Cecil Stedman

> You only see good and evil, black and white. Well I need to keep things gray.
>
> Cecil Steadman in Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out

**Cecil Stedman** is a major character in *Invincible*. He is a government agent in charge of the Global Defense Agency. After the murder of the Guardians of the Globe, he attempted to find the killer, but soon discovered it to be none other than Omni-Man. Since the former's departure from Earth, he has foreseen the construction of dozens of enhanced superhuman soldiers.

## History

The Guardians are dead, and Omni-Man lays next to them, injured as well. A door opens and invisible agents look at the scene, followed by paramedics, who are shocked and disgusted. They find Omni-Man is alive and they move the bodies out from the room. Cecil mentions he had never seen anything like it and bangs his fist against a table in a rage.

When Debbie Grayson and Mark make it to Nolan's room, where they see Nolan laying without responding. Cecil introduces himself and tells them that they have no idea who did it. Debbie tells him that he has some nerve, but he tells them that the Guardians had been murdered and they were unable to bring them back with Nolan being the only survivor. Cecil tells them that the news would eventually spread, but he wanted them to know first. Debbie asks for materials and refuses to leave Nolan, mentioning that she had patched him up for twenty years. Donald gets a report that there was an undergoing attack with multiple casualties and Mark leaves to go help out.

After Teen Team fought the Flaxans, Cecil tells Robot that they had done well, but had not achieved a victory since 338 people had died. Robot reveals that the aliens called themselves The Flaxans and had six ideas as to why they had left. However, he saw a tank that The Flaxans had used and noted that the alloy of which the tank was comprised should take years to corrode and oxidize, which meant that time ran faster where they came from. Cecil asks how Invincible had done, and while Robot thinks that he has promise, he mentions that he seems unprepared. Cecil says that he would need his help, and leaves.

Cecil asks Donald for some good news, but he tells his boss that whoever had killed the Guardians had turned off the cameras and security systems. Cecil complains that what he had said was not good news and tells everybody to get out. He tells the demon detective Damien Darkblood to reveal himself. Darkblood looks around and tells Cecil everything he knows. Cecil tells Darkblood to have at it and let him know if he needs help.

Later, when Allen the Alien visited, Cecil went to Omni-Man and his family and told them that they had seen somebody from Mars approaching Earth. Debbie refused to let Omni-Man do it, so Mark offered to do it himself. Nolan told him to knock some sense into the guy and send him back where he came from.

While Mark fights Allen, Nolan tells Cecil what he remembers from the night the Guardians were killed. He tells him that he had gotten a distress call from the Guardians, but everything seemed fine when he had gotten there. However, the lights had gone out and he fought against the enemy until he passed out. Cecil is not convinced and says that he had never seen Nolan lose like that, but believed that somebody was acting clever.

At the Guardians' funeral Cecil calls Robot, and told him that he ran a mean superhero team. Robot thanked him, and Cecil offered him a job at the GDA so he could build him a new Guardians of the Globe, only answering to him. Robot asked if Omni-Man would not be the better choice, but Cecil mentioned that after a decade of trying to make him an official Guardian, he still refused to take orders from him.

Amber and Mark have a date, who picks up at book William had brought. Mark nervously introduced himself as a comic fan. Amber asks which his favorite is, so Mark starts talking about them. Amber asks if she can borrow one, which Mark agrees to. Mark's phone rings and he hangs up, but he is called once again, so he turns his phone off. He is surprised when he is called yet again, so he picks up and Cecil pops out from his phone, relieved that Amber had left.

Mark asks Cecil if he had been spying on him, but Cecil tells him that if he wants to be a hero, privacy is not an option. Mark points out that he did not even work for him, but Cecil counters by telling him he never would if he never showed respect or decided if he wanted to be a hero. Mark is forced to decide then, and he says he does want to be a hero. Cecil hands him a comm device and tells him Eve would be there as well. Cecil tells him that he needs to go to Mount Rushmore, which Mark does not know where to find. His boss complains that schools did not teach enough and leaves. Amber walks back in and Mark makes up a lame excuse to leave. As Debbie walked in with snacks, Mark smiled nervously and left.

