Recently, the hit Amazon Prime series “Invincible” is on part two of the second season. In this series, which is based on the popular comic series created by Robert Kirkman, Mark Grayson is trying to navigate the everyday struggles of being a teenager while rising in the ranks as a superhero, while his father, Nolan AKA Omni-Man, struggles with the conflict of being a good father or focusing on conquering Earth for the Viltrum Empire. JK Simmons, Sandra Oh, Steven Yeun, and Walton Goggins lead an ensemble cast that does an amazing job at combining a comedic take on the superhero genre with the emotional storyline of a typical father-son bonding movie. But you might not know that baseball plays a key role throughout this series. In fact, season one of the show goes full circle when it comes to the sport.

In the first episode of season one, “It’s About Time”, Mark and Nolan play a game of catch in the sky. Nolan notices that his son looks tired, causing the 17-year-old to confess to his father that he’s scared that he won’t be able to be a superhero. The 2,000-year-old Viltrumite tells his son that it’s OK to be afraid, but this would be an exciting journey for them both. This inspires Mark to concentrate hard and throw the baseball all the way across the world. Nolan then tells Mark that most kids his age think they’re invincible and that he actually was and that makes him special. This causes the teenage superhero to use the fatherly advice as inspiration for his name.

Then in episode eight, “Where I Really Come From”, a flashback is shown of young Mark about to hit a home run for his Little League team. Nolan is watching from the sidelines, and complaining a bit about how he doesn’t understand why Little League is so important and how he could get a better view of the game if he was able to fly. Debbie reminds her husband that humanity is all about seeing the people you love, especially your children, be happy and that while the world can drag you down, little moments like Little League games can remind you of the joys in life. This causes Nolan to lighten up and cheer on his son, who ends up successfully scoring the winning home run for his team. Mark immediately runs up to his family in joy and asks if they saw him win. Nolan smiles and says, “Yeah. Yeah I saw”, happy that his son felt joy.

As you can see, baseball has significance beyond the MLB. In “Invincible”, we see the game used as a father-son bonding experience and a reminder of what humanity is all about. But what we see the most in this series is the emotional appeal that baseball has. We all can relate to the father-son bonding experience of playing catch and the joy we felt as kids when we hit a home run in Little League. So kudos to the creator for incorporating baseball as a tool of emotional impact. Let’s hope for more baseball and sports references as this series goes on.

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