Invincible 2: The Hero Within Part 1 (2023 Film)

Invincible 2: The Hero Within Part 1 is an 2023 adult animated superhero film Based on the Image Comics series of the same name by Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, it is the sequel to Invincible (2021). The film follows After an Earth-shattering betrayal, Mark tries to get his life back on track as he makes new adversaries and allies, all while trying to suppress his greatest fear: That he may become his father!
Quote: His Greatest Challenge Begins!
== Cast ==
* Markus Sebastian "Mark" Grayson / Invincible (voiced by Steven Yeun): The eponymous main character. After developing his powers at 17 years old, Mark discovers the harsh realities of being a superhero while struggling to define himself along with a berserker-esque rage that manifests as a result of his Viltrumite heritage. Additionally, he has worked with the Teen Team before they become the new Guardians of the Globe.
* Deborah "Debbie" Grayson (voiced by Sandra Oh): Mark's mother and Nolan's wife and an experienced real estate agent who was once long adjusted to being a superhero's spouse.
* Nowl-Ahn / Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man (voiced by J. K. Simmons): Mark's father and Debbie's husband. Born on the planet Viltrum to a super-powered alien race known as the Viltrumites, Omni-Man's parents died in his youth before he joined the Viltrum Empire's intergalactic expansion several thousand years ago. After arriving on Earth 20 years prior to the series, Omni-Man is considered the most powerful superhero on the planet with a civilian identity of a rich travel writer.
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* Samantha Eve "Sam" Wilkins / Atom Eve / Phase One (voiced by Gillian Jacobs as a teen/young adult, Jazlyn Ione as a preteen, and Aria Kane as a child): A matter/energy manipulating superheroine, former member of the Teen Team, and an invitee to join the new Guardians of the Globe roster who refuses to join the latter group after learning her teammate and ex-boyfriend Rex Splode cheated on her with teammate Dupli-Kate. Struggling to find self-meaning, she chooses to help people directly with humanitarian actions.
* William Francis Clockwell (voiced by Andrew Rannells): Mark's best friend and civilian confidant who is homosexual.
* Global Defense Agency (GDA): A clandestine organization that organizes global superhero responses and utilizes advanced technology in expediting their recovery or resuscitation after death.
** Cecil Stedman (voiced by Walton Goggins): The director of the GDA who possesses a long-range personal teleporter and inducts Invincible at the start of his hero career.
** Donald Ferguson (voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos): A high-ranking GDA agent who serves directly under Cecil Stedman. Despite his apparent death during a failed attempt to stop Omni-Man, he has returned to continue working with Stedman.
* Guardians of the Globe (new roster): Heroes who were formerly of the Teen Team merged with other experienced heroes with diverse skill sets.
** The Immortal (voiced by Ross Marquand): A millennia-old superhero and former leader of the original Guardians who was once an unnamed Celtic warrior before he was exposed to a cosmic anomaly that rendered him functionally immortal unless he is decapitated. Over the years, he went on to fight in the Crusades and become Abraham Lincoln before forming the Guardians. In the first season, the Immortal is killed twice by Omni-Man, but the Mauler Twins revive him after his first death while the GDA help him recover following his second death. In the second season, Cecil Stedman assigns the Immortal to replace Robot as the new Guardians' leader, enters a relationship with fellow Guardian Dupli-Kate, and becomes distrustful of Invincible due to his experience with Omni-Man.
** Rudolph "Rudy" Connors / Robot (voiced by Ross Marquand and Zachary Quinto, respectively): A deformed individual with a condition that causes outside air to burn his lungs who is forced to live in a pod, operates a series of drones, and has a sizable personal fortune. Using "Robot", Connors formerly led the Teen Team before creating a new Guardians of the Globe roster. Amidst this, he uses Rex Splode's DNA and the Mauler Twins' expertise in cloning to make a new teenage body (also voiced by Marquand) for himself before euthanizing his original body. In the second season, Connors is replaced by the Immortal as the Guardians' leader.
** Rex Sloan / Rex Splode (voiced by Jason Mantzoukas): An incorrigible superhero who can charge potential energy into anything he touches to create explosives and a former member of the Teen Team who is selected to join the new Guardians roster. Following Omni-Man's betrayal, Rex matures and grows closer to the team.
** Katherine "Kate" Cha / Dupli-Kate (voiced by Malese Jow): A self-replicating superheroine and former member of the Teen Team who is selected to join the new Guardians roster. All Kates are numbered, with the prime Kate being numbered "1". She also has a telepathic link with her doubles, which causes her to feel what they feel.
** Rachel / Shrinking Rae (voiced by Grey Griffin): A size-manipulating superheroine who is selected to join the new Guardians roster.
** Amanda / Monster Girl (voiced by Grey Griffin): A cursed superheroine whose powers allow her to transform into a powerful masculine ogre (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), but gradually makes her younger each time she does so. She begins the series at 24 years old chronologically and 12 physically.
