- Amazon recently renewed its animated superhero series "Invincible" for seasons two and three.
- Showrunner Simon Racioppa talked with Insider about the series and the superhero
TV landscape. - He also addressed a live-action "Invincible" movie being developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
Amazon has another superhero success on its hands.
The company renewed its new animated, adult comic-book series "Invincible" for seasons two and three before the season-one finale debuted April 30. It's about a teenager named Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun) whose father is the world's most powerful superhero, Omni-Man, (voiced by J.K. Simmons).
The show follows another superhero hit for Amazon, "The Boys," which has a third season and a spinoff in the works.
While they're both R-rated comic-book adaptations, the "Invincible" showrunner Simon Racioppa thinks that his series can distinguish itself in a growing genre that also includes Netflix's new superhero show "Jupiter's Legacy."
"I would say 'The Boys' has a very different worldview than 'Invincible' does," Racioppa told Insider during an interview this week. "It's more nihilistic whereas 'Invincible' is more of a family drama."
Amazon's commitment to "The Boys" and "Invincible" reflects the streaming industry's push into genre-heavy TV. Netflix is also snagging properties it can develop into bankable franchises as Disney and WarnerMedia grow their
It's not just superheroes; Amazon is developing a "Lord of the Rings" series that will cost $465 million for just one season, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Racioppa also spoke with Insider about an "Invincible" live-action movie being developed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the thinking behind the show's over-the-top violence, and which characters he thinks could carry their own series.
Read the full interview with "Invincible" showrunner Simon Racioppa below:
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Were you surprised that Amazon renewed "Invincible" for not just one more season, but two?
I was surprised but ecstatic and over the moon. I was hoping we'd get another season but in this business there are no guarantees. I don't see the actual [viewership] numbers and it's not like I can look up ratings. I heard the show was doing well so I was optimistic about another season. But in this business, until you get that phone call, anything can happen.
Does a two-season renewal change your ideas for the next season?
Well, this is adapted from Robert Kirkman's comic books, and what I'm trying to do with the show while working with him is stay as close to the source material as I can. So it doesn't change a lot.
What it does allow us to do is have a lot more confidence going into the writing process of seasons two and three knowing that Amazon and the fans love the show, and what we're doing with it.
This is a boring thing about production, but it also lets you be a little more efficient. You can block things out, you can see where you can reuse sets or backgrounds ... you can be a little more efficient in the production of the show.
So that applies similarly to animation as it does to live action?
Yeah, believe it or not, a lot of the constraints that you have on a live-action series you also have on an animated series, in terms of the amount of locations, the amount of characters, the amount of scenes in an episode. Everything is still constrained by budget, even at the highest level, so what we're trying to do is find smart ways to do what you want to tell the story you want to tell. The nice thing is that working with Amazon, those restraints are pretty broad, but you still always try to have an efficient production. You try to go back to the same locations just like you would have a standing set on a [live-action] show. You try not to bring in an expensive actor for half a scene. You save some money that way when you know that your [season] order's going to be longer, you can plan a little further.
Amazon is also home to "The Boys," and while there are plenty of differences between the two shows, there are notable similarities. Do you think there's potential for oversaturation in this mature superhero genre? And other than being animated, how do you see "Invincible" further distinguishing itself?
I think there's always the potential for oversaturation in any medium whenever you have a lot of a certain genre coming out. But if you find that new angle on superheroes or that new approach, or that new bit of subject matter in that genre that hasn't been explored yet, you can have a show that's out after 23 Marvel movies and still do a superhero show or movie that has something new to say.
I think it comes down to whether the characters are compelling, if they're going through interesting things, if the drama is exploring places we haven't been before. I think that's what people look for instead of saying, "Oh, it's another superhero series." I mean, for an example, I thought zombies were oversaturated a decade ago. Now Zack Snyder is doing a new zombie movie [Netflix's "Army of the Dead"].
I think "The Boys" is one of the best shows on TV right now. And I think we're different. We're both adult superhero shows, we're both R-rated, we both have higher levels of gore and violence and language. But I would say "The Boys" has a very different worldview than "Invincible" does. It's more nihilistic whereas "Invincible" is more of a family drama. I don't know why people like "Invincible," but maybe that's why. I hope they like it just because it's a good show.
At a certain point you just have to make the show you want to make and hope it works, right?
Yeah, that's what I think. You don't know what other shows are going to be out when it's made. You just try making a show that hopefully tackles subjects and questions that are being asked today in culture, and at the very least, you have to make it entertaining. The only sin for me is boring television.
As long as we were talking about "The Boys": Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are producers on that series and they're also developing a live-action "Invincible" movie. I'm curious if you have talked to them at all about the movie and crossover of any kind. Is that something that would play into future seasons of the show and something you're thinking about?
I've had conversations with them, but it's more so that we're aware of each other. Both are very different properties in the same way you could have a Spider-Man TV show or a Spider-Man feature. I would say they're even more different than that. When they eventually get the feature done, I'm sure it will be incredible but it will be distinctly different from the show. It will have a bigger voice and a story you can tell in two hours or less. On this show I can tell the story over at least three seasons and make it look very much like the comics.
Should it be expected that the show and movie live in the same universe, even if they are separate projects from one another?
I can't really speak to that since it's really early on, but I think the thing to take away is that they're two different projects. I don't know if they would link up.
The show is very violent and doesn't pull any punches with that, but was there anything that was cut because it crossed a line or was too over the top for even this show?
Believe it or not, there was nothing we had to cut in terms of violence. There was nothing that made us say "we have to pull it back a bit." There was some jokes and moments that I pulled that were funny but they didn't match the tone of the scene or of the episode. But no, we never pulled back on the violence. If anything, we usually went a little further. We were trying to show the consequences of character issues that come up in our show and violence is sometimes the result.
Do you have any ideas for potential spinoffs, or just have characters you think could carry their own shows, in a perfect world where Amazon wanted to expand the universe?
There are tons of characters that could easily spin off into their own show. The tricky thing would be figuring out how to do that while not messing up the storyline of the main series. The obvious idea that comes to mind is doing more with the original Guardians before they got murdered - or maybe just even the Immortal's earlier adventures in the past. Damien Darkblood, too - a demon detective series as he helps solve superhero-related mysteries … I'd watch that.