Invincible Season 4 Marks The Return Of A Character The Comics Forgot About

Spoilers for "Invincible" season 4 episode 4 follow.

Think back to "Invincible" season 1 and you might remember the demonic detective Damien Darkblood, voiced by the mega-prolific actor Clancy Brown (who also voices Viltrumite General Kregg in "Invincible"). After Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) murdered the Guardians of the Globe, Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) put Darkblood on the case. But once he got too close to the truth, Cecil in turn sent Darkblood back to Hell to prevent him from confronting Omni-Man before Cecil was ready.

The "Invincible" season 3 finale included a post-credits scene where Damien Darkblood returned, still in Hell and talking with his master Satan (Bruce Campbell). "Invincible" season 4 episode 4 — "Hurm" — follows up on that for the show's first wholly original storyline. Damien and his demon brethren are fighting a fiery villain called Volcanikka (Indira Varma), and they're losing. Since Omni-Man isn't available, Damien summons Mark/Invincible (Steven Yeun) to aid in the battle.

In the original "Invincible" comics (by writer Robert Kirkman and artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley), Damien Darkblood was more of a joke character. He last showed up in "Invincible" issue #16 wanting to tell Cecil he had "leads" on the Guardians' murders... long after Omni-Man had been publicly exposed as the killer. He made a few more appearances in Kirkman's comic "Astounding Wolf-Man" (set in the same universe as "Invincible"), but he never returned to "Invincible" itself. Kirkman wrote, in the letters page for "Astounding Wolf-Man" #15, that he'd considered writing an "Invincible goes to Hell" story arc co-starring Damien Darkblood, but "decided against it."

While making the "Invincible" show, Kirkman reconsidered and is finally doing that storyline. Damien Darkblood's more dramatic exit in the cartoon set the story up, and now season 4 delivers it.

Speaking to SFX Magazine (for its March 2026 issue), Robert Kirkman said: "What was going on in Hell, and what Hell is in the 'Invincible' universe, I think will come as a surprise to some people." Indeed, this is one story in "Invincible" you won't know in advance if you've read the comics.

So, what is the cosmology of the "Invincible" universe? First off, there's no Heaven; Damien Darkblood muses to Mark how humans want to make up a fictional paradise instead of building one on Earth. However, Hell and Satan are not quite the Christian conception of it. Hell isn't another realm, but a location deep in the Earth, and so a literal underworld. (Mark speculates that if he flew up through enough rock, he'd eventually get back home.)

Life on Earth, per Damien, has had "ages of existence." Humankind's dominance is the sixth age, demons came about in the fifth age, and before them in the fourth age was "the Vile," monstrous creatures that the demons warred with for eons. The demons drove the Vile into Hell, where they remain imprisoned and tortured. Hence, the stories about Hell being a prison for evil souls. (Though, even once Mark learns the truth that Satan is basically a hero, he still doesn't feel comfortable bowing to him.)

Volcanikka, who has seized power from Satan, wants to free the Vile and destroy humanity. Mark and Damien retrieve Satan's crown to restore him to full strength, and eventually they manage to beat back Volcanikka. Mark returns to Earth, as does Damien, now that his service in the underworld is finished.

Damien Darkblood is largely a parody of Mike Mignola's Hellboy, another red-skinned demon and taciturn paranormal investigator. (His name likely comes from Damien, the antichrist boy from "The Omen" films, and also the inspiration for an infamous anime villain.) Going into "Hurm," I was expecting a "Hellboy" homage, but I was more reminded of a different comic mythology: Jack Kirby's New Gods.

"New Gods" #1 opens by declaring "the old gods had died, and that out of that Ragnarök, the new gods of New Genesis and Apokolips emerged." The ages of existence Damien Darkblood alludes to mirrors Kirby's cycle of godly rebirth. The demon warriors' armor, with its apparent consciousness and glowing line patterns, resemble New Gods technology like Mother/Father Box computers too. Mark should just count himself lucky that this Satan is no Darkseid.

Expect to see Satan and Damien return once more in "Invincible," though. The episode ends with Damien's master assigning him a new case: investigating why Vocanikka awoke at all. In his SFX interview, Kirkman teased "Hurm" would introduce new subplots, though added "to what level we address them as the future goes on remains to be seen." So, it might depend on how fans respond to "Hurm" to see if Damien's quest becomes a full-on recurring subplot.

The animated "Invincible" has already made some changes by only tweaking what was already in the comics. Compared to Nolan Grayson's relatively easy redemption and forgiveness in the comics, "Invincible" season 2 showed that this time, Omni-Man is going to have to work a lot harder. This is a change complemented by the show giving more spotlight to Mark's mom/Nolan's ex-wife Debbie (Sandra Oh). Perhaps Damien will get more spotlight, too.

"Invincible" is streaming on Prime Video.