Invincible has neglected a key character – now season 4 needs to do him justice

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Being a superhero is never easy, but Mark Grayson is having an especially hard time of it lately.

Invincible season 4 starts on a downer following the messed up place we left Mark in season 3.

After his brutal fight with Conquest, and all the suffering it caused, Invincible has lost faith in being a superhero. He’s even beginning to consider killing villains as a way to prevent them from hurting others, which deeply troubles him.

Putting aside the terrible things that happened with his girlfriend’s death and the previous issues with his father, let’s move forward.

Simply put, Mark is lonely and needs a real friend. He needs someone who truly understands him, not just a teammate or girlfriend, but someone who’s known him for a long time and can offer honest, unbiased advice about his life as a superhero.

Before the Prime Video series Invincible started, its creator, Robert Kirkman, stated that the character William plays a crucial role in the overall story (according to Metro Weekly). Initially, it appeared this would indeed be true.

Right from the start of the show, William’s sexual orientation was clear, but it wasn’t made into a dramatic plot point. This is a big difference from how he was first presented in the original comics, which happened twenty years earlier, and involved a lot more focus on his coming out.

The character William isn’t revealed until issue #80, which came out in 2011. Prior to that, some earlier scenes featured characters like Mark and Atom Eve using the phrase “so gay” in a way that was considered offensive at the time.

The show smartly avoided the problematic and outdated homophobic elements of the original story, making it relevant for today’s audiences. However, it unfortunately relies on the tired “gay best friend” trope with the character William, who exists mainly to support and praise the main character, Mark, without much of a story of his own.

In a previous interview with Digital Spy, Andrew Rannells, the actor who voices William, indicated that his character isn’t just a stereotypical gay sidekick.

Rannells praised the effort to give William a significant role, but the first season actually showed him as more of a supporting character.

For the first five episodes, Mark’s close friend William wasn’t much of a presence in the story. The writers spent more time exploring Mark’s romantic interest in Amber. And when Mark needed guidance, he confided in Atomic Eve instead of William, as she understood the challenges of being a new superhero.

In the sixth episode of the first season, the show briefly focused on William, giving him his own plotline in an effort to make him a key figure again.

It was so heartwarming to see William finally with someone he really connected with, Rick, especially since their relationship felt so independent from his close friendship with Mark. Honestly, it was a beautiful thing! But then everything went horribly wrong. Rick ended up changing into a monster, and it was awful watching him get completely thrashed. It was just heartbreaking to witness.

William finally got a romantic partner after a long wait, but their first and only episode together focused on difficult and violent events.

It’s impossible to list all the times LGBTQ+ couples have been hurt or defined by sad events in movies and TV shows.

Things didn’t get any better for William after that; he became even more withdrawn and quiet.

By season 3, William’s role had already been reduced to appearing in only half of the episodes, and he didn’t have much of an impact. Now, in season 4, he’s completely absent from the first three episodes released, and so far, there hasn’t even been any mention of his character.

What happened to William remains a mystery. The show’s writers simply never addressed why he disappeared.

And you thought Mark had it bad this season.

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It’s understandable that this story has a lot of characters, particularly with the addition of aliens and many side quests. However, William isn’t meant to be just another face in the crowd. He’s Mark’s closest friend and was initially set up to be a major character throughout the entire series.

This situation doesn’t look good, particularly because William is the most prominent LGBTQ+ character in the show. His absence would mean complete lack of queer representation in Invincible.

In an interview with Metro Weekly, Kirkman hinted that William’s sexuality would be explored through various storylines in the series.

As a huge fan, I’m really hoping the rest of season 4 delivers on the amazing potential it’s shown. Honestly, I’d hate to see Invincible fall into the same predictable traps that the original comic did way back when. It’s 2026 now, and we’ve seen these stories done before – there’s really no reason for the show to repeat those old mistakes.

Invincible season 4 is available to stream on Prime Video.

Authors

David OpieFreelance Writer

David Opie is a freelance journalist who covers TV and film for various online publications like TopMob, Indiewire, and Empire. He’s a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ representation, often speaking on panels about it and working to promote queer stories. Beyond that, he loves comics, animation, and horror—and dreams of a Buffy the Vampire Slayerthemed musical challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race*. Before his current work, David was a Deputy TV Editor at Digital Spy and holds a degree in Psychology.

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2026-03-18 23:05