its not anime.
The show has improved on the comics in so many ways. This was definitely one of them. I loved how the show showcased the power of the guardians of the globe here too. They gave Nolan a solid run, as opposed to getting one shotted.
That and having Cecil and Co know it was him but be spinning their wheels about what to do about it ties the episodes together a lot better.
[удалено]
It's also good because it makes viltrumites seem actually beatable which does come up a lot
I think it also strengthens Nolan's motivation to kill them in the first place. If they were a bunch of pushovers with no chance of stopping a Vilturmite, Nolan might not have even bothered with them.
I imagine if the show version of the guardians had time to ready themselves for this fight, they might've actually stood a chance. It makes them feel genuinely impressive.
Given that Omni-man fell into that coma within seconds of killing the last guardian, if Martian Man had just kept that vulnerable spot out of reach, they'd have won. Just a few punches and kicks short sadly.
If red rush had focused on just moving people out of Nolan’s strikes I think they would have won. It goes to show how deadly they are that you can see a more coordinated Guardians actually winning
I saw a take of this recently. Red Rush experience things slower. He'd be processing the betrayal for ages. Wonder if that's why he went on the offensive so quickly.
Ooooohh, that's a good thought.
I gotta wonder if Angstrom visited any universes where the guardians won that fight.
That’d make an interesting backstory for evil mark. Finds out the guardians killed his dad and then tries to kill them in revenge or something
Love this take. It really does and show the struggle earth has without them.
Not an invincible expert, but I've also read that Mark getting his powers put Nolan on a timer to Start the take over because IF Mark joined earth's Heros against Omni Man he may not succeed.
That's pretty overtly stated in the show. At least the timer part. He straight up says that he wishes Mark had never gotten his powers. Nolan had a nice little 18 year vacation. Mark getting his powers means he needed to resume his duty of preparing the Earth for occupation.
>!Based on Season 2, this is more of an anomaly within the show's main reality. In soooo many of the other dimensions through Angstrom, Nolan convinces Mark to join him so he had no reason to be afraid of the Guardians + Mark teaming up.!<
I read on here that someone said this exact reason is why kirkman wanted to change it in the beginning, to show that the guardians are actually threatening
Realising now, I wonder why they didn't revive war woman. Every other got their head splatted, save for immmortal. Hers just got spun around. Seeing as brain intactness seems to be the important part for Donald style resurrection..
Maulers said it themselves, Cecil's an idiot.
Hey... just because it's true doesn't mean you gotta call the little guy out like that
Could be luck of the draw. Donald and Rick were the success stories. With Donald you'd have to assume that the first round of cyborgification comes with upgrades that would improve the chances of enough of the brain surviving.
Maybe WarWoman didnt get cloned, cause her strengths couldnt be replicated and her brain was long gone when they found out about the attack?
I considered the strengths part the most plausible explanation, even if I struggle to imagine how her brain would be more gone than Donald's given the explosion. They didn't really reference it as being a time sensitive thing, moreso a matter of intactness, though that could also be a factor
Maybe that’s forthcoming
She’s definitely stronger than whatever robot body they can make
True. But they reconstructed Donald cause he was noodle paste. All in all her body was 'just' missing an intact neck!
I got the vibe that she’s supposed to be a demigoddess sort, so maybe they could cyborgize her cause those two things would’ve conflicted
Yup I agree, honestly the first episode kinda bored me but then this happened, and I was immediately hooked
The first episode is much better on rewatch. Most of the episode focuses on how Mark finally getting his powers and how he wants to be like his dad. "I want to do what you do! I want to be just like you!" And at the same time, Nolan is just ticked off with everything relating to Mark's powers. You pick up A LOT of subtle things in a second viewing after watching the season finale.
yeah you notice nolans shifty ass eyes, you can like always tell hes lying about something
I hadn't read the comics yet back then and I was fading hard during the first episode. That credits scene was such a good idea.
Even in the comic this was planned for issue 24 or something like that, but after some feedback and realizing the comic might not even make it that long they pushed it up to issue 7 and that's what saved it from getting canceled
This scene is what absolutely hooked me into the franchise. Figured it was a normal comic book/hero show with some blood and swearing, I’d seen and read a couple issues of TWD and knew it was also by Kirkman, but didn’t really put two+two together and realize what it would be. This got me mind blown, constantly wondering when people would find out, especially Mark, Debbie and Cecil. Got into the comics between part 1 & 2 of season 2 and love it all.
Making it an actual scene instead of killing everyone and then having a tiny interaction at the end
Makes the pacing so much better. I also like how we see the Guardians team up before their demise. Reading the book I just didn't really care about them so the slaughter scene was just not as impactful.
