Contains spoilers for "Invincible" Season 2, Episode 7, "I'm Not Going Anywhere,"
It's always risky to place bets on who will make it through an episode of "Invincible" alive, given the likelihood of both heroes and villains having their bodies snapped in irreparable fashion or their heads popped like costumed cantaloupes. Thankfully, the survival rate of the regular folk among the cast remains pretty high, including Mark Grayson's (Steve Yeun) former high school headteacher, Principal Winslow, who has just been appointed as his new university Dean in Season 2, Episode 7, "I'm Not Going Anywhere."
While he might have been a mild presence in the show since the beginning, the character himself is based on Reginald VelJohnson, the supporting star of the best action movie of all time, "Die Hard," and, more importantly, the head of the Winslow household in the beloved television sitcom, "Family Matters."
Clearly, the Winslow name held some prominence in co-creator and writer Robert Kirkman's mind as he developed the comic book series, as he modeled Mark's former high school principal on Reginald VelJohnson's character in the "Invincible" comic. Even the school Mark attended is named Reginald VelJohnson High after the actor, which explains why, in a massive bit of meta-casting, VelJohnson was brought in to voice the character when he was brought to life on television. The strands of popular sitcoms don't stop there with "Invincible," though. When it comes to the original iteration, every immense chapter of Mark's story holds some connection to classic American comedies of yesteryear.
Invincible's sitcom connections run deeper than Family Matters
Whereas every episode in the "Invincible" series is named after a quote from the corresponding installment, the trade paperback collections are named after famous American sitcoms. For example, Volume 1 is titled "Family Matters," followed by Volume 2, "Eight is Enough," and Volume 3, "Perfect Strangers," from which the show "Family Matters" was a spin-off. Excluding five of the series' 25 trade paperbacks ("The Viltrumite War," "The Death of Everyone," "Reboot?" along with both parts that make up "The End of All Things"), every chapter shares its title with a classic American sitcom, but the stories feature a lot more blood and people screaming in agony.
If the show sticks to the same route as the comics concerning Winslow's role in its story of robots, leagues run by lizards, and aliens that laugh like Seth Rogen, our favorite former principal and newly appointed Dean will make it out alive. In fact, given the caliber of talent bringing Winslow to life, there's no reason that the esteemed educator could be included in more spinoff episodes like "Atom Eve" or the other rumored possibilities that Robert Kirkman is kicking around. And why stop there? If the live-action "Invincible" movie ever becomes a reality, we know just the man to cast to help keep Mark's academic life in order.