** Markus Grimshaw / Black Samson (voiced by Khary Payton): An original Guardian from the team's early days who left after losing his powers. Donning an armored super-suit to continue as a hero, he joins the new roster as the veteran voice. After being hospitalized by Battle Beast, his powers return to accelerate his recovery and he shelves his armor.
** Zandale Randolph / Bulletproof (voiced by Jay Pharoah): A superhero who is impervious to harm and can fly. He is invited by Cecil Stedman to join the Guardians of the Globe.
** The Shapesmith (voiced by Ben Schwartz): A Martian with shapeshifting abilities who took the place of astronaut Rus Livingston and masquerades as a human superhero.
* Amber Justine Bennett (voiced by Zazie Beetz): Mark's insightful classmate and girlfriend.
* The Mauler Twins (both voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson): Two blue-skinned, hyper-powerful, super-genius superhumans and long-time adversaries of the original Guardians. Despite their name, they are not actual twins but clones of each other, with each claiming to be the original while the other is a clone.
* Killcannon (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): A supervillain with an arm-mounted laser cannon, and an enemy of Invincible and Atom Eve.
* Arthur "Art" Rosenbaum (voiced by Mark Hamill): A superhero suit tailor and long-time friend to many superheroes, such as Omni-Man. After helping Debbie uncover the truth about Omni-Man, Art joins her in falling into a drunken depression.
* Adam Wilkins (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): Eve's abusive adopted father who vocally disapproves of her being a superhero and wants her to be normal.
* Elizabeth "Betsy" Wilkins (voiced by Grey Griffin): Eve's soft-spoken adopted mother who acts as a buffer between her husband and daughter.
* Angstrom Levy (voiced by Sterling K. Brown): A man who can create portals to other dimensions. He gathers several alternate universe variants of himself in the hopes of adding their knowledge to his own and improve his world, only to be forced to end the process early, which leaves him with a mutated brain. Driven mad due to his variants' memories, he vows revenge on Invincible.
* Principal B.N. Winslow (voiced by Reginald VelJohnson): The principal of Reginald VelJohnson High School.
* Doc Seismic (voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos): A mad scientist who holds socially progressive views towards the U.S. government and its past leaders, wields earthquake-generating wristbands, which give him concussions every time he uses them, and later gains command of an army of lava monsters known as the Magmanites.
* Kursk (voiced by Ross Marquand): A Russian electrokinetic supervillain.
* Olga (voiced by Grey Griffin): Red Rush's widow and friend of Debbie Grayson.
* Lizard League: A gang of lizard-themed supervillains.
** King Lizard (voiced by Scoot McNairy): The son of Queen Lizard who was formerly known as Prince Lizard and succeeded his mother as leader of the Lizard League.
** Salamander (voiced by Phil LaMarr): A namesake-themed member.
** Iguana: A namesake-themed member.
** Komodo Dragon: A namesake-themed member.
** Supreme Lizard (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): A Lizard League member who tried to take over while King Lizard was incarcerated until he is killed by him.
* Benjamin Taylor / Nightboy / Darkwing II (voiced by Cleveland Berto): Darkwing's former sidekick who possesses the ability to transport people to the "shadowverse" and took up his mantle following his death.
* Paul (voiced by Cliff Curtis): Debbie's fellow real-estate agent.
* The Giant (voiced by Fred Tatasciore): A orange-skinned giant cyclops with the mind of a child.
* Queen Aquaria (voiced by Tatiana Maslany): Sole monarch of the Atlanteans and their undersea kingdom after her husband Aquarus was murdered by Omni-Man. A beloved leader who rules with an iron fin, she seeks retribution for her husband's death through unconventional means.
* The Coalition of Planets: A collection of alien races gathered together to fight against the Viltrumites.
** Allen the Alien (voiced by Seth Rogen): An assessor of member world candidates for the Coalition, whose homeworld was destroyed by the Viltrumites.
** Thaedus (voiced by Peter Cullen): The founder and leader of the Coalition.
** Telia (voiced by Tatiana Maslany): Allen's girlfriend and a decorated general in the Coalition with a zero-tolerance policy for Viltrumite aggression.
* Lucan (voiced by Phil LaMarr): A Viltrumite warrior.
* Vidor (voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos): A Viltrumite warrior.
* Thula (voiced by Grey Griffin): A long-lived Viltrumite warrior.
* Theo (voiced by Daveed Diggs): The widower of Green Ghost and member of a support group for superhero spouses who briefly becomes acquainted with Debbie until he learns that she used to be married to Omni-Man and grows hostile towards her.
* Carol (voiced by Lea Thompson): The therapist of the superhero spouse support group.
* Nuolzot (voiced by Rob Delaney): A shapeshifting insectoid alien from the planet Thraxa and one of Nolan's subjects.
* Narrator (voiced by Paul F. Tompkins): The narrator for Mark's college trip and Allen's side mission.
* Andressa (voiced by Rhea Seehorn): Nolan's second wife, an inhabitant of Thraxa, and the mother of Mark's half-brother.
* General Kregg (voiced by Clancy Brown): A high-ranking Viltrumite general.
