The third season of fan-favorite superhero showInvincibledebuted last week. Based on the acclaimed comic series from creators Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, the first batch of episodes hit the ground running with Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) the titular hero clashing withGlobal Defense Agency head honcho Cecil Stedman(Walton Goggins).It’s a confrontation that’s ripped straight from the original comics, but with one major change.
Since the beginning of the series, Cecil has shown himself to be cold and calculating, treating others more like tools rather than people. Yet, behind the rough exterior is a man who cares deeply about protecting innocent lives. Indeed, Cecil’s origin shows his commitment to safeguarding those under his care.
The show finally revealed details about Cecil Stedman’s past and how he became the man he is today, but comics fans noticed thatthe small-screen adaptation left out a major figure in Cecil’s story - Brit, a superhero who exists in the same comic universe asInvincible. Here’s how Brit’s presence influences Cecil’s story and why we think the TV show left him out.
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The Invincible TV Adaptation Stayed Loyal to Cecil’s Comic Backstory
Cecil Kept His Scars as a Reminder of His Mistakes
InInvincible #50- from Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Cory Walker and Rus Wooton - fans are treated to a short story titled ‘At Long Last - The Secret Origin of Cecil Stedman!’ The story reveals how, years before running the GDA, Cecil uncovered a plot orchestrated by the terrorist death cult theOrder of the Freeing Fist to unleash Chemical X, a deadly flesh-eating gas. Thankfully, Cecil managed to stop them in time, but not before some of the gas was released, with Cecil exposed. Just when he thought he was done for, Cecil Stedman managed to escape the clutches of death thanks to the timely intervention of the superhero known as Brit.
Brit’s most unique power is his durability, with various stories suggesting it may be literally impossible to kill or even harm him.
Despite stopping the gas, Cecil’s actions were too late to save seventeen people. At the same time, Cecil himself was badly injured. While the young agent received skin grafts,he maintained a patch of original skin, ensuring that his scars would always remind him of the cost of his mistakes. That’s essentially the story TV fans saw too, and yet that version was missing the person who saved Cecil’s life - enter Brit.
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Cecil’s Life Was Saved Thanks to Brit
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Though the origin of Cecil’s scars remains essentially the same as in the original comics, the animated series does cut out one crucial detail. During the operation, Cecil’s life was saved thanks toBrit, another character who first appeared in his own comic series by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore a few years prior toInvincible.Indeed, Cecil Stedman made his first appearance in theBrit: Cold Deathone-shot in 2003. Brit was eventually incorporated as a regular supporting character in theInvincibleUniverse comics, but hasn’t received the same treatment in the show.
As Invincible co-showrunner Robert Kirkman has explained,certain characters from the comics are not able to appear in the animated series due to property rights-as is the case with Science Dog, who waschanged to Séance Dog. It’s possible that Brit would be one such character who, for legal reasons, can’t make the leap from comics to TV. In fact, last season Brit was cut from an episode that adapted him rescuing Rex Splode and other superheroes from the Lizard League.
In the comics,Brit is an invulnerable hero born prior to World War I. The slow-aging Brit fights using specially designed ‘jet gloves’ which increase the strength of his punches, but otherwise he has capabilities similar to a regular human. Brit’s most unique power is his durability, with various stories suggesting it may be literally impossible to kill or even harm him. This allows Brit to charge into all forms of danger without hesitation, as he did when rescuing Cecil from Chemical X.
Of course, Brit is far from the most famous character who didn’t make the leap from comics to television, as the show also had to make changes toInvincible’s Marvel crossover,replacing Spider-Man with Agent Spider. Thankfully, these limitations haven’t stoppedallof Kirkman’s connected creations from appearing inInvincible. Fans may recall that last season’s episode, ‘I Thought You Were Stronger’ featured an appearance from Kid Thor and Knockout, two characters who debuted in the short-livedcomic seriesCapesfrom Kirkmanand artist Mark Englert. Much like Brit, they are also pre-existing characters later integrated into the largerInvincibleUniverse.
Whether or not Brit was excluded from the origin of Cecil Stedman due to rights issues or just to simplify the story, TV fans sadly didn’t get to meet the unique hero, whoeventually joins the reformed Guardians of the Globe later in the comic story. Time will tell whether TV fans ofInvinciblewill ever meet Brit, but with the character removed from Stedman’s backstory, it’s looking like this hero will sadly remain exclusive to the original comics.
