The Invincible series is garnering attention for its unique concept and mature themes, which continue to expand with the upcoming release of part two of its second season. Created by Robert Kirkman, the adult animated show continues to be in the spotlight, with Episode 7 of Invincible Season 2 introducing The Boys star, Shantel VanSanten.
Her entry into the superhero franchise is completely different from her role in The Boys, who voices the infamous character, Anissa from the comics.
Who is Shantel VanSanten?
Shantel VanSanten is no stranger to the superhero genre, playing the love interest of Barry Allen- Patty Spivot in The Flash. She played a significant role in Amazon Prime’s The Boys, portraying Becca Butcher, wife to Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher, in the series.
At the beginning of the series, viewers were unsure about Becca’s fate in the entire Season 1. All we were aware of was the fact that Billy had a dark past, with flashbacks revealing Becca’s link with Vought International.
She was the Senior Director of Digital Marketing, who was r*ped by Homelander, the leader of The Seven, resulting in her giving birth to his child, Ryan. That incident led to her disappearance but Season 1 ended with a revelation that his wife might still be alive.
She is being kept at a secret Vought facility, raising her son away from the public’s eye. She has continued to be a significant character who had to frequently confront her perpetrator and raise her son to be a good person.
She has also worked outside the superhero genre, playing Quinn James in the CW teen drama series, One Tree Hill, portraying the spouse of the lead protagonist, Bob Lee Swagger in the Shooter series and For All Mankind series.
She has also worked on the big screen by appearing in projects like The Final Destination, You and I, and Something Wicked. She is back in the superhero genre with her new warrior role in Invincible Season 2.
Shantel VanSanten Plays Anissa in Invincible Season 2
As the second part of Invincible Season 2 is released weekly, continuing the events of Part 1, we see another interesting addition to the animated series. Anissa, who is quite a controversial character in the comics, has been introduced in the Amazon Prime show, with VanSanten voicing the role.
As superhero Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) struggles to balance his personal life with his superhero duties, Episode 7 of Season 2 delves into his personal moments as he attempts to rekindle his relationship with Amber (Zazie Beetz).
However, it gets interrupted, as formidable Viltrumite Anissa shows up and threatens to kill Amber if he refuses to talk to her. Grayson eventually agrees and later aids the superhero in saving civilians from a monster attack. After the duo ends up having a physical altercation, she leaves for Viltrumite to report about Mark’s resistance to converting him to the Empire.
Given that she’s quite loyal to the Empire, it will be intriguing to see how her appearance would impact Mark’s life. However, in the comics, after the Viltrumite war ends, the warrior returns to Earth with a sinister plot to breed with humans to repopulate the Empire but takes a gritty approach.
Refusing to mate with any ordinary human, she takes Invincible as her best option and reveals her intentions to the superhero. As Mark shows no interest in engaging with her, she s-xually assaults him, only to bear his child. However, this sub-plot could be omitted from the animated series given that it has made quite a few changes, despite following the comic timelines.
Invincible is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.