You May Recognize The Actors Behind These Invincible Characters

Mark Grayson, the young superhero whose other half gives "Invincible" its name, is voiced by Steven Yeun. "Invincible" was co-created by comic writer Robert Kirkman — it's his second biggest hit after "The Walking Dead." Yeun, of course, broke out on the "Walking Dead" TV series playing Glenn Rhee, the plucky everyman of the zombie apocalypse's survivors.

Of his "Walking Dead" co-stars, Yeun is at least tied with Jon Bernthal for the best post-series career; he got a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his role in 2020's "Minari," a drama about a Korean immigrant family living in 1980s America.

It makes sense Kirkman would recruit Yeun to play Mark after seeing him portray Glenn. Mark Grayson is a teenage hero in the vein of Peter Parker, with the same mix of mundane responsibilities that keep him grounded even as he's soaring through the sky. Yeun excels at that.

At the same time, he also excels at characters who are more than they appear on the surface. Take his recent role in the Netflix series "Beef" as Danny Cho, a Korean-American contractor who begins a road rage-fueled feud with the bougie Amy Lau (Ali Wong). The whole show is about how people are more than meets the eye, and Yeun excels in peeling back Danny's layers, striking the balance between making him empathic but not often likable.

In Jordan Peele's 2022 horror film "Nope," Yeun played Ricky "Jupe" Park, a former child actor traumatized after a chimpanzee went berserk on a sitcom set where he was working. Jupe tragically didn't learn his lesson about mixing entertainment and exploitation. Even Yeun's darkest role fits this pattern; in Lee Chang-dong's thriller "Burning," he played Ben, a wealthy young man who may be a serial killer. Even an evil Invincible isn't as skin-crawling as Yeun manages to make Ben.

The third wheel of the Grayson family is Mark's mother/Nolan's wife Debbie, the only human of the three, voiced by Sandra Oh.

Sandra Oh is another one of those actors who's been in so many productions that people might recognize her for completely different things. Her supporting role as Stephanie in Alexander Payne's "Sideways"? Her 10-season-long tenure playing Dr. Christina Yang in "Grey's Anatomy"? Her lead part as super spy Eve Polastri in "Killing Eve"? Those are just three of her most famous parts, but she's got plenty more.

Oh has done a fair bit of voice work too: "American Dragon: Jake Long" (as Sun Park), "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" (as Castaspella), and some recent Disney/Pixar movies like "Raya and the Last Dragon" (Virana, mother of antagonist Namaari) and "Turning Red" (Ming Lee, lead Mei's mother and a fellow were-panda).

"Invincible" continues Oh's streak of voicing the main character's mother. Her acting experience is a definite benefit to "Invincible" because Debbie is more of a character than in the comics. In the first season, there's a subplot of her slowly realizing the truth about her husband, giving her more agency and emotional depth than the "Invincible" source material afforded her. Debbie isn't constantly angry or distraught, but when she is, Oh makes it memorable.

Cecil Stedman is head of the Global Defense Agency, essentially the Nick Fury of the "Invincible" universe down to a facial scar. However, his actor — Walton Goggins — is better known for playing villains. Goggins came up with regular roles on two successive FX crime drama series; "The Shield" (as corrupt LAPD detective Shane Vendrell) and "Justified" (as Kentucky gangster Boyd Crowder). He totally disappeared into both parts, making them both distinct when he could have played them as simple permutations of each other (Shane is an impulsive screw-up, Boyd is a deceptive mastermind).

You might also recognize Goggins from the films of Quentin Tarantino ("Django Unchained" as Billy Crash and "The Hateful Eight" as Chris Mannix), his current role in "The Righteous Gemstones," his supporting villain role in "Ant-Man and the Wasp" (if anyone remembers that movie), and his surprisingly sad appearance as transgender sex worker Venus Van Damme in "Sons of Anarchy."

