As a new generation of superheroes emerge in Amazon Prime’s Invincible, the series shows the side effects of having the powers of the Hulk.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Invincible Season 1, Episode 3, “Who Are You Calling Ugly ?,” Available to stream now on Amazon Prime Video.
The world of Invincible needs new heroes after violently losing all the Guardians of the Globe in the shocking mid-credits scene of the series premiere. While teenage Mark Grayson and his fellow young heroes on Teen Team have been able to protect the world in their absence, it quickly becomes apparent that they need to bolster their ranks to keep Earth safe from growing threats. And when the heroes begin their recruitment drive, the sad nature of the new heroine Monster Girl and her Hulk powers are revealed.
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As Invincible and Team Teens watch the promising next generation of superheroes show off their skills, Rexplode becomes more obnoxious than usual, insulting many of those who responded to the call to arms, including Monster Girl. Fed up with his verbal put-downs and macho posture, Monster Girl challenges Rexplode to a fight, which he agrees to despite not wanting to hit a girl. This feigned concern is quickly dismissed when Monster Girl transforms into a hulking giant and completely cleans the floor with Rex. As Monster Girl loses control, Invincible is forced to step in to save Rex’s life, causing Monster Girl not only to revert to her human form, but to appear perhaps a little younger than she was before.
Monster Girl shares her name, Amanda, and reveals that the magical curse she was enchanted with and that allows her to become her powerful alter ego comes at a high cost. Every time Amanda transforms, she becomes physically younger when she reverts to her human form. So even though Amanda appears to be a girl, chronologically and mentally she’s in her 20s. This means that you have not been able to maintain any meaningful romantic relationship, which attracts the wrong attention when looking for a partner.
This unfortunate superpower side effect is taken directly from the show’s comic source material. Created by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley, Monster Girl first appeared in 2004 Invincible # 9. A Roma woman cursed her for dating her grandson against her wishes. When she transforms, Amanda can trade blows with Invincible and easily dominate Rexplode, rather than proving she deserves a spot on the team.
Invincible It’s always been a story about postmodern realities and the nuances of being a superhero in contrast to the vaunted and relatively consequence-free escapist fiction that helped inspire it. Monster Girl, who is able to muster the strength to defeat her greatest opponents but at the cost of living any semblance of a normal, age-appropriate life, is an excellent example of the double-edged nature of having superpowers. And while Monster Girl seems to be taking her double life in stride for now, Amanda has quickly become one of the most tragic figures on the growing team as they move to replace the Guardians of the Globe as defenders of Earth.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, JK 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, Gray Griffin and Max Burkholder . The series is produced by Skybound and is executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. The new episodes premiere on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.
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