Two years ago, as an appetizer to the long-awaited arrival ofInvincibleSeason 2, we were givenInvincible: Atom Eve, a spinoff episode fleshing out the past ofGillian Jacobs’s titular superhero before she joined the Teen Team. Since then, viewers have wondered if series creatorRobert Kirkmanwould ever give the same treatment to other beloved characters in the series. Whilehe’s personally expressed interestin exploring the likes of Monster Girl and Battle Beast, the obvious answer for whom to tackle next seemed to be Rex Splode. Like Eve, Rex has a whole comic that already exists for the team to pull from,Invincible Presents Atom Eve & Rex Splode, which gives some background to the explosives-minded Guardian of the Globe.Jason Mantzoukas, who voices Rex in the series, is all for doing his own special, but Kirkman might’ve had a thing or two to say about it.
During a conversation with Collider’sAidan Kelleyon the red carpet for theInvincibleSeason 3 premiere, Mantzoukas was asked if now’s the time for a Rex Splode spin-off. “Absolutely,” he said. “We gotta tell Robert Kirkman that we need a Rex Splode spin-off.” After saying that, though, he literally called over Kirkman to make their interest known, to which the series creator responded, hilariously, “Never gonna happen,” earning a “How dare you,” out of his star. Kirkman continued to poke fun, adding"Although, maybe if he’s young enough that Jason doesn’t do the voice,“he might consider it. “Wait a minute, what? [Laughs] That’s an exclusive right there,” Mantzoukas responded.
Doing a Rex Splode spin-off now would make plenty of sense given the arc the character has been on. Initially introduced as a very self-centered member of the Teen Team who cheats on his girlfriend and is a bit antagonistic towards Invincible,he’s starting to become much more empathetic. Getting his hand bitten off and his brains nearly blown outduring the fight with the Lizard Leaguein Season 2 especially gave him some much-needed perspective, inspiring him to open up more and become a better teammate. We’ve only been given brief hints as to his past and how well he understands Eve, but it could give some interesting perspective on the character now that he’s changing for the better. Mantzoukas confirmed that Rex continues on this path to becoming a better person to those around him in Season 3 too, adding:
“I would say, I don’t know about lessons, but I do thinkin Season 3, you’re watching Rex try. It is really Rex… you’re talking to me, and I’m a 52-year-old man, but this is a character who is young. Soit really is a coming-of-age story for Rex,it really is Rex starting to broaden out his scope of, instead of just being all about Rex and all about himself and his insecurities and his shit, it really becomes a curiosity.He’s finding empathy. He’s forging new connections with people from his past that are in his life, but that are now recalibrating those relationships. So, pretty rad.”
‘Invincible’ Season 3 Increases the Drama for Everyone
In addition to Rex’s arc, there’s a lot of ground Season 3 ofInvinciblelooks to cover. The war with the Viltrumite Empire is looming and Mark (Steven Yeun)has trained tirelesslyin the months since defeating Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) to become powerful enough to protect everyone. However, the marketinghas teased a growing riftbetween him and Global Defense Agency head Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins). Between clashing with Cecil’s morally questionable methods,a blossoming romance with Eve, and his half-brother Oliver (Christian Convery) wanting to join the fight with him, he has a lot on his plate that will weigh on him emotionally. That’s without mentioninga bevy of new threatsentering the fray, fromthe electrifying Powerplex (Aaron Paul)to Dupli-Kate’s (Malise Jow) brother Multi-Paul (Simu Liu).
InvincibleSeason 3 kicks off with three new episodes on Prime Video on Thursday, February 6, followed by new releases weekly.
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