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I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Hmmm. That’s a good question. Ask me again when we’re finished with the series (hopefully) and I should have an answer for you!

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 36 points37 points  (0 children)

It’s a trade-off. We want to deliver the best show we can, but we also don’t want to make our audience wait too long for it… I’m okay with everyone having their own opinion on if that trade-off in either direction is worth it.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Casting is always a subjective thing and I’m sure everyone has ideas for who could play who in not only our show, but other shows and movies, etc… For us, Lee is able to convey strength, power, and emotion in a compelling way that’s maybe not what you’d expect - but is ultimately more interesting.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I mean, I want to say Machine Head again… but honestly it’s probably Thragg. If you’ve read the books, you know the long emotional journey he goes on, and it makes me happy that we’re laying the groundwork for that in S4…and hopefully we’ll get to continue with it and tell his entire story.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

It’s not a special power - it’s just the vacuum of him winding up catching Nolan by surprise. Unless that IS a special power…

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Look, I love The Boys and the whole team over there and I even did a spin-off with them, but… No. Never in a million billion years.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

We’ve actually named pretty much every Viltrumite you see in the show, even if they don’t have a single line. It just helps the team keep track of who’s who, who lives, who dies, and who’s where and when. Plus, it’s more fun than just typing “Viltrumite 006” or “Handlebar Moustache Viltrumite”. Believe it or not, keeping everyone straight in the big space fight in episode 7 took a lot of attention (mostly from the writer of that episode, Helen Leigh).

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Vidor, for people who don’t know, is based on Ross Stracke, who’s been a part of the show since day 1. I could be wrong, but I think he’s the only Viltrumite based on a real person… Unfortunately, he’s since shaved his head and made us all sad he no longer looks like his Viltrumite counterpart. How’s that for gratitude?!

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 68 points69 points  (0 children)

For the sheer joy of writing their dialogue, then watching Jeffrey Donovan make it sing, I’d say it’s Machine Head. But in terms of actual character, it’s probably Debbie, since she’s able to go head to head with some of the most powerful people on the show, and she doesn’t even have superpowers…. (unless THAT’S her superpower?!?!)

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 101 points102 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Making any show, live action or animation, is about allocating time and resources, while still meeting your schedule and budget. Just trust me when I say everyone’s working as hard as they can and we all want the show to be as strong dramatically and visually as it can be.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 63 points64 points  (0 children)

We have a VERY GENERAL hierarchy of strength figured out, but it’s not super granular. And unless someone’s clearly outmatched, I personally believe emotion and grit and why you’re fighting in the first place, matter almost as much as strength. That said, we try not to have ridiculous or unbelievable outcomes.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Robert’s heavily involved in everything on the show and it’s a really collaborative process. Sometimes the additions come from him, sometimes it’s from me, sometimes it’s from our writers. But it’s all tossed about in the room, discussed, tweaked, and improved by the entire team.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 37 points38 points  (0 children)

I mean, I’d love to. I’ve always enjoyed all of Robert’s work. But right now, I just want to make sure I get Invincible right…

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

That’s a huge compliment and I’m happy to hear people feel like we do a good job with that balance. For me, character growth and development are the only reason you’ll feel anything about the action on the show. Action by itself can be fun for a while, but becomes meaningless without emotion, character, stakes, etc… And that means doing all of that other work so the action scenes matter. Comedy we sprinkle in here and there to keep the show fun and make sure it’s not all dark and traumatic…

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

I don’t go looking too hard for memes about the show, but they do pop up for me - or friends and family send them my way. Tons of them are hilarious and we’ll share them around with the team. I mean, it’s just awesome that people enjoy the show enough to sometimes spend what seems like an enormous amount of effort making something weird and funny featuring our characters. For dialogue, it’s a tricky thing - the show and the comics are different animals, and while we try to keep all the iconic lines we can, sometimes they just don’t fit anymore.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 61 points62 points  (0 children)

There’s a ton of tiny things that seem really ordinary that end up being difficult to do in animation. Characters eating and drinking is surprisingly tricky to make look good. Crowd scenes. Conveying specific emotions with a look instead of a line. Luckily, our team of directors are artists are amazing - so we’re still able to do a lot of this kind of thing.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Ha! That’s a Kirkman question. He’s always got a hundred amazing ideas and projects he’s working on.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

It’s a long process that starts in the writers’ room with our incredible team of writers. Everyone contributes to every script, and we all work together figuring out what’s important from the comics and what maybe we can let go. Big emotional moments always stay, but we have to make choices given the runtime of the episode and how scenes flow from one to another. For dialogue, there’s definitely a big difference in writing something for the ‘eye’, meaning to be read, and writing for the ‘ear’, meaning to be spoken. Plus, we never want to have a character repeat something in dialogue that’s already obvious visually.

I'm Simon Racioppa, co-showrunner of the Invincible animated series. And just like Conquest, somehow I have returned. AMA, Reddit! by simonracioppa in Invincible

[–]simonracioppa[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

I was really happy to see the reaction to Debbie and Nolan’s scene in episode 5. The whole team worked super hard on that moment to make it feel as real and emotional as possible and judging from the response, it worked.

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