What Universa From Invincible Season 4 Looks Like In Real Life

Minor spoilers for "Invincible" season 4, episodes 1-3 follow.

The "Invincible" season 4 premiere "Making the World a Better Place" sees Earth face two alien invasions simultaneously. One is carried out by the parasitic Sequids, which culminates in Mark Grayson's (Steven Yeun) darkest moment yet. The other is a one-woman invasion carried out by the alien warrior Universa (Danai Gurira).

The green-skinned Universa is the ruler of her homeworld, which is suffering an energy crisis. She's come to Earth seeking the resources to save her people, and tries to get them by attacking a nuclear power plant, then absorbing its energy output into her Staff of Leadership. Her plan is quickly foiled thanks to Invincible and Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs). Universa may be trying to save her people, but Earth's heroes can't let her endanger theirs.

Universa's design resembles the alien warrior woman Maxima from DC Comics, but her energy-siphoning goals are more in-line with a Marvel villain: Galactus, the devourer of worlds. (Note how his name derives from "galactic" and Universa's derives from "universe.") Alternatively, as an alien invader raiding power plants to replenish her depleted planet, Universa evokes the Decepticons from "Transformers" — "Invincible" writer Robert Kirkman is the current writer of the "Transformers" comic and a longtime franchise fan.

Kirkman fans might know Danai Gurira from an adaptation of his other most famous comic: "The Walking Dead." In the live-action "Walking Dead" TV series, Gurira played Michonne, who wields a samurai sword and is one of the story's most popular characters. Gurira most recently appeared as Michonne in 2024 mini-series "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live" (which she also co-wrote), and she's parlayed her acclaimed performance as Michonne into other roles — notably Okoye, leader of the Dora Milaje in the "Black Panther" films.

Danai Gurira isn't even the only "Black Panther" star to show up on "Invincible" season 4. Though their characters don't share scenes, she's joined by Winston Duke, who played M'Baku in the "Black Panther" films. (In "Invincible," Duke plays the alien hero Space Racer.)

Now, Gurira is far from the first "Walking Dead" star to appear in "Invincible" — the very star of the show is one. Over a decade before Steven Yeun played Mark Grayson, he was Glenn Rhee on "The Walking Dead." That role made him famous and put him on Robert Kirkman's radar. Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who played Negan on "The Walking Dead," joined "Invincible" last season as the villain Conquest, making Invincible and Conquest's battle a metatextual rematch between Negan and Glenn. (This time, Yeun's character does the face-bashing-in.)

In the first ever "Invincible" episode, the Guardians of the Globe (a team made up of analogues to the Justice League) were all voiced by "Walking Dead" actors such as Lauren Cohan, Lennie James, Michael Cudlitz etc. That made it all the more shocking when Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) killed the Guardians.

Other "Walking Dead" alums in "Invincible" include Ross Marquand (who played Aaron on "Walking Dead") in several supporting roles such as the Immortal and Rudy/Robot, and Khary Payton (King Ezekiel) as superhero Black Samson. Marquand and Payton are both prolific voice actors in general, and thus fit right in on "Invincible."

Will Gurira get to come back? Universa is defeated rather quickly, but this isn't her where her story ends in the "Invincible" comics. Gurira was previously stumped when asked if Okoye or Michonne would win in a fight; adding Universa to that question only complicates the answer more.

"Invincible" is streaming on Prime Video.