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Invincible season 4 has delivered a playful jab to the MCU and its ongoing obsession with nanite helmets.
Spoilers for Invincible season 4, episode 4 follow.
Halfway through Mark's show-original descent into Hell, he throws himself into a pit alongside Clancy Brown's Damien Darkblood on the hunt for Volcania.
With a decidedly awkward amount of time before they reach their destination, the pair get talking. Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that Mark is somewhat irritated and confused by Damien's headwear "problem", which phases away when the demon needs to talk.
"[I] speak more clearly without [a] helmet," Darkblood says after being quizzed by Mark.
"Do you think I can't hear you when you're wearing a helmet?" Mark replies. "It looks pretty complicated. Why not add a microphone or something?"
From there, the two engage in a back-and-forth about the sartorial qualities of the helmet ("Looks cool," Darkblood quips) before Mark wonders if "demon nanites" are at work.
Invincible and creator Robert Kirkman might plead the fifth in this case but it's clearly a nod towards Marvel's over-reliance on CGI helmets, from the likes of Iron Man to Black Panther and beyond. You seemingly can't move in the MCU for superheroes and villains wearing helmets that peel back at the snap of a finger, all without having to physically remove it.
Remarkably, this isn't even the first time Invincible has made a dig at Marvel. Back in the second season, fans had anticipated an adaptation of Marvel Team-Up #14, a comic that sees Invincible joining forces with Spider-Man.
That wasn't quite the case in the Prime Video version, with Marvel's wallcrawler being replaced by Agent Spider (voiced by Spidey voice actor Josh Keaton) instead – with a full parody of Spider-Man and a familiar tentacled villain by the name of Prof Ock…
Mark's travels to Hell (or the Under-Realm) may come as a surprise for those following along in the comic.
"There’s a storyline from the comic that I never got around to doing. Every superhero story has some chapter where they go to hell and they fight the devil. It happens in DC and Marvel comics. It’s a big deal," Kirkman teased to Variety, later telling SFX magazine he will leave "dangling threads" that could potentially be picked up on in future seasons.
Invincible season 4 is currently streaming weekly on Prime Video. For more, check out our picks for the best Prime Video shows and the Invincible season 4 release schedule.
