‘Invincible’ Creator Robert Kirkman Explains Why Tech Jacket’s Gender Was Changed in the TV Series

The creator of Invincible, Robert Kirkman, has explained a major change made in the show’s fourth season. The Prime Video series introduced a different version of Tech Jacket, changing the character’s gender and backstory from the original comics.

Kirkman spoke about the decision in an interview with The Wrap. He said the change came from a creative choice while adapting the story for television.

In the original comics, Tech Jacket is Zack Thompson, a male hero who uses advanced alien technology. In the show, the character becomes Zoey Thompson instead. Kirkman said the original version is still a strong character, but he did not feel the story needed another similar figure for the TV version.

He explained that the team wanted to focus the story in a slightly different way for the Viltrumite War arc. He felt that Zack’s role overlapped too much with other characters already in the show, especially Mark and Oliver.

As he put it, “There’s just a lot of similarities there.”

Season 4 of Invincible follows the heroes as they leave Earth and prepare for a larger war against powerful enemies like Conquest and Grand Regent Thragg. In the comics, the team that goes into this conflict includes Mark, Nolan, Oliver, Allen the Alien, Battle Beast, Space Racer, and Zack Thompson. That group is mostly male in the source material.

The TV version changes that lineup by replacing Zack with Zoey, while still keeping the Tech Jacket identity. According to Kirkman, this was done to improve the overall balance of the cast and avoid having too many similar character types.

He also spoke more broadly about the early days of the comic book. Kirkman admitted that when he and artist Cory Walker started Invincible, they did not think carefully about character diversity.

As he said, “One of the downsides of Invincible is Cory Walker and I were like 23 and 21 when we started that book, and your default when you’re not really paying attention is yourself. Every time we introduce another character, ‘Oh look! It’s another white male! Who knew?’ It’s just a shortcoming that we hadn’t quite noticed and done our due diligence to correct.”

The fourth season of Invincible recently ended with its finale episode titled “Don’t Leave Me Hanging Here,” which aired on April 22 on Prime Video. Fans are now waiting for news about Season 5, while also discussing the changes made in the latest season.

This kind of change is pretty common in adaptations, especially when a comic is being turned into a long-running show. Sometimes it helps the story feel more balanced on screen, even if it means shifting things from the original material. Still, fans can be divided when a character they know gets changed like this. What do you think about this decision in Invincible? Do you prefer staying close to the comics, or are you okay with changes like this in adaptations?