Omni-Man is one of the most well-known parodies of Superman, along with Homelander. In the series Invincible from Amazon Prime, he is a powerful villain in the finale of season 1. However, he was originally supposed to have a different name. He got his current name only because the publisher was afraid of a lawsuit.
Who is Omni-Man? In the very first episode of Invincible, you get to know Omni-Man. He is basically the Superman in the universe of Invincible. He can fly, is incredibly strong, and ages significantly slower than humans. He is voiced in the original by actor J. K. Simmons.
Due to his appearance, he quickly became quite popular and is one of the most beloved Superman parodies, along with Homelander from The Boys. Originally, his name was also supposed to be much closer to the original, but that was changed out of fear of DC and a potential lawsuit.
Image Comics didn’t want a lawsuit
What was the original name? In the bonus material of Invincible Vol. 1 Family Matters (via Screen Rant), Robert Kirkman, who is also known as the comic author of The Walking Dead, shows what the original names and designs of Invincible and Omni-Man looked like.
In the material, there is a concept drawing of Supra-Man with the subtitle: Man of Stuff. This is a clear parody of Superman and his title Man of Steel
. The suit of Supra-Man was originally not red and white, but blue and yellow, like the original costume of Invincible, who was initially supposed to be named Bulletproof.
You can see the concept drawing here:
Why was the name changed? In the bonus material, Robert Kirkman also mentions that the name was changed because the publisher of Invincible, Image Comics, was afraid of DC. He writes:
Another little-known fact is that, when Invincible was still called Bulletproof, he was named Supra-Man. Image forced us to change the name because they feared that DC wouldn’t like it if we used a name that, when pronounced, was hardly distinguishable from their beloved trademark character.
Robert Kirkman onSupra-Manand the name change
Later, they changed the name from Bulletproof
to Invincible
. Interestingly, Bulletproof still made it into the comics and later into the series as the character Zandale Randolph, who becomes a member of the Guardians of the Globe after the incident with Omni-Man.
On 13.03.2025, season 3 of Invincible ends, and fans will then have to wait for further seasons. Especially the English voice cast is filled with high-profile actors such as J. K. Simmons and Steven Yeun. However, the creators of the series really want to get one actor: An adult superhero series wants to have an actor from Breaking Bad, but he refuses: ‘But we will be back’
