Invincible Vsis finally giving the world of gaming a chance to take on the iconicInvincibleuniverse. With fan demand for a game having been ceaseless since the series reached new peaks of popularity post-2021,Invincible Vshas some high expectations to meet.
The upcomingInvincible Vs, a fighting game that’ll have players bring franchise heavyweights head-to-head 3v3 brawls, has understandably been the center of conversation forInvinciblefans. Since the franchise gained an animated adaptation in 2021 that saw new heights of acclaim after its third season was released this year, fans have been clamoring for a big tie-in game. Game Rant caught up with series creator Robert Kirkman, who spoke about the development ofInvincible Vsand why the team chose the fighting game format.This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Invincible Creator Talks Working on Invincible Vs and Returning to Capes
Making Invincible Vs a Fighting Game
Q: Part of what makesInvincibleso great is the variety of superpowers. How are you going to work all of those powers into a game based on punch-up action?
Kirkman:Everybody in the game is going to have unique moves, from their fighting sets down to their movement. One of the things that’s really great about the Quarter Up team is that they’re putting in a tremendous amount of work to make sure that all the individual characters have their own unique, well, everything! You can build your teams of three with characters that move at different speeds, they have different features, and all of that is in line with the way the characters are portrayed in the comics and the video games. A tremendous amount of care is going into that, which is really cool in my opinion.
Q: You talked about how monetary considerations went into what kind of game to make withInvincible, but how did you land on a fighting game?
A:Open-world games are expensive! Has anyone heard the budget forGrand Theft Auto 6? It’s like three Trey Parker and Matt Stone deals. But seriously, I love fighting games; I was at the arcade playing the firstMortal Kombat, I was at the arcade playingStreet Fighter 2, and I was there in the ’90s, getting the Super Nintendo or the Genesis, where you actually gottheMortal Kombatblood. I playedPrimal Rage, I playedTime Killers—I was there at the birth of fighting games. AndTekken! I used to love playingTekken, and all the different versions ofSoulcaliburtoo. I just think they’re great, and I think that they’re a really great showcase for a large number of characters.
When you have an open-world game, you’re kind of playing just one character. You may encounter other characters, but you can only play one. When it comes to showcasing theInvincibleuniverse and showcasing all the different characters that encompass it, fighting games are ideal for that.
Aside from that, it’s just a genre of game that I absolutely love. Would I have preferred to do aMariogame withInvinciblecharacters? Maybe? I love platformers too, but I think that for our marquee big-in-scale game, the fighting game made the most sense, and I think it’s gonna be the most satisfying for fans.
Q: SinceInvinciblecharacters like Omni-Man have been guest characters in other game series likeMortal Kombat, is it possible there could be some guest characters in this game?
A:I think it’s too early to talk about that. I mean, anything is possible at this point, and the game is still far from releasing, so there could be some surprises in store, but nothing that could be announced right now.
Q:The music for the animated series has really been a highlight. How is the music element being addressed in the game? Are you using the same music team from the series for the game?
A:I honestly don’t know what I can say, so I’m just going to say the music in the show is very cool, and the music in the game is also going to be very cool. So, don’t worry, it’s gonna be awesome.
The Evolution of Invincible
Q: What’s it like getting to see the characters evolve into different mediums beyond the original comic?
A:I’m not gonna rest until there’s anInvincibletoaster, anInvinciblerefrigerator—like, once you get to the appliance game, I think that’s when it’s really the marquee level. I think that, if you look at the approach tomerchandising withWalking Dead, we’re certainly open to a lot of things. When there are more ways to experience something I’m a fan of, I get excited about that. I had aTransformersbathrobe and pair of slippers when I was a kid. I’m always open to doing that stuff, but we do try to verify that it all makes sense and there’s an audience for everything that we do. There’ll probably be a lot of crazyInvinciblestuff.
Every now and then, I’ll wholeheartedly dive headfirst into a licensing opportunity because I think it’s funny. I think that’s fun, and I think that’s the kind of thing that makes life worth living. Maybe you’ll see anInvinciblefrisbee or boomerang and be like, ‘Who does a boomerang?’ and the reason will be, ‘I just thought that was funny, so we did it.’
Q: How does the collaborative process work in terms of this adaptation versus all the otherInvincibleadaptations? How much input do you give?
A:The same, and that’s kind of the beauty of Skybound: having the game be an in-house production and having the animated series be an in-house production. Myself, Corey, and Ryan are very hands-on withall aspects ofInvincible, and the three of us approve every aspect of every bit of licensing. Whether it’s the video games or the television show, we’re very involved.
