Invincible's Creator Was Worried Foundation Ruined A Major Character Casting

"Invincible" is approaching its endgame, and neither fans nor Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) are ready for what the Viltrum Empire has in store for them. Mark only barely faced off against Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), one of the strongest beings in the universe, at the end of season 3, and it took everything our young hero had to stop a single powerful Viltrumite.

Now, "Invincible" season 4 is gearing up to introduce an even stronger villain and, arguably, the Big Bad Evil Guy (to use a "Dungeons & Dragons" term) of the entire series. That would be a reference to Thragg, the leader of the entire Viltrum Empire. We previously speculated about who should voice Thragg on "Invincible," as many fans had hoped Morgan would play the character before he was cast as Conquest. What we never considered, however, was that creator/showrunner Robert Kirkman would pick one of the best villain actors of 2025 to portray his own animated antagonist: Lee Pace.

/Film's own Devin Meenan has already explained in depth why Lee Pace is the perfect choice to play Thragg, as well as why he's an unexpected choice. Indeed, his casting was, in a sense, as much of a surprise to Kirkman as it was to fans, as the former worried he wouldn't be able to get Pace due to his role on "Foundation."

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Kirkman revealed that he'd envisioned Pace in the role even before "Invincible" started, citing his love of the actor's work on "Halt and Catch Fire" and "Pushing Daisies." However, when "Foundation" cast Pace to play its own all-mighty galactic empire, Kirkman admitted, "I was also like, 'Is this [too] close? Am I gonna be able to cast him as Thragg if he's available? Is this gonna work?'"

Now, one can understand why Kirkman would be worried about Pace playing yet another evil emperor character. At the same time, anyone who's seen "Foundation" (especially season 3) knows that Pace can milk the hell out of the archetype. Throughout the series, the actor has excelled at showing the many sides of Emperor Cleon, portraying him as a proud and boastful despot, an angry man desperately clinging onto power, and even a "Big Lebowski"-style relaxed Brother Dude who'd prefer to chill in his garden house, clone extinct animals, and get high. His character transformations are both the highlight of the entire show and a phenomenal showcase of Pace's skills as an actor, so he really shouldn't have trouble playing another emperor.

As Pace told EW, the Cleons are messy, but Thragg is "this extraordinarily powerful person who is up against extraordinarily powerful obstacles, and it brings him to his knees. So, you get to watch this organized, strong, disciplined, confident person — not even a person like we think about humans, he's so much higher than that — the story dismantles him."

Moreover, as Kirkman teased, the thing that makes Thragg a different kind of threat is his "sense of calm and a sense of confidence." Thanks to his unbelievable strength, the character never really feels threatened and, as such, doesn't get emotional during his battles. Be that as it may, he's coming to Earth with a purpose, and that makes him dangerous. As Kirkman explained, "There's a sense of drive to him where he has compassion for the Viltrumites, and there are things that he wants to accomplish for the Viltrumites that are very deeply important to him. "

"Invincible" season 4 will begin streaming on Prime Video in March 2026.