Invincible and Atom Eve flew towards Mount Rushmore. As they did, Cecil told them that he would not be asking for their help, but Omni-Man was busy and the new Guardians were a shitshow. He tells them their target was Doc Seismic, who was doing things which made no sense. They believe that the gloves causes him a concussion every time he uses them.

Donald tells Cecil that the monster that Omni-Man had taken care of was impressive, since it was not an easy battle and added that the beast might not be dead. Cecil told him to put it on ice.

As Debbie cooked dinner, Nolan threw a piece of the monster, asking if she wanted calamari. She tells him to get it off the counter while laughing and asks if he had called Cecil about putting some protection on the house, but he tells her he had been busy, but would do it later. He told her that he was a badass since he had defeated a kaiju and she told him that she was one as well, since she had sold a house that had a double homicide.

Cecil asks Robot for an update on the team. Robot tells him that they have work to do, but he feels confident on what they had done so far.

Robot is interrupted from watching the Mauler Twin work by Rex, who welcomes him to the new Guardian's new digs. Black Samson mentions it is good to be home again, which annoys Rex since he does not enjoy hearing him say he was an original member of the Guardians of the Globe. Monster Girl tells Robot she is nervous, and Robot tells her that he is as well. Cecil walks in and tells them to not be surprised since it was their job. Rex tells him that he had missed a spot when cleaning blood, but Cecil tells them that he had left that there as a reminder and would get cleaned off when they proved themselves to be worthy of the heroes that had come before. He is radioed, told that Omni-Man wanted to see him, so he leaves. Monster Girl asks Rex if they are cool and he says they are since she had beaten him up in front of assholes. Robot walks up to Rex and tells him not to let his personal life to meddle with his professional one since it was his fault they were alienating Atom Eve and did not want it to happen with Monster Girl. Rex tells him that when he grew a pair, then he could tell him how to swing his. However, Robot mentions that he was giving him an order, patting him on the shoulder with a needle which slightly hurt Rex.

Amber and Mark head back to the former's home. She tells him to plan the date next time, which he likes. The two lean in for a kiss and Mark flies into the sky happily and heads back home. He finds Cecil and his parents talking about NASA's first manned mission to Mars and needed Nolan to shadow the mission so that nothing went wrong, but Nolan would not do it since he needed to train his son and was needed on Earth with the Guardians gone. Cecil tells Nolan that Earth needed a win, but Nolan tells him that nobody would care about Mars if there was an attack on Earth, saying that his priority was his family and the planet.

Mark volunteers, saying that the same had happened last time, but Nolan tells him that that was the moon, which hardly counts as space. He added that his responsibilities were bigger than four astronauts. Cecil says that if Mark wanted to go, he would be doing a great favor, so Nolan asked Debbie for support. She says that she does not like Mark missing school, but it would be for a good cause. Mark says that he could go to Mars and back in a second and Nolan mentions that the fact that he did not know how far Mars was was exactly why he should go to school. Cecil tells Mark that it was a two week mission, and Mark agrees with his father, saying that he was not ready and had things going well with Amber. Debbie tells Mark that many people would tell him how to use his powers, but it would be up to him to make those decisions. After that, Mark agrees to go, so Cecil tells him to pack a lunch since he would be leaving the next day.

Cecil teleports into the house in front of the Grayson's, and Donald asks how Mark going would help them with investigating Omni-Man. Cecil simply responds that sending Mark would give them a chance to see what Mark could do and if his heart was in the right place.

In space, Cecil told Invincible that he almost did not make it, but needed him to stay out of sight unless something went wrong and also needed him on the mission for the Martians, who lived underground and kept to themselves.

Back at the Grayson's, an orchid freezes as Damien Darkblood shows up and looks around. He takes notes and sees Cecil is there as well with cops, who point guns at the demon. Cecil tells Darkblood that Nolan had warned them about him.

At the Pentagon, Cecil and the officers took Darkblood through a hallway. Cecil told him that when they had searched his office, they had found dried blood. He tells him that it was planted since he did not try to kill Nolan or the Guardians. Cecil tells him he knows, but had to excise him anyway since he had not dropped the case when he told him to. Darkblood told him he could not do it since he had destroyed the book centuries ago, but Cecil told him they had it once again. Donald starts the ritual and Cecil told him that he needed to not see things so black and white, instead needing to know why Nolan had killed the guardians and how to stop him. Darkblood is grabbed by chains and taken back to hell.

