Invincible Season 2 just dropped its seventh episode and the Amazon Prime Video series continues to be amazing and intriguing. Besides the stellar permanent cast of Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, and Sandra Oh playing the Grayson family, the series also has numerous guest stars both in seasons 1 and 2. Robert Kirkman earlier explained how he got the likes of Mark Hamill and Seth Rogen voicing different roles on his show.
Kirkman explained that rather than auditioning the actors for their roles, the series invited these prominent actors to voice different roles. Some of the cast were privy to voice work, while the others blindly trusted Kirkman and the Invincible team to join the series.
Robert Kirkman Explained How Invincible Landed Its Stellar Cast
Robert Kirkman‘s Invincible became a super successful animated show on Amazon Prime Video, despite the declining audience trend in superhero projects. A large part of the credit goes to Kirkman’s writing and the performances in the series. The show brought some of the best talents in Hollywood to lend their voice to the animated characters. Steven Yeun of The Walking Dead fame played the titular superhero, while J. K. Simmons played his villainous father, Nolan aka Omni-Man.
Killing Eve fame Sandra Oh was brought in to play Mark Grayson’s Earthly mother Debbie in the series. Kirkman shared with ComicsBeat that he would have never asked an experienced talent like Oh to prove her capability to play Debbie. He revealed that the Grey’s Anatomy actress joined the project after he convinced her that the crazy superhero universe of Invincible was worth her time. The show creator shared with ComicsBeat:
“All the actors were more auditioning us than we were auditioning them. I wouldn’t presume to [ask] Sandra Oh to prove to me that you can play Debbie, like, that’s not really gonna happen. I had a very long conversation with her trying to convince her that this crazy superhero world was worth our time.”
Kirkman further shared that the show’s casting director Linda Lamontagne had an amazing list that she would bring in. It contained the names of the actors that she could get to play a particular role in the series. Reflecting on the casting of the series, Kirkman shared that he still couldn’t believe that they ended up with such an amazing cast for the series. While Sandra Oh took some convincing, Yeun and Simmons accepted the role without any questions.
Invincible Was A No-Brainer For Both Steven Yeun And J.K. Simmons
When Robert Kirkman wanted an actor to voice a teenage kid growing up with a superhero father, he approached Steven Yeun, with whom he had worked together on The Walking Dead. For Yeun, Invincible was a no-brainer since it was Kirkman at the helm and because he had read the Invincible comics. Yeun shared that it took him two seconds to say yes to the show. Yeun shared with ComicsBeat:
“It’s Robert. I love Invincible, and I read the comic book a long time ago. It’s so fun and so fresh, and I think [it’s what] a lot of comic book fans wished our favorite comic books were. So, to be able to make something like that and be at a time when something like that can be animated in America. Totally down. It literally took me like two seconds, [Robert Kirkman] was like, ‘Do you want to do it?’ [And,] I’m like, ‘Yeah.’”
While it took two seconds for Yeun to say yes, J.K. Simmons joked that it took him three seconds. Simmons was not aware of Kirkman’s works nor was he familiar with the Invincible universe. But the script attracted him immediately with its complex relationships between the characters. He also added that Yeun and Sandra Oh being on board gave him the confidence to accept the role.
Invincible Seasons 1 & 2 are now available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Episode 8 of Season 2 will drop on the platform on April 4, 2024.