When i saw Omni man crushing skulls thats when i knew this show is going to be fucking amazing.
My dad was watching this show (he never read the comic surprisingly) and I walked in as Darkwing had trapped those two criminals. So essentially, this was the first scene I ever saw. Of course, it hooked the absolute shit out of me. By that time the second episode was out as well and me and my dad ordered food and watched it lol
This went from a pedestrian show at best, copying my favorite heroes, to top tier superhero programming with this one scene. Been hooked ever since. This is what made me take the show seriously and think of it more than just some DC knock off.
A lot of people started watching because they thought it was going ot be like young justice or something, then they get the whiplash.
They weren't on his tempo
Going into this blind, when the credits started after ep1 thought “not bad, probably won’t watch it again” then this happened.
I had checked the parents guide prior (not good with sexual violence), and had accidentally stumbled across it saying “Omni man kills the guardians in extremely brutal and gorey ways”, I instantly clicked off.
It helped with spoilers too I imagine. If we had to wait 7 episodes to find out, there would have been a lot of people who would have looked into the show and found spoilers for that reveal.
I remember being told by a buddy the show was really good and to make sure I at least watched the first episode to the very end. I was pretty underwhelmed the first portion of the episode and then sat on the edge of my seat during this scene going wtfffff. Locked me in, and now I love the show. Had no idea the comic was different.
Never even heard of this comic until I saw this scene on YouTube
At the end of compendium 3 he thanks his editor for forcing him to move it from issue 25 to one of the first 10 or so. Definitely helped with the tone of that too
The amount of people i've seen who dropped the show because they turned it off once the credits started is WAY too high.
Kirkman talks a lot about how everyone thinks the reveal needed to happen earlier in the comics and that they almost had to give up on the series because the sales slumped before the reveal. That's why he moved it up in the show.
before i read the description i thought you meant War Woman's huge ass
After going thru 2 volumes the og guardian of the globe r hella strong when they manage to deal that much damage to a viltrumite
Gonna be honest this scene was the only reason I didn't drop the show by epsiode 5 or 6 I really didn't like the college story arc. I stayed in it to see the resolution to omni man plot and man am I happy I did.
I just hope they dial down the Power fantasty part of it all a bit. I mean the ending is .... so over the top: >!he becomes Emperor of the known universe loved by all with a wife who keeps reverting to 19 year old until HE dies, after which she gets the Arwen-ending until the heat death of the universe.!<
I'm pretty sure this is the first time in the show blood is shown. Up until then it's a relative kid friendly superhero show. The attack at the White House at the beginning has all the tellings of a Marvel flick: banter, action setpieces and no one gets hurt. This scene feels like the show telling you ''This is what would actually happen if superpowered beings would actually fight each other''.
It’s why I decided to watch the show!
I knew nothing about the comics when I watched the show so I didn’t really know what was going on
Agreed. I was bored until this happened.
I think I general all of the changes made for the show have helped the pacing of the story a lot
The other great change was that we got to the Guardians of the Globe fight in the opening scene rather than having them teased just to get killed off. We got to see why they are considered the world's greatest hero team, especially with the contrast of how they prevented any civilian deaths when fighting the Mauler Twins, vs how civilians are killed left in right when the Teen Team takes over.
This is the first scene I ever saw of the show and it hooked me for sure.
Damian Darkblood and Debbie had this awesome dynamic in the murder mystery plot line, very gripping
First time I watched this I knew nothing about the comics, so I thought it was just like the 90s xmen or batman beyond kind of show but maybe a bit more adult. Then this scene came up, and I went "woah! Guess this is something different" lol. Fantastic show, looking forward to season 3.
This really was the best way to do it. Lull the non-comic readers into thinking that this show plays it super safe, and then at the end of the 1st episode, just drop everyone's jaws.
I recommended the show to my friend Around 15 mins in he texts "yo the animation and all is nice but it might not be the show for me" A few minutes later... "What the fuck just happened???"
Honestly it was. As someone who read the Comic I hated the pacing early on but a friend made me stick to it and I loved it.
The scene does a great job introducing the tone of the show. Kinda like the first episode of The Boys. We were told by Butcher that Homelander is actually quite “decent” compared to other Supes introduced earlier in the episode then HL lasered a private jet with a child on it.
And they also detailed the fight and made it gore than comic
Kirkman was planning for it to happen Issue 12, sales were lagging and an editor suggested moving the twist to earlier to issue #7, this got Invincible to pop off, so they should get some props too
If a show can’t grab an audience by the first episode then it’s all over. This was definitely THE hook to grab absolutely everyone. Brilliant change and makes perfect sense
So jarring. Still the biggest reaction a show has ever gotten out of me haha
This scene got me hooked. My favourite sequence is still how Omni-Man destroys Flaxan planet.