After a devastating battle Invincible and the Guardians faced against Machine Head, GDA doctors look at Mark and mention he was losing too much blood. Cecil arrives at the scene and is horrified by what he sees. He tells the doctors to save him since they needed Invincible, but also tells them to get a blood sample just in case.

Machine Head is dragged away, but before he leaves the room, Cecil opens his head and takes the stolen chip.

Nolan asks Cecil if Darkblood had cracked yet, but Cecil tells him that Darkblood is stubborn. When asked if Darkblood had murdered the Guardians, Cecil says that they do not know, but he wondered why he would even do it in the first place. Omni-Man tells him that Darkblood is a demon. Cecil asks if Mark had not told him that he would be taking on Machine Head by himself and is surprised to see Mark does not listen to Nolan, which is normal for teenagers from Earth.

When Invincible fights D.A. Sinclair, he is thrown around while William tries talking to Rick, remembering how they had had sex before. Sinclair starts cutting William's arm, which makes Rick recognize William and remove part of his helmet, so he could help Invincible. Sinclair tries escaping, but William chases him and punches him in the face repeatedly. When he gets up, Mark punches him again, fracturing his jaw.

Invincible apologizes to Cecil for having punched Sinclair like that, but he understands and tells him he would lock Sinclair up, while doing his best for the humans who had been experimented on.

Debbie makes it to the GDA, where she asks Cecil why he had kept Nolan's secret from her. Cecil tells her that he could not risk Nolan finding out they knew until they knew what he was doing and how they could stop him. He says that there might be only one person who could fight Omni-Man. He asks her where Mark is, but she tells him it would not happen.

Debbie and Cecil watched the house blow up from the GDA. Debbie realizes Nolan would find Mark and says that she does not know what he will do. Cecil tells her that they needed to find Mark before Nolan did.

Cecil tells the Guardians to be quiet and sit tight until they were called. Rex is desperate and says they needed to know what was happening, which Black Samson agrees with. He asks if Robot can find out, but Robot did not respond. Rex hits the robot on the head until they are approached by the new Robot. He presents himself as Rudolph Connors, saying robot was simply a drone he controlled remotely. Kate asks how they could know he was telling the truth and Robot says they could ask him anything. Rex asks why he looked like him, but Robot told him to wait.

The GDA found that Mark was flying with Eve, but also saw that Omni-Man was six minutes away from Mark's location, which worries Cecil. Debbie asks why he could not use his teleporter, and Cecil explains that they need to wear a bracelet and that it cannot do all of them at once. He says they need to buy some time.

Nolan flies, but is struck down by an enormous beam of light coming from a satellite in space, which manages to bring him down and many animals around him. However, he soon gets up once again, resisting the beam's energy and destroying the satellite. Cecil comments that 400 billion dollars had just been used on a nosebleed. Omni-Man went back to going after Mark and Eve while Cecil told them he would use his teleporter.

Mark and Eve hear the explosion and Eve tells him that they should call Cecil. He tells her that it was not their problem anymore, since she had run away from Rex and being a superhero. However, she tells him that she did not ignore the world when it needed her. He says that the world was fine without him, but she tells him that he should do something to help and leaves.

Nolan is shot at by Cecil. He tries to grab him, but disappears just before Nolan grabs him. Nolan tells him to keep out of it but Cecil says that he could not do that, asking why he had killed the Guardians. He tells him that he never needed their help since they were weak, but Cecil points out that they had been his friends as he had once and suggests that there had to be a reason. He tells her that Debbie deserved an answer and tells Nolan that he had fooled her and all of them during 20 years. He asks Nolan if Mark knows, which worries him, but Nolan realizes Cecil was just wasting his time. Cecil then calls Nolan a lying piece of shit and leaves not before Omni-man gets most of his red tie.

When Cecil leaves, Nolan is attacked by Sinclair's cyborgs, which put up a fight with him as he tries to get them off. He fights the monsters and rips them apart.

Cecil, DA Sinclair and Debbie watch Nolan's fight in horror as he starts ripping the bodies apart. Agents also tell Cecil that Eve and Mark were moving towards Nolan's location, which worries Cecil. When Nolan defeats the fallen soldiers, he places the camera inside their guts which makes people at the GDA retch in disgust and makes Sinclair angry.

