WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the fifth episode of Invincible “That Actually Hurt,” streaming now on Amazon Prime.
Invincible starts off innocently enough by showing a young superhero learning the ropes from his father Omni-Man, a veteran of the cape and cowl business. However, not long into the series, the line between good and evil proves a whole lot more complicated as Omni-Man’s allegiances come into question. In Invincible‘s latest episode, “That Actually Hurt,” the line gets even blurrier with the introduction of Titan, a complicated superhuman that isn’t easily classified as just a good guy or a bad guy.
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Voiced by Mahershala Ali, Titan proves menacing and violent when appearing in a dark alley. He charges toward gangsters wielding guns, growing a stony carapace that protects him from bullets and grants him enough super-strength to shatter through the wall. He brutally murders the gangsters without a second thought, crushing them under vehicles and snapping their necks. Judging by that scene alone, Titan seems unequivocally bad.
But Titan’s character quickly proves more complicated in his next scene. As he burns down a building, onlookers stare in horror. The crowd angrily shouts at him, and he walks away. But rather than callously retreating, Titan turns back. He produces a wad of money, offering to put the tenants up for the time being. In another similar scene, he breaks into a secure compound and tells the guards their lives aren’t worth the minimum wage they’re paid, sparing them as he strolls by with his boss’ loot.
Titan’s story continues to develop throughout the episode when it’s revealed he has a wife and daughter. He performs deeds for Machine Head because the egomaniacal crime boss is stringing him along with threats. After Titan manages to get ahold of Invincible, he proposes a team up to take Machine Head down. Invincible’s father warns him against it out of concern Titan is manipulating the events to make it seem like he’s the good guy. Omni-Man’s own callousness is abundantly clear in the series, however, as the two super-strong brawlers storm Machine Head’s office, there is every reason to believe Titan is just a good man in a bad spot.
But the twists just keep coming, and Omni-Man’s warnings are vindicated in the episode’s closing moments. Successful at ousting Machine Head, the fine-suited Titan looks over the wrecked office and reveals he was in cahoots with Machine Head’s right-hand man, Isotope. Ultimately, with Invincible’s help, he planned to take over Machine Head’s spot as a kingpin in the criminal underworld. Not content to let its audience make any easy moral judgments, Titan’s mother and daughter rush into the office to join him as he promises them a better life.
The constant twists surrounding Titan’s true motivations is some of the best storytelling in Invincible thus far. In keeping with the series’ ability to develop its source material, the addition of Titan’s family makes the character far more interesting and ambiguous than just some thug conniving to become a kingpin. One gets the sense that even as a kingpin, Titan will handle the role far more responsibly than Machine Head ever did. Although he may have used trickery and violence to win his position of power, it could be service to the greater good that so often complicates good and evil.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound, and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. New episodes are released Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.
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