== Plot ==
On a devastated alternate Earth where Mark sided with Nolan, scientist Angstrom Levy escapes through a mysterious portal. One month after Nolan's departure, Mark continues to struggle with his father's betrayal while performing his duties as Invincible. Cecil appoints the revived Immortal to succeed Rudy as the Guardians' leader and adds a new hero called Bulletproof to their ranks. The Maulers escape prison with help from their version of Angstrom, who tasks them with building a device capable of transferring the memories of various alternate universe variants of himself to him so he can use their collective knowledge to advance Earth's technology and save other planets. Cecil sends Mark to stop the Maulers as they begin the process, forcing Angstrom to use his multiversal powers to summon variants of the Maulers, who nearly kill Mark against his wishes. Angstrom stops the transfer prematurely, causing an explosion; only one Mauler, Mark, and a horrifically scarred Angstrom survive. Driven mad by his variants' memories of their versions of Invincible and Omni-Man, Angstrom vows revenge on Mark and escapes.
While graduating, Mark defeats Doc Seismic and his Magmanites. Over the summer, tension grows between him and Debbie after she realizes he is only continuing his work as Invincible and working for Cecil to avoid Nolan's legacy. She confronts Cecil, during which she learns Donald is alive and later has a breakdown over continuous reminders of Nolan. After converting a vacant lot into a park, Eve argues with her father, believing he cannot accept that she can help with her powers. However, the park collapses due to being built on unstable ground, though no casualties were sustained. The stowaway Martian, who had taken the place of astronaut Rus Livingston, becomes inspired by original Guardian member Martian Man to become the superhero Shapesmith and join the current Guardians. After encountering and defeating Darkwing II, Cecil assigns Mark to appease the Atlanteans for original Guardian member Aquarus' death. Amidst a trial by combat, Mark battles a kaiju, but is injured by its roar. Nonetheless, he saves the Atlanteans from it against Cecil's orders. Angstrom travels to an alternate Earth where Mark was captured by the GDA to gain information on how to defeat his own.
In flashbacks, Allen's homeworld of Unopa was attacked by the Viltrumites, leading to his people joining the Coalition to stop them and breeding him to become the strongest Unopan. In the present, Allen discusses his findings from Earth with the Coalition, explaining that Mark is unaffiliated with Viltrum and Nolan left Earth. Over several members' skepticism, Coalition leader Thaedus supports Allen, believing they possess an advantage, before secretly tasking him with rooting out a Viltrumite mole within their ranks. After Allen is attacked by three Viltrumites demanding information on Mark, Earth, and Nolan however, Thaedus secretly sabotages his recovery. Concurrently, Mark attends college and meets a shapeshifting insectoid alien from the planet Thraxa, who claims his people are in danger. Upon arriving, Mark is unexpectedly reunited with Nolan, who has become Thraxa's ruler. Meanwhile, Debbie joins a support group for superhero spouses, only to be accosted by original Guardian member Green Ghost's widower, Theo, for being previously married to Omni-Man and leaves in shame.
In flashbacks, Nolan flew aimlessly through space after abandoning Earth. While contemplating suicide at a black hole, he instead saved a Thraxan ship being pulled into it and was made their ruler. In the present, Mark's lingering anger towards Nolan is worsened when he learns of Nolan's new wife, Andressa, and their child. Understanding his son's feelings, Nolan nonetheless asks for his help in protecting Thraxa, but three Viltrumite soldiers arrive. As he takes Andressa and her son to safety, Mark learns from her that Nolan truly regretted his actions and loves him. The Graysons defeat the soldiers, but are grievously wounded. Nolan is subsequently captured and taken back to Viltrum to be executed while Kregg, a high-ranking Viltrumite general, tasks Mark with Nolan's original mission of preparing Earth for their invasion or else they will destroy it. Meanwhile, Debbie accepts that her relationship with Nolan was a lie. As such, she stops accepting his income through Cecil and throws out his books. Elsewhere, Donald discovers evidence of his death. Suspicious that he might not be human, he stabs himself in the forearm as a test. Initially relieved to draw red blood, he then notices that he has bent the tip of the knife stabbing himself.
In the post credit scene, the surviving Mauler cloned himself yet again. While the clone had attempted to dismiss the original as being the clone, the original Mauler used his physical disfigurement from the explosion as definitive proof. Recalling the incident, the clone realizes to his horror what is happening: there is now an answer as of who the clone is.
The original Mauler, having been dubbed "King Mauler", used his position as leverage, forcing the clone into service and berating him endlessly; from things like how the clone poorly maintained their laboratory to even the meals he prepared for the both of them. King Mauler had planned to create even more clones beyond the original twins, putting himself above all of them with his status as the original Mauler. However, this was cut short when the clone killed him with lemonade laced with a modified mycotoxin, stating that this is why neither one is supposed to know they are a clone. And the Maulers' circumstances are much better off that way. It was implied that he intends to create another clone, with no intent of telling the resulting clone of which of them was the original.
== Sequels ==
Invincible 3: The Hero Within Part 2 (2024 Film)
Invincible 4: The Invincible War