Goggins avoids giving Cecil his usual Southern accent (the actor was born in Alabama). The character looks like he'd have more of a "cranky old man" voice, far from Goggins' smooth and more youthful one. Even so, he was absolutely the right pick to give Cecil a menacing edge. What stands out the most, though, is how strait-laced, to the point, and downright harsh Goggins can be as Cecil. Most of Goggins' characters, Boyd especially, are charming and loquacious.

Robot is the leader of the Teen Team, the Teen Titans of the "Invincible" universe (he's a Cyborg parody, if you haven't already put that together). He's voiced by Zachary Quinto, most famous for playing Spock in the rebooted "Star Trek" films.

Quinto's experience playing Spock means his voice sounds right as rain coming out of a mechanical synthesizer. However, similar to Spock, Robot only acts emotionless; he's not really a robot, but a physically disabled super genius who operates an android to influence his surroundings. As with Spock, Quinto excels at burying a twinge of emotion in a cold line read.

Robot's two-faced nature is exactly why Quinto holds his own in the role. Before Spock, his most famous role was Sylar in "Heroes," an average nobody turned serial killer who murdered other superpowered people to steal their powers. Similarly, Robot steals a DNA sample from Rex Splode to make himself a human body worth living in. Fans of "Invincible" should know that Robot goes down a dark path, a la Quinto's breakout part. Quinto can easily modulate his quiet voice into a sinister tone, as he did with Sylar, so don't be surprised if he pulls out that skill for Robot.

Plenty has been written over the years about Mark Hamill's transformation from the heroic face of a generation (thanks to playing Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars") to a prolific voice actor. His most famous voice roles might be villains, from the Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series" to Fire Lord Ozai in "Avatar: The Last Airbender," but his range is undeniable; one reason Hamill's Joker is so memorable is because he can do high and low pitched permutations of the Clown Prince of Crime's voice. He doesn't just stretch himself in a single role, either; he voiced the friendly Yeti named Skips on "Regular Show."

In "Invincible," Art Rosenbaum is one of Hamill's good characters; he designs costumes for the world's heroes, including Mark's Invincible suit. While not a superhero himself, he does have the punny name of one. He's also middle-aged; as he's gotten older, Hamill's voice has only become raspier. He only just put that cavernous growl to sinister use in live-action as Arthur Pym in "The Fall of the House of Usher," but when he's playing Art, he uses a friendlier pitch.

Many of the supporting characters in "Invincible" are Mark's fellow superheroes. Their ranks include:

Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas) — The hot head of the Teen Team, Rex is cocky, horny, and self-righteous like only a teen boy with unearned power can be. He's not really a bad guy though, just immature. Mantzoukas, a comedian famous for parts such as Rafi on "The League" and co-hosting "How Did This Get Made?", makes Rex comical, pitiable, and always entertaining.

Monster Girl, Shrinking Rae, and Olga (Grey DeLisle): An advantage of animation is that the crew can double up on performers. "Invincible" does so, as seen with Grey DeLisle playing three recurring characters. Her most important role is Monster Girl (essentially if the Hulk's natural form was a preteen girl), but she also voices the fully adult Shrinking Rae and Debby's Russian friend Olga, a superhero widow. DeLisle has an unbelievable vocal range (take a peek, her roles include Daphne from "Scooby Doo" to Mandy in "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy"). As of season 2, she's also voicing the Viltrumite Thula, a la her previous villainess roles like Azula in "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or Vicky in "The Fairly OddParents."

What's a good hero without some equally evil villains to thwart? Their ranks include:

Maulers — Kevin Michael Richardson: The muscular, scheming scientist Mauler Twins are played by Kevin Michael Richardson, pretty much the go-to deep voice for a villain. See his underrated turn as the Joker on "The Batman," or Trigon in "Teen Titans," or his gut-busting performance as the twisted Principal Brian Lewis on "American Dad." He can play good guys too, typically gentle giants (see Bulkhead in "Transformers: Prime") but the Maulers are anything but.

