Invincible’s Atom Eve special puts Green Lantern to shame

Comics use reality manipulation to create all manner of intriguing visuals or surprising ideas. These ideas may be limited by their form when they are adapted to screen, especially in live-action.

Scarlet Witch is one of the most famous, as are Doctors Strange and Manhattan. Green Lantern and Doctors Strange can also change the course of history. Invincible’s Atom Eve stakes her claim in that elite group, especially after the show’s stellar hourlong special that just dropped on Prime Video.

The special, “Invincible: Atom Eve,” is just under an hour long and co-written by Helen Leigh (Severance, Archive No. 81Robert Kirkman, the creator of the show (who created both comics and this series), is also featured. The special takes a look back at the story of Atom Eve. She was voiced by Gillian Jacobs during the first season and Aria Kane & Jazlynne Ione for the second.

The special shows how Eve got her powers at the hands of a brutal science experiment and examines her troubled upbringing with parents who simply don’t understand her or what she’s capable of. “Invincible: Atom Eve” delivers what Invincible The first season was the best: captivating animation, smooth action and complex family dynamics without the pace problems which sometimes held back the first season.

But the real highlight is how the special makes the most of Atom Eve’s power set. Her ability to rearrange atoms at the molecular level allows her to change reality completely — transforming one object to another or creating objects out of thin air. The only thing she can’t change is living tissue (her attempt to change a squirrel into a puppy falls flat).

Image: Prime Video

Off the bat, “Atom Eve” leans into how this specific teenage girl would use these powers. Eve discovers that she has powers when accidentally turning her homework book into glass while doing her homework. The real Eureka moment for Eve comes after her mother leaves her a cream-cheese and olive sandwich at her door. Eve transforms it into a juicy hamburger (something that she does more than once during the special) and changes an outfit given to her by her aunt into one more suitable for her taste.

Perhaps the concept is best demonstrated by the episode’s big fight scene, set on a highway (and clearly influenced by AkiraEve is confronted by four others who were also victims of genetic research from the lab which created her. It’s a harrowing sequence, as it’s arguably the first time Eve has encountered real family, and they’re here to kill her. The scene and the creative use of Eve’s powers has been a highlight. people rightly pointing out that it surpasses most depictions of the similarly powered Green Lantern.

First, Eve warms up by jogging in place, as pink light from her powers flashes under her boots, which she’ll use as impromptu rockets. Before she can use her brilliant idea, Eve uses the cars along the highway to put obstacles in her way. She also beams energy at her enemies. In a situation that seems impossible to win, she can make an entire stretch of highway disappear. This catches her opponents by surprise.

Image: Prime Video

This is a very dynamic situation, with clear, fluid action. There’s also a rhythmic flow to the events. Eve came into thiThe s situation not expecting a fight, and it shows — she’s reacting to the stimuli as they happen and using her creativity to get out of it. That creativity comes through in the crisp animation — Invincible’s Visual style allows for facial expressions to be read easily. Watching Eve’s thoughts as she fights is just as exciting as the actual fight.

By contrast, many Green Lantern adaptations we’ve been subjected to lean on using his powers in only the biggest ways. He makes a big shield, or a big hammer, or a big gun, or big planes, or a big dragon (OK, admittedly, that one’s cool). By bringing Eve’s powers down to the ground level of her day-to-day teenage life in addition to quick, creative reactions to an onslaught of attackers, Invincible breaks outside the box of “going big” and instead makes the most of the potential of reality-manipulation powers.

There is plenty of violence in this sequence, just as there is in most other action scenes. Invincible’s ultra-violence and gore has been one of the most buzzy parts of the show, and rightly so — it is quite shocking at times — but it also evokes a feeling of honesty when compared to other superhero media. These people have so much power You can also find out more about the following: cause extreme damage, and the ever-present threat of irreparable harm in the show’s action sequences only adds to the emotional intensity when tragedy approaches. That’s extra true in this scene, as Eve is forced to take down people who are essentially siblings that she just met.

The one-hour show is not only a creative portrayal of her power, but also one of the best. Invincible Show has made available. It’s a delicate coming-of-age story about a complicated family told with care that doubles as a strong origin story for one of the show’s most important characters.

“Invincible: Atom Eve” and the first season of Invincible Prime Video has all the latest movies, TV series and more. You can watch the entire second season on Prime Video. Invincible premiers Nov. 3 on Prime Video.