Invincible Season 2: Darkwing II powers explained

❘ Published: 2023-11-10T05:00:00

Darkwing II in Invincible Season 2 Episode 2

Prime Video

Invincible Season 2 Episode 2 introduces a somewhat familiar hero: Darkwing II, the apparent successor to the late Guardian of the Globe – here’s what you need to know about him and his strange powers.

Invincible kicked off its story with one of the most memorable endings to a pilot in TV history: the Guardians of the Globe, a Justice League-esque ragtag group of superheroes, are walloped, ripped apart, and slaughtered by Omni-Man.

This included Nightwing, the show’s parody of Batman. Much like the Dark Knight, he kept himself occupied fighting crime in the grime and perpetual darkness of Midnight City, a clear nod to Gotham. He didn’t have any superhuman powers, instead armed with an arsenal of incredible gadgets and weapons, not to mention being an expert in hand-to-hand combat.

Darkwing II is a bit… different, as evidenced by his first scrap with Invincible. So, after Season 2 Episode 2, here’s what you should know. Spoilers to follow…

Invincible Season 2: Who is Darkwing II?

Darkwing II was the late hero’s “assistant” Night Boy.

In Episode 2, he explains to Mark that he’s been continuing Darkwing’s work after his death. He specifically rejects the term “sidekick”, because it’s degrading.

However, there’s something a bit off about him. Firstly, Invincible finds him as he’s about to pummel a punk on the rooftop who’s begging for his life. Darkwing II says he’s preventing “scum like him from hurting an innocent person ever again”, but in the comics, he cracks under the pressure of protecting Midnight City and starts killing people who’ve committed crimes, rather than bringing them to justice.

In the show, he’s clearly lost his marbles; Cecil tells Mark to bring him in after overhearing their conversation, believing he’s “lost it”, and Darkwing II tells Mark: “So you hear them too? The voices.”

Mark tries to bring him in, and after a brief fight, he knocks him out and takes him back to GDA HQ. Don’t bet on this being the last we’ll see of him, though – he’s actually quite an important character in the original comics, so he’ll rear his head again at some point (but that’s as much as we’re telling you).

Invincible Season 2: Darkwing II powers

Darkwing II has similar powers to his predecessor, such as extraordinary acrobatic and martial arts prowess, but he has a unique ability: he’s able to access the Shadowverse.

We know next-to-nothing about how the Shadowverse works or what plane of existence it’s on, but we briefly enter it in Episode 2 when Darkwing II drags Mark in and attempts to leave him there.

Darkwing II warns there’s “dark and hungry things” in there, but we can’t see anything – all we can hear is ominous breathing and growling, intensifying when Mark grabs his arm and threatens to feed him to whatever lurks in the darkness. If we see the anti-hero again, we’d expect to learn a bit more about the Shadowverse.

Invincible Season 2 Episodes 1-2 are available to stream on Prime Video now, which you can sign up for here. Check out our other coverage below:

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