Amazon Prime’s new show, Invincible follows Mark Grayson, a young superhero who inherited his powers from his dad, a Superman-like alien named Omni-Man. In the TV show, Mark's best friend at school is William, who is openly gay; however, this is a change from the character's depiction in the comics.
Mark is a 17-year-old high school senior when his powers finally manifest themselves, and he chooses the name Invincible for his superhero alter-ego. In Invincible, he has trouble navigating his new powers and superhero identity while keeping up a normal facade at school and in his relationships. It leads to funny moments, like one scene where he rushes to come back home after leaving his crush Amber hanging in his bedroom, but almost forgets to change back into normal clothes. He also needs to lie to his best friend, William Clockwell, to keep his alter-ego secret (although the trailer reveals William eventually finds out).
There are a few differences between Prime's Invincible show and the comics, which is normal of any adaptation from paper to screen. However, a significant change in Invincible is the lack of a coming-out arc for William Clockwell, which is the only LGBTQ storyline in Kirkman's original: in the comics, William discovers and embraces his sexuality while he and Mark are in college. While the Amazon Prime Video adaptation does remove this arc, Invincible hasn’t totally ignored the character’s LGTBQ identity since William appears to already be out. Nevertheless, the show ends up failing the LGBTQ audience, and William Clockwell, by robbing them of the source material's sole queer storyline.
Invincible establishes William’s homosexuality immediately. In the first episode, “It’s About Time,” he tells Mark he thinks Omni-Man is “hot and all,” without knowing the superhero is really his friend’s father. After mistaking Mark’s awkwardness at the topic, he apologizes and moves on by saying “OK, straight stuff.” William's sexuality isn't a topic of discussion, and he quickly falls into the "gay best friend" trope, which unfortunately doesn't leave room for much character development. The focus is rather on Mark’s romantic life, as he has crushes on two different girls, and William acts as his hype man. It’s a weird turn on Amazon Prime’s part, considering the streaming platform had previously The Boys, their other superhero show.
Even with five more episodes ahead for Invincible season 1, it's unlikely that a queer plot centers on William will be included. The show's story is centered on Mark’s alter-ego Invincible as he grapples with his newfound powers, so it’s unlikely that William will get any more queer screen time for this season. Nevertheless, the comics contain enough material for the Amazon show to last seven seasons, according to Invincible’s creator Robert Kirkman. Considering the show has been taking some liberties with the source material already, it could easily integrate new LGBTQ characters and storylines, as well as take the time to explore William’s homosexuality, in subsequent seasons, and therefore boost queer representation in a genre that severely needs it.