Nolan faces another monster on his way to Mark, which he tells Cecil he had defeated already. Cecil, however, told him the monster now felt no pain and was now juiced up with every drug, enhancement and upgrade available. Two news helicopters went to Omni-Man's fight.

The Guardians say they should help, but Cecil tells them to stay where they are until he told them to move because if nothing went well, they would be their last hope against Omni-Man. Rex is confused, but everybody confirms they heard what he did and they remember what had happened to The Immortal.

Nolan fights the monster, while Debbie tells Cecil to call Eve's phone since she was with Mark again.

As Nolan was about to be eaten, Mark punches the creature and sends it flying. Eve gets called by Debbie and asks what was happening. Nolan awoke and Mark happily told him it was about time they teamed up together. When the creature rose, Cecil tells Eve not to help them and get to Guardians HQ.

Mark and Nolan had a hard time with the creature. Debbie tells him to call it off, but Cecil says he could not do that since Mark could be allies with his father. After that, Debbie mentions that that was why she had always hated him, which Cecil sympathizes with.

Cecil is told that a new object was approaching Omni-Man's location, turning out to be The Immortal, who immediately starts hitting him furiously. Omni-Man catches one of his punches and mentions that he should have stayed dead, sending him back. Soon after, he rips The Immortal apart.

Cecil tracks Nolan and Mark as they fight, and Debbie tells him that they needed to stop them both from killing one another. When asked what they could do, Cecil admits that they could not do much to stop Nolan except distract him until Mark thought of something.

Once the battle finishes, a helicopter reaches Mark's location, where he lies without responding. Debbie and Cecil get off the helicopter as well.

When Debbie leaves the hospital room, she starts crying until Cecil approaches her, telling her they wanted to keep Omni-Man's secret identity so that she and Mark would be safe. He tells her that Nolan Grayson had died when the house across the street exploded from a gas leak and while Nolan's travel books always sold well, there would be a significant spike after his death, which would leave her and Mark good with money. He tells her that her life and Mark's would go back to somewhat normal, and she tells him that everything he was doing was very kind. He tells her that Nolan had been acting in secret and he had never seen it, so he was trying to make things as right as possible.

Cecil tells Mark he had done a good job and wished it had been a dream, but would let Mark leave in two days. Mark tells Cecil he had seen his father fly away and asks where he had gone. He asks Cecil if he would tell him what had happened, but Cecil told him it depended on whether he wanted to be a hero or not anymore, but Mark did not know the answer.

He follows Cecil into a white room, where he tells Mark that Debbie had heard everything. Mark asks how he could have let his mother hear everything, but admitted she deserved to know the truth. He tells Mark both him and Debbie knew about what Nolan had done to the Guardians, but they were waiting to see if there was a good reason behind it. Nolan asks where they were and Mark finds they are in a lab, where Immortal is being brought back to life. He tells Mark that nobody had the ability to see the things in the room and tells him that they needed a replacement for Omni-Man. However, Mark tells him that he could not do it yet even as Cecil tried to convince him.

Cecil takes Mark and Debbie back home and tells them that he had called their school and work explaining everything, telling them if they needed anything else, to let him know.

Later, Mark gets a call and leaves as Cecil tells him he needs him. Cecil tells him that something was flying towards them from deep space.

Cecil is later overseeing the construction of more upgraded ReAnimen by D.A. Sinclair as a Viltrumite countermeasure.

## Personality

Cecil presents himself as a figure of aloofness and authority, yet beneath his outward demeanor lies a compassionate individual. Despite this underlying care and concern, he exhibits an unwavering resolution to undertake any necessary actions in service of the greater good.

## Appearances

#### Season One

* Here Goes Nothing (debut)
* Who You Calling Ugly?
* Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out
* That Actually Hurt
* You Look Kinda Dead
* We Need To Talk
* Where I Really Come From

#### Season Two

* A Lesson Four Your Next Life
* In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to a Fish
* It's Been A While

## Trivia

* Cecil Stedman is based off of Nick Fury from Marvel Comics and Amanda Waller from DC Comics.
* Ironically enough, the actor, Walton Goggins was in the 2018 film, Ant-Man and the Wasp.