Invincible: Atom Eve (TV Special 2023) Review

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The Atom Eve episode explores Samantha Wilkins’ origin story and her struggle with her dark past after acquiring powers. Who would have thought that one of the most down-to-earth characters in the Invincible TV series would have such a traumatic past?

Like The Boys TV series, one of the many things I love about the Invincible show is how it readapts Marvel and DC Characters & storylines. Eve’s origin story is akin to Marvel’s Weapon Plus program, which gave rise to characters like Captain America (weapon 1) and Wolverine (weapon x). In the invincible universe, it seems Eve was weapon 1 and her half-siblings were the unfortunate copies made to replace her.

(Sorry my non-comic book nerds. I just had to)

One benefit of going back in time to revisit Eve’s origin story is that we get to see the rest of the world during this period.

The special episode kicks off with an earlier version of the Guardians of the Globe (The Justice League of this world) coming to save the day. We get to see The Immortal, War Woman, The Drift, and a different version of Green Ghost (the Martian Manhunter Character). It was also nice to see black Samson in action before he lost his powers. (I guess he’s Static Shock of this universe). And then there’s Omni-Man.

At this time, Nolan is still a probationary member of the team and hasn’t begun his true mission on Earth. I also love that we get a tease of little Mark & Debby at the end of the episode, as this builds the inner conflict we see Nolan going through in the main Invincible series.

All the commotion proves to be a ruse set by Dr. BrandyWorth to help Eve’s Mom escape her dark fate of becoming a super baby factory for the US Pentagon. Hearing Lance Reddick’s voice again was great, albeit as the ruthless head of the Pentagon General Erickson.

Everything goes wrong when Eve’s birth proves too difficult and Mom passes. But in a moment of quick thinking, Dr. BrandyWorth drops Eve off to her foster parents, hoping she will live a normal life (She doesn’t).

To no one’s surprise, Eve didn’t have an easy childhood (especially with the ability to see, feel, and manipulate all molecules around her). But what made everything worse was how her foster parents (her dad especially) navigated her issues and ended up treating her like a freak.

What surprised me was how well Eve could fight at her age. The Invincible series has always given us fantastic action scenes, but Eve’s fighting sequences had no reason to be as great as they were. I particularly enjoyed her clash with her siblings who gave her the fight of her life, but she didn’t show any mercy either.

However, everything comes to a climax when Eve discovers the messed up truth about her mother’s fate and unleashes her full powers.

I’ve always believed Eve is one of the most powerful characters in the Invincible show and this episode proves it. My jaw dropped when Eve went into god mode and not only beat down Erickson’s goons but also wiped their memories with ease.

But despite the intensity of the special episode, its best parts were still emotional moments. Even with the powers of a Demi-god, Eve is left wanting a loving and accepting family. And after her epic battle, we see Eve looking at the family that she could have had.

Verdict