We first learned of plans for a live-action Invincible movie in 2017. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg boarded the project as writers and directors, with Point Grey Pictures and Skybound Entertainment producing and Universal Pictures set to distribute.
All signs pointed to the project being a priority. Unfortunately, it seems to have fallen by the wayside, with the focus shifting to Prime Video's animated Invincible TV series based on Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley's comic book.
There have been a few updates suggesting the movie is still happening, something Kirkman confirmed during an interview with The Direct when he said, "It's still in development."
The prolific comic book writer added, "We're still working with Universal. You know, the show is going so well. I think the movie absolutely has to be perfect. And so it's taking a lot of time, like getting the pieces aligned and getting everything to work so that we can come out and make it as good as it can possibly be."
"So it's been in development for a long time, and it's probably going to be in development for a while longer."
Elsewhere in the interview, Kirkman acknowledged that a movie needs to "provide a different experience" than the TV show and said "it has to stand on its own" and "maybe tell the same story, maybe tell a different story."
The Prime Video series has adhered closely to the comics, making minimal changes to the source material. However, having multiple episodes is very different to a two-hour movie and Kirkman admits that part of the process of adapting Invincible to the big screen has been "condensing."
"[That] can be frustrating at times, but it's also a fun challenge. But the animated series, especially for us, I think of it as an expanding process," Kirkman says. "I think that there's a lot of different scenes if you compare them to the comic, we do more. We put more emotion in them. There's more dialogue going on. There's a little bit more character development happening."
It's hard to escape the feeling that bringing Invincible to the big screen is going to require some major changes; after all, if it condenses, say, the first arc into a movie, then it will feel like it's just retreading old ground and critics will have a field say with that.
Perhaps an Omni-Man origin story or something along those lines is the way to go? Or a sequel to the comics which picks up with an older Mark Grayson? We'll see.
Published by Image Comics and set in the Image Universe, Invincible follows the coming of age of superhero Mark Grayson/Invincible, a Viltrumite and first-born son of Omni-Man, the most powerful superhero on Earth. The series began publication on January 22, 2003 and concluded on February 14, 2018, with 144 issues.