Invincible Vs Roster Adds Cecil Stedman, A “Regular Guy With Government Funds”

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So far, all the confirmed fighters in *Invincible Vs.*—the 3v3 tag fighter based on the *Invincible* comic series—have been enhanced superheroes. But today at New York Comic Con, Skybound and Quarter Up announced a change: Cecil Stedman, the head of the Global Defense Agency, is now a playable character.

Creating a human character who can realistically fight beings as powerful as Omni-Man and Invincible needed a different strategy. TopMob interviewed Robert Kirkman, the creator of Invincible, and developers from Quarter Up to discuss how they designed Cecil and his special skills for the game.

“Only” human

Unlike most superheroes, Cecil doesn’t depend on having incredible strength or speed. Instead, he uses the extensive resources available through his government agency to give him an edge in a fight. This reliance on resources was central to his role in *Invincible Vs*, making him a truly dangerous opponent.

According to executive producer Mike Willette, the character doesn’t have unlimited resources, but he’s effectively traveling quickly at public expense. While he can’t jump or fly like other characters, he’s able to get around easily because he’s using taxpayer money for transportation.

Cecil’s unique movement lets him control the battlefield, fitting his personality as someone who’s always in control, according to Willette. He uses a variety of long-range attacks, including projectiles, hovering sonic mines, and other tools to keep opponents at a distance. He can quickly fill the screen with attacks, creating a chaotic ‘bullet hell’ effect, and seamlessly transition into combo attacks once he lands a hit.

Adding a relatively normal human character like Cecil to a team of superpowered individuals presents a unique challenge – he needs to appear capable of competing with them, not just in terms of what he can do, but also how he looks. Skybound art director Dan Eder described how the team worked to visually convey Cecil’s strength and ability.

We were trying to figure out how to make the character powerful and intimidating without giving him the overly muscular build of someone like Omni-Man, explained Eder. While taking inspiration from the show, the design went through many revisions. It’s a difficult but rewarding artistic process, and we believe the final result is true to the character. He’ll fit well with the rest of the team, even though everyone looks quite different.

Fitting into the canon

I was so excited to hear that Cecil is joining the game! And even better, they’re adding a brand new story arc specifically for *Invincible VS.*! Robert Kirkman mentioned that the teams at Skybound and Quarter Up worked really closely together to make sure this new story feels like a seamless part of the whole *Invincible* universe, which is awesome. They didn’t say exactly *when* in the timeline it takes place, but it sounds like they’ve put a lot of thought into making it fit naturally.

According to Kirkman, narrative director Mike Rogers has been collaborating with Helen Leigh, a key writer for the *Invincible* series and co-writer of the *Atom Eve* game. He explained that the game’s story mode will logically connect to the *Invincible* show’s narrative, and promises a special experience specifically designed for fans of the television series, though details are still to come.

Robert Kirkman describes the ‘Invincible Vs.’ story as a self-contained event within the larger ‘Invincible’ narrative. He expressed his enjoyment working with Helen and Robert, emphasizing their collaboration to ensure the story felt true to the ‘Invincible’ world.

While the game ‘Atom Eve’ centered solely on that character, ‘Invincible Vs’ allowed the storytellers to work with a much wider range of characters. Kirkman finds this expanded creative freedom – the ability to reimagine and utilize these characters in fresh ways – particularly exciting about the project.

Kirkman explained that the new format allows for more expansive storytelling. He noted that the game features some unique character interactions, bringing together characters who haven’t had much opportunity to connect in other ‘Invincible’ media.

The game *Invincible Vs* is scheduled for release in 2026 on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Players will be able to choose from a variety of characters, including Cecil, Omni-Man, Invincible, Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Bulletproof, Thula, and Battle Beast.

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2025-10-09 23:10