Robert Kirkman Offers Update on INVINCIBLE Movie and Shares Thoughts on Superhero Fatigue: ‘There’s No Sense of Newness’

Robert Kirkmann is currently in the process of being obtained Invincible The second season is ready for release on Prime Video, but in recent years it has also developed a live-action film adaptation of Invincible. Well, during a recent interview with Variety, he offered an update on that film, and they’re still developing the script. He said:

“Still developing the script. I think once we get the script where it needs to be, I think we’ll be in a good place and can move pretty quickly after that. But all the factors I just discussed are things we’re thinking about: How does this feel new to you? How does this feel different? How will something special feel? These are very tall orders. We also have to find a way to replicate the animated series, but also differentiate ourselves and give the film a reason to exist. There is a lot of work to do. But we are confident.”

The thing he discussed before the movie was mentioned was superhero fatigue. Anyone involved in comic book film adaptations these days is asked about superhero fatigue because we’re seeing it affect the box office. So what does Kirkman think? He explains:

“From my point of view, I admit, probably wrong! – is that I no longer feel that sense of novelty from these films. For the first 10 years, it was like, Oh my God, we’re getting everything we loved about action movies, but instead of watching Bruce Willis climb through the vent, we’re watching a guy punch a planet. He was taking the magic of superhero comics that had been around for decades and authentically translating it into film in a way that had never been achieved before. Now that we’re at 100 films, it’s hard to say to the audience, ‘You’re going to have a new experience from this.'”

He makes some good points there. While these studios are trying to make their superhero movies bigger and bigger, the quality of storytelling and filmmaking is being lost. It shouldn’t be about making bigger films than previous films, but about telling a compelling story with great characters. Not every superhero movie has to be about saving an entire city, or the world, or the universe. It’s okay to simply tell smaller and larger, character-driven stories. When asked how the superhero might influence his Invincible series, he said:

“Let’s hope it comes at exactly the right time. Invincible was born in comics when superhero-savvy people knew exactly how superhero stories went. The whole point of Invincible was to say, “You think you know what superheroes do?” And precisely for this reason the comic has become very popular. And therefore Invincible [the show] is coming at a time when general audiences are extremely savvy about superheroes. So hopefully [we can re-create] the same thing that happened in comics, where people who had been reading Marvel and DC comics for years said, ‘Wait, ‘Invincible’ makes me feel like I did when I started reading comics.’”

As for the film, it was written and directed by Seth Rogen AND Evan Goldberg. I can’t help but think they’ll make a strong film. At least, I hope they do!

Invincible is described as a suspenseful story, full of action and emotion, which is based on touching and moving moments of love, friendship and humanity. The story revolves around seventeen-year-old Mark Grayson, who is just like any other boy his age, except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man. But as Mark develops his own powers, he discovers that his father’s legacy may not be as heroic as it seems.

What do you think of Kirkman’s comments here?