WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the sixth episode of Invincible, "You Look Kinda Dead," streaming now on Amazon Prime.
In Amazon Prime Video's Invincible, fans are getting to see J.K. Simmons cutting loose as Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, in a most sinister light. Simmons has definitely touched various ends of the comic book spectrum, from J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies to the heroic Jim Gordon in Zack Snyder's DC films, but this cartoon, due to him getting a more prominent role, is definitely garnering more traction. But as nasty as Nolan gets, Simmons' most sadistic role is the one he won an Oscar for in 2014's Whiplash.
Nolan really is a fiend in Invincible, killing the Guardians of the Globe, lying about it to Cecil and the Global Defense Agency, and gaslighting his wife, Deb. He's leaving Earth vulnerable to invasion and grooming Mark to be a villain too, and seeing him ignoring terrorist threats and picking and choosing crimes is definitely a problem.
But in Whiplash, while he's not as physical, Simmons' character, Fletcher, is one of the most cerebral madmen to have ever graced the big screen -- so much so that people often compare this movie about a band trying to become jazz legends to a war film. His real power isn't like Nolan's -- flight, invulnerability and speed -- it's breaking people's minds, and it really paints a scary tyrant. Simmons' Fletcher is the leader of the band at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory, but when Miles Teller's Andrew comes in to drum, he quickly realizes that Fletcher is more monster than man. He's abusive, berating students with homophobic, misogynistic comments and even body-shaming them to the point that they cry and become depressed. There are scenes where he even chucks chairs and instruments at people, leaving Andrew wondering if he made the right decision to follow the footsteps of his jazz idol, Charlie Parker.
It comes to a head when Andrew, under so much pressure from his foul-mouthed coach, tackles Fletcher after he's booted off a live performance. Andrew, who was in a crash immediately prior, came out bloodied and concussed to take the stage, only to botch it and resort to violence. It's all part of the military conditioning Fletcher deploys, making them feel like expendable plebs, taking away their humanity so they can become musical robots.
There's no line he won't cross, even using personal family info to dig at people like Andrew until they break down -- or in the case of a past student, Sean Casey, kill themselves. Andrew eventually testifies secretly and gets Fletcher fired, but Fletcher's biggest play comes in a revenge scheme when he invites Andrew to drum at a popular event, leading him to think they've buried the hatchet.
Fletcher gives Andrew the wrong music sheet, sabotaging his own band just to make Andrew look awful in front of connoisseurs of the art. It shows how selfish, calculating and psychopathic Fletcher is -- a terrifyingly believable portrayal that won J.K. Simmons the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sandra Oh, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Mark Hamill, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Melise, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder. The series is produced by Skybound, and executive produced by Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa, David Alpert and Catherine Winder. New episodes are released Fridays on Amazon Prime Video.
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