With this game in particular, everything down to the key art that gets released when we’re announcing characters, we’re approving all that stuff. We’re involved with every poly design and rough initial design, up to the final polish, where, you know, ‘Oh, I think this guy has bigger calves’ or ‘I think this guy might have more prominent knees.’ Corey and Ryan get in there, and they’re like, ‘This line from this costume is wrapping around the body this way, it needs to be wrapped around the body this way.’ Regardless of media, we’re making sure that it’s 100% an authentic experience for fans because we take all of this stuff very seriously, and we want it to be as good as we possibly can make it.
Does it mean that my inbox is an absolute graveyard of unresponded emails that get buried in a sea of approvals? Yeah, 100%—but it’s fun wading through that. Every day, it’s just a barrage of like, ‘Oh could you see how this action figure’s going,’ and ‘We’re doing this shirt,’ and ‘Here’s this role-playing game stuff,’ and you get to look through all of it and make sure that it’s how you want it to be. In a world where Marvel and DC may or may not invite you to the premiere of the movie based on your thing, it’s really gratifying to know that we have the freedom to do this stuff and have a seat at the table that we have anytime anything is done. Oh yeah, we’re also making sure that the boomerang doesn’t work.
Q:You told the story ofInvinciblethrough the comic run. We’re revisiting it now in the show, maybe live action at some point. Where does the game fit in with your vision of telling the story of these characters?
A:I don’t want to reveal too much. I don’t even know if I can answer this at all! There’s certainly a narrative component to the video game that’s an additive experience that may or may not be connected to the larger world at play. I’m just saying things. I get in trouble every time I talk about the game because there are certain things we can’t reveal on camera. We always attempt to ensure that everything we do has a narrative function, and because of themultiversal aspect ofInvincible, there is a cool way to connect things that sometimes you can’t really do. So yeah, there’s a tremendous opportunity to do some cool stuff.
Q: With the way fighting game systems have evolved to embrace seasons and DLC content, where do you seeInvincible Vsfitting in with that sort of thing?
A:Probably too early to say. I certainly know that answer, I just don’t know if I can say it. Stay tuned!
Q:It’s not uncommon now for properties to go from one medium to another and back. Are there any conversations aboutInvincible Vsgetting itself a comic or animated aspect?
A:Yeah, these are certainly avenues that are available to us. I could easily do anInvincible Vscomic if I so chose, but I think that’s where the curation aspect ofthe overallInvincibleuniverse comes in. We could bombard people with all that stuff, but I think we’re very responsible in how we roll things out and what we do withInvincible. We’re not trying to do everything at once, and we’re not trying to flood the fanbase with a never-ending stream of too much stuff.
While anInvincible Vscomic would probably do well and would be a cool experience to go along with the game, it’s nice that the game will get to stand on its own; it’ll be its own unique corner of theInvincibleuniverse. We try to be selective with our stuff, and I feel like that’s the way to be.
Q: During the panel, you talked about which books you have the beginning, middle, and end for versus which ones allow a little freeform, and you mentioned the return ofCapes. What’s the approach you’re taking to revisiting these characters?
A:Capesis very much open-ended. I think that one of the reasons that we’re revisitingCapesis that I didTech Jacket,Brit, andCapesall within the same year asInvincibleandWalking Dead.Brithappened beforeWalking Dead,Tech Jackethappened beforeInvincible, and so my stuff hadn’t really caught on yet. Sometimes I would think, ‘Oh, if I had just kept going withTech Jacket, would it have lasted as long asInvincible?’ There’s a chance that it could have, but I just kind of gave up on it too soon ‘cause I was struggling at the time—and so we revisitedTech Jacket, and we ended up doing a total of 4 volumes. We revisitedBrit,and we ended up doing a total of 3 volumes, but I never really revisitedCapes.
The idea is that it’s open-ended. Pretty sure we’ll at least get to 4 or 5 volumes, but if people love it and it’s a successful book, there could be 100 issues ofCapes. It could be its own corner of theInvincibleuniverse that tells its own stories and introduces its own characters and does its own thing. It could be cool to have some overlap of characters popping in and out, but it’d be nice if it ended up being its own book that could stand on its own, which I think would be a lot of fun. Benito and I are definitely writing that with the idea that it could continue for a good long time.
Q: With fighting games in particular, players can somewhat author their own experiences. What has surprised you about having people create their own team-ups and fights within your universe?
A:I think that one of thecoolest things aboutInvincible Vsis that you get to have these very different characters, that a lot of times don’t even interact in the comics or in the show, interacting in cool ways and fighting in tandem—so there are some really unexpected combinations. You haven’t really seen Atom Eve and Battle Beast interact in any kind of way, but you will get to see that in this game. Because of that, I think this game offers a unique experience forInvinciblefans that will make it that much cooler of an experience if you’re familiar with the world and you’re familiar with the history of these characters.
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