Amazon’s new TV show Invincible changes several elements from its source material, including the gender of the character Green Ghost (Sonequa Martin-Green). While Green Ghost was a man in the comics, Amazon’s show makes her a woman. Green Ghost isn’t the only character to have changed, and these adaptations by and large improve the overall end product.
Invincible is adapted from Amazon’s Invincible adaptation changes aspects of the comics, moving up the timing of some events and altering the characters. One of the more noticeable changes from the comics is Green Ghost’s gender swap. In both the comics and the show, Green Ghost is a member of the Guardians of the Globe, a superhero team that serves under the Global Defense Agency.
The show gives Green Ghost more screen time than the comics. In the show, Green Ghost and the other Guardians are pivotal in stopping an assault on the White House by the Mauler Twins while the character only had a brief appearance in the comics. Green Ghost and the other Guardians only appeared in issue #7 of Invincible, each getting a brief spotlight before they were tricked and murdered by Omni-Man. This trap befalls Green Ghost at the end of Invincible episode 1, so it may seem like a surface-level change that doesn’t matter as Green Ghost is seen very little in the comics or the show. But it's worth ing that in the comics, many women introduced were in the story to either be in or further complicate a romantic plot with men - and while these characters were still interesting, it limited the scope of their personal stories. By making Green Ghost and Shrinking Ray women independent of romantic relationships with men, the show moves away from this aspect of the comics.
Additionally, several characters had their races changed as well. Mark’s high school sweetheart Amber Bennett is now a young Black woman, and Mark’s fellow hero Rex Splode is Greek. By changing the character designs to reflect the diverse Invincible cast, the show becomes more inclusive and helps bring the 2003 comic a more modern touch.
There’s also a subtle change to Green Ghost’s personal life. When the character first appeared in the Invincible comics, they fought a robot in space alongside fellow Guardian of the Globe Martian Man before responding to Omni-Man’s distress call. In the show, however, Green Ghost was doing a photo shoot at their day job and Martian Man was playing with a young girl he’s befriended. This changes the final battle where Omni-Man kills the Guardians. In the comics, the Guardians are only portrayed as mighty heroes. The change to Invincible's Guardians shows a glimpse of the people behind the mask. It humanizes the Guardians and reminds the audience that they’re not just heroes but people - making their last moments in the desperate battle against Omni-Man all the more painful, and their ing an even greater tragedy.