Titan — Mahershala Ali: Titan is a stone-skinned criminal who wants to be the boss. His actor, though, is already on top of the world; Mahershala Ali has two Best Supporting Actor Oscars, for "Moonlight" (as Juan) and "Green Book" (as pianist Dr. Donald Shirley). He's not above genre entertainment, though; he played Harlem crime boss Cottonmouth in "Luke Cage," his smooth and deep voice perfect for making the hair on the audience's skin stand up.

Slash the Flaxan — Djimon Hounsou: The Flaxans are interdimensional, green-skinned aliens who don't speak English, so their voices can't be recognized. However, their leader (distinguishable thanks to his eye scar) is a celebrity: Hounsou has credits on "Gladiator," "Blood Diamond," and played Korath the Pursuer in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Battle Beast — Michael Dorn: A feline alien mercenary, Battle Beast is always in pursuit of the ultimate challenge. There's no one better to voice him than Michael Dorn, who is most famous for playing Worf on "Star Trek." Worf is the first Klingon in Starfleet and science-fiction's go-to example of an honorable alien warrior. The difference is that Worf is uptight, while Battle Beast is bloodthirsty; Dorn is just as good when he's cutting loose.

The villain of "Invincible: Atom Eve" is Steven Erickson, the government creep who commissioned Brandyworth to make a human weapon. He's voiced by the late Lance Reddick in one of the actor's last roles. Erickson is callous and irritable, the exact opposite demeanor of a typical Lance Reddick character.

Reddick had an imperious voice, but surprisingly, he didn't often play villains. Some of his famous roles include relatively good cop Cedric Daniels on "The Wire," the reliable concierge Charon in the "John Wick" movies, and Phillip Broyles in "Fringe," the team's direct superior. Men in suits and consummate professionals, all of them.

This past year, he also appeared in William Friedkin's last movie, "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial," as the patient Judge Luther Blakely. Erickson isn't much of a character, but he does offer a glimpse of a different side to Lance Reddick we didn't often see.

Tatiana Maslany, known to superhero fans for playing Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, joined "Invincible" in season 2. While not purely a voice actor, she's already shown her range by taking on multiple parts: the supervillain Queen Lizard in the "Atom Eve" special, Aquaria the Queen of Atlantis, and Allen's neglected girlfriend Telia.

Maslany's breakout part was on the science-fiction series "Orphan Black," where she played multiple different characters who were clones of the same woman. All the clones had widely different names, appearances, and personalities; the show was essentially a showcase for Maslany's chameleon-like range. Likewise, "She-Hulk" is a show where the whole gimmick is that an introvert (Jen) transforms into an extrovert (She-Hulk). The transformation has to be more than just physical and Maslany is the sort of actor who can pull that off. Voice acting can be more limiting than other types of performance (since an actor only has one tool), but that doesn't constrict Maslany's range on "Invincible."

The twist of "Invincible," played out at the end of the first episode, is that Omni-Man reveals his true self by killing the world's other greatest superheroes, the Guardians of the Globe. Like Yeun, these heroes are all played by actors who previously appeared as main characters in "The Walking Dead." Their ranks include:

• Ross Marquand (Aaron) as The Immortal and Aquarus.

• Lennis James (Morgan) as Darkwing.

• Lauren Cohan (Maggie Greene) as War Woman.

• Michael Cudlitz (Abraham Ford) as Red Rush.

• Chad Coleman (Tyreese) as Martian Man.

• Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) as Green Ghost.

The Guardians are obvious stand-ins for the Justice League; the names, costumes, powers, everything. Aside from the Immortal at least; he's more like Wolverine or a heroic Vandal Savage. That might be why he's the only one who comes back, since he's more than just a bald parody. The other Guardians get so little time it's hard to gauge their actors' performances, but the "Walking Dead" connections make for a fun Easter egg.