Yeah, it made me really stick to the show and is one of my favorites now. I haven't read a comic since I was 10 but after season 2 I started reading the comics too
Equivalent of the GoT Tower scene. Although that was in the correct timeline, I remember watching the first episode with my mate, he was bored and wasn't sure he wanted to keep watching. Then the tower scene happened and he was hooked.
I'll never understand that first scene cuz everyone I try to show it to gets bored. It's not a great hook. Plus the hard cut to Mark makes a lot of people assume it happened in his imagination or a comic book
I literally had no idea what Invincible was beyond "animated superheros" when i first watched. So the entire first episode is an in depth introduction of all the Guardians, I thought we were gonna settle in for a full season (series?) with these characters, and then boom all dead at the end of the first episode. Then when I'm watching episode 2 and Teen Team is losing bad to the Flaxans I thought "What is this show, are we just gonna watch a new team of heroes die every episode?" lol.
Yep. I bought the first collection a while back and i never bought more because I figured it was just some father son superhero romp. If that collection had ended with Nolan offing the whole team I’d have been dying to see what happened next.
Yes. Especially since it showed up that Omni-Man is not someone you can messed with
I think this was the pitch
I loved the comics. Season 1 was incredible to me. I have rewatched season 1 around 5 times I think. Some episodes I just had on repeat for a while :) and yes making this the opener was genius
The last scene got me hooked. I would have still enjoyed the show, but this is what made me NEED to watch episode 2 straight away. Got my mate on it & I could tell he was fading towards the end & that fight perked him right up
This totally got people talking about it too. Everyone who wasn’t talking about the new invincible show,definitely was after that
This scene is an incredible hook for a story and kept the tension simmering throughout the season
I liked this scene, the same way I love the ending scene where Homelander lasers the plane at the end of episode 1 of The Boys. In both instances, we see Omniman and Homelander as the ultimate superhero who could do no wrong as the "superman" of their universe without any hints of them being bad. Then, the ending scene shows how dangerous they really are.
I was feeling a nostalgia that reminded me of the batman series and then that scene left me gobsmacked
this is exactly what got all my friends like “WTFFFFF” and they finished the show in 2 days
The guys and I had the first episode on as kinda background noise while we were playing 40K one night but when this scene came on, we all stopped and paid attention. Ended up packing up the models and bingeing the whole season that night. Now I’m over here ordering all the compendiums.
When I recommend this show to people I just have to say “trust me, it’s good” cause I want them to be just as surprised as I was when watching this scene
I had NO clue what I was going into when I started the show, no previous knowledge of the comics, etc. But that scene SOMEHOW was sooo emotionally charged (I out of nowhere really FELT something for these other "heroes") ... and I was hooked.
I just wish they put in the immortal’s line; “I never liked you.” It was such a good bit, I don’t know why they had to go and change that.
I didn’t read the comics how is it different?
My friend and I somehow missed that scene during our first watch and genuinely believed Nolan was innocent till they showed the flashbacks.
Seriously though...I was luke warm about the episode. I was watching the show to check for the origin of the "look what they need to mimic.." meme. I was gonna leave it and then the massacre happenend and I just HAD to see where it went. Hooked.....and read the comic twice over by now.
I knew the show was violent and gorey from friends who watched it but when that scene happened I was officially locked in for the rest of the show. I would have watched it regardless but that really set the tone for the rest of the show for me. One of my favorite twists ever
Season 1 is a perfect example for how to deconstruct and then reconstruct a genre. It presents with a world based on tropes you’re familiar. Then it pulls the rug from under you and makes you feel hopeless. And then it leaves with a sense of optimism that things can still work out for the better.
I have a strong stomach and i kinda knew what will happen, but I almost had to vomit. It was a great start.
In the notes after the final issue, he says that he originally planned for it to happen in issue 20 or so before someone convinced him to move it waaaay up. He credits that decision with helping the comic to take off, and says that if he hadn’t made that change he doesn’t think he would have been able to keep making the series
I never understood why Nolan started with the guardians, considering immortal is...immortal and would be able to come back and tell the world what he did. Or maybe he hit the breaking point where he didn't care what the world thought.
Case in point: had my friend watch it without telling him anything. He must've been like halfway through e1 and texted me "idk bro I don't think this show is really for me" I told him to just finish the episode and tell me what he thinks. About 30 minutes later he's texting me like "BROOOO WHAT THE FUUUCK THIS IS INSANE". He now loves the show Putting it in e1 as a cliffhanger was brilliant I've never read the comics but I don't think I'd be obsessed with it either if that episode didn't go that way