Agent Spider? ‘Invincible’s Spider-Man Reference Explained

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the season finale of Invincible Season 2.

Invincible Season 2 has concluded with another brutal season finale, but in between Mark Grayson’s (Steven Yeun) existential crisis, Invincible meets a few interesting characters across dimensions. Among the list of fantastical things that Invincible sees while Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) is hurling him through the multiverse are talking dinosaurs, zombie-infested neighborhoods, and post-apocalyptic wastelands. Most of these worlds see Invincible fighting for his life, but others are more low-key, and he even gets to have some conversations with the multiverse’s residents.

One of the residents he meets carries an uncanny resemblance to a certain friendly neighborhood wall-crawler we all know and love from an entirely different comic continuity. In fact, the voice behind this spider-based hero is one that fans of the notable character should recognize. It’s a very special cameo that vindicates some outlandish rumors, and it’s not even the only appearance of a comic book character from another dimension that we get to see.

Invincible

Invincible is an adult animated superhero series that revolves around 17-year-old Mark Grayson, who’s just like every other guy his age — except his father is the most powerful superhero on the planet, Omni-Man. But as Mark develops powers of his own, he discovers his father’s legacy may not be as heroic as it seems.

Release Date

March 25, 2021

Creator

Robert Kirkman

Seasons

2

Developer

Simon Racioppa

Streaming Service(s)

Prime Video

Who Is Agent Spider in ‘Invincible’ Season 2?

Rumors broke a few months ago that Invincible was going to be meeting Spider-Man in Invincible Season 2. This was prompted by news that voice actor Josh Keaton, who is best known for voicing Peter Parker in the fan-favorite The Spectacular Spider-Man series, would have a special appearance in the show. Invincible creator Robert Kirkman shut the rumors down. There wasn’t really much credence to such an idea happening, since Spider-Man and Invincible are owned by two entirely different comic book labels. That being said, do the two characters end up meeting in the Invincible Season 2 finale? Well… kind of.

One of the first dimensions that Mark visits is one where a web-slinging character named Agent Spider (voiced by Keaton) is battling against a character with an even more on-the-nose name, Prof. Ock. The Doctor Octopus parody is trying to get Agent Spider in his clutches when Invincible inadvertently stops him by flying through a portal. Agent Spider thanks Invincible for his help and the two have a brief conversation. While he may not technically be playing Spider-Man, it sure does feel good to see Josh Keaton voice a character like this in 2D animation.

Invincible is a bit surprised Agent Spider doesn’t seem all that shocked that he fell out of a portal, but the web-slinger mentions that this isn’t his first rodeo with the multiverse. That’s likely another tongue-in-cheek reference to Spider-Man’s numerous adventures through the multiverse, as we saw with Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Spider-Verse films. (Speaking of Spider-Verse, Josh Keaton actually reprised his incarnation as Spider-Man for a brief cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.) Despite rave reviews and a dedicated following, The Spectacular Spider-Man was unceremoniously canceled in 2009. Fans have been begging for the show to be revived, and the widespread success of X-Men ’97 has made those calls even more prevalent.

Invincible Also Meets “A Man Who Dresses as a Bat”

The Invincible universe already has (or rather, had) its own Batman archetype with Darkwing (Lennie James), but Invincible Season 2 implies that Bruce Wayne himself may be out there in the multiverse. As if a quasi-cameo from a Marvel character wasn’t enough, Mark also meets a fellow hero wearing a dark black cape in a scene ripped straight from the comics. The actual character isn’t seen, but when Mark describes him as “a man who dresses as a bat” (carefully avoiding combining the two words and incurring the copyright wrath of DC Comics), it’s pretty obvious who he’s talking to.

Unlike Agent Spider, who is a clear parody of Spider-Man, this part of the Invincible Season 2 finale implies that this really is a Batman from another dimension. Similar to Spider-Man, Batman historically has dabbled with the multiverse before. We saw that in 2023 with The Flash, where Michael Keaton reprised his role as the Caped Crusader for the first time since Batman Returns.

The reason why Spider-Man and Batman don’t technically appear in Invincible is likely due to copyright concerns, as Marvel and DC are entirely different entities from Invincible‘s home of Action Comics. Still, in an era filled with crossovers, maybe we’ll get to see these characters interact one day. Even DC Studios head James Gunn has floated the idea of a Marvel crossover, so anything is possible.

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Both Spider-Man and Batman Are Getting New Prime Video Shows

Copyright concerns aside, it is a bit curious that Spider-Man and Batman weren’t further acknowledged in the Season 2 finale of Invincible. That’s because both Spider-Man and Batman are coming to Prime Video in the future in a big way, further expanding the streamer’s empire of superhero content. One is a spin-off following a fan-favorite variant of Peter Parker, and the other is a new animated series from a legend in the industry.

Fans of the Spider-Verse films quickly fell in love with Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), a version of Peter Parker who is a detective from World War II-era New York. In 2023, Spider-Verse producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller confirmed that a live-action series following Spider-Man Noir is in the works and would be coming to Prime Video. Details have been kept under wraps, but Cage has confirmed that he’s had conversations about being involved with the series.

Batman is also coming to Prime Video through Batman: Caped Crusader, which Amazon saved after the show became one of the cancelled casualties of Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent purge. At the time, news of the cancelation was shocking because the upcoming show hails from Bruce Timm — the creative mind behind one of the best superhero cartoons ever made, Batman: The Animated Series. Like the Spider-Man Noir spin-off, we don’t know too many details about the new Batman series, but it’s still highly anticipated nonetheless.

Invincible Season 2 is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

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