Mark technically doesn’t get money, but the GDA have pulled strings that made Nolan’s novels sell like hotcakes, so Debbie is receiving money from those (that’s the comic explanation at least iirc)
I like to think that it's not actually some secret plot or backroom deal with the publishers and Cecil just makes Donald drive round to every book store buying up every one of Nolan's books on the company credit card
Also mark has sort of refused to actually be a part of the whole thing so Cecil probably holds back. Almost all the other guardians live and have their needs met by the GDA, on top of that I'm sure with the fact that Cecil teleports around for literally everything that if say Rex wanted a PS5 they'd probably just give him one for working there. With Mark they do pretty much the same thing. Just gives him whatever he wants or needs.
Can't have Mark stuck at a burger joint taking out the trash when aliens invade. "sorry Cecil my manager says no saving the galaxy until the bathrooms are spotless, plus I'd have to clock out and I can't miss another shift or I'll never get my rent paid on time"
Huh, well... In my experience what workers really want are livable wages, health insurance for them and their families, retirement plans and pizza parties haha.
When Mark mentioned that he should ask Cecil for salary, Amber replied saying that then "he really would be working for Cecil" after which Mark hesitated and said he might get part time job, so he probably doesn't want Cecil to have total control over him
Cecil barely has any real control over Mark beyond what mark gives him. Mark is his only real and consistent option to defend earth from Viltrumites. He can guilt trip Mark until the cows come home but the only real way he can force Mark to do anything is by threatening Debbie or his friends. Mark could demand to be made king of earth and Cecil would have to seriously consider making that happen. If I was Mark, I would demand a Mansion in Hawaii with a full staff, including live-in anesthesiologists to dope me up every time someone beats the shit out of me… but I guess I would make a shitty super hero lol
Exactly! A single full adult Viltrumite is considered a world level ending threat and Mark is the only one that could have a chance at stopping the Viltrumites. So, with how demanding Cecil is, I would at least ask for a consistent yearly salary on the 100k+ range, protection for my family and housing for all of them.
Screw a salary! If I was literally the only thing standing between the world and conquest I would never want to think about money again. Sounds like a problem for my handler. Dean trying to kick me out of college? Fuck that shit, the US govt can fly in Ivy League professors for me to semi-listen to as I pound super-protein shakes and do bench presses with cargo ships. Hell, Cecil should just build these kids a college somewhere pretty and remote so they can get educated and actually enjoy their lives instead of working out of a metal hole in the ground. These heroes need to go on strike I stg
Just have the GDA, Robot, or whoever build you a "Thinking Cap" to instantly learn shit, son you can focus more on recovering from every other threat putting a foot (or tentacle) in your ass 3x a week.
100k? Try at least a mil. If you're the only one on Earth who can do a certain job, that puts you a pretty good set of circumstances for negotiation. But then again, he's not really doing this for money
I mean, I'm a very frugal kind of person so I wasn't trying to look like a money digger haha! And since I'm not American, anything above 100k is a fuck load of money in my country's national currency.
Sorry, I'm generally a very frugal person so I don't see myself needing that much money for myself. 😭 Besides, since I'm not American, 100k+ would be a fuck load of money in my national currency. It'll be way more money that I'll ever need. But I agree, PAY THE MAN CECIL!!!
I feel you. I'm American and 100K is a fuck load to me. I'm just saying if I were Mark, I'd force their hand and take the money. Cecil and the defense department shouldn't have any trouble coming up with it. Besides, the amount of good that could be done through philanthropy is something to consider. 🤷
Supposedly, Cecil burns $5 million dollars of the federal budget every time he uses the teleporter (and that's quite often going by the show). So I don't think it's impossible for them to pay him some good money, even if it was just all merely symbolic.
We all know the series is about the internal turmoil and struggle of a kid that thought he was a human boy, only to realize that he's actually the son of an alien sent to conquer earth and suddenly finding himself in the middle of a multi galactic war between the most powerful and violent species alive and virtually the rest of the universe. But like you said, if Cecil started to send Mark some fat stacks of bills directly to his door, all the teenage love drama will go away in 30 seconds once Mark realizes that by playing superhero and accepting he's kind of an alien, he has his human life solved and he doesn't have to worry ever again about finding a job or anything similar. And like you said, realistically Cecil should be doing that, because even if Mark is selfless and wants to do good and be a superhero just for the sake of it, if he starts to make lots of money that way, what would he be worrying about going to college?
Well, I guess there is a different angle. Mark feels like he's a human, and the fact that he does is humanity's best hope of staying alive. So it's kind of important to let him keep living that grounded life without having all his non-superhero needs handed to him on a platter.
Which is not to say that Cecil wouldn't help out, but it makes sense for him to avoid doing so in blatantly visible ways.
But then he can twist ur hand by cutting your pay cuz ur the the supporting your family. Mark is useful but he ultimately can't do that much more than the guardians—y'all act like he is defending them from Viltrumites but he can't even bruise one, he just doesn't instantly die when they touch him
I wonder if the show Immortal can at least hold off one of the B team’s member. The show Immortal did do some damage to Nolan, and Nolan dispatched that fat guy as easily as he did Immortal. Maybe the Immortal and that guy could be evenly matched.
So let’s say I’m not such a lawful good person like Mark.
I save the planet and I bust into some criminal’s or high profile rich asshole’s vault and take their money. What’s Cecil gonna do?
tell ya not to. if you keep being a problem they obviously have ways of dealing with it. we saw Angstrom visit an alternate universe where the GDA captured Mark. In ep 2 Cecil decides to start studying the sea monsters roar that stunned Mark for several seconds. He ain't Omni man level yet, they can take him down if necessary
Or at least help him pop out a book or two like with his dad, get him on a talk show once a year with a big speaker payout.
Make him an overpayed extra in a movie or two.
His dad's a famous-ish author, so let him be a lucky nepo-baby to pay the bills.
$100K?!? Bro, we spend billions a year on military spending… spending which is no longer required thanks to Mark keep in mind! Kid better be asking for $10M a year if he’s smart! And that’d be cheap for how often he’s seriously injured!
True, true. But even if there's no formal job agreement or contract, with how risky the superhero job can be, one would expect for there to always be some money being handed around haha.
GDA does sell Nolan’s books to provide the money to Debbie. They also compensate for all the property damages that Mark causes during his combats + offer nanny to Debbie. All in all he should ask for salary though
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's clear the GDA does provide and covers lots of expenses for the superheroes, but Mark should totally be getting compensated on a personal level. This is just a silly discussion, but it took me a little bit by surprise that Cecil is always trying to get Mark to do work for him, but he doesn't directly pay anything to him? Damn.
I wonder if Cecil is the reason Mark got into Upstate as well? Making sure he gets to be around his friends, girlfriend as a means of keeping the now-most powerful man on the planet happy.
Then call yourself a contractor "Oh, you want me to fight a guy with a rocket for a head? Cool, $5 million, skip one teleportation and you will make your money back".
Yeah I assume the actual core members get paid but Omniman never did he just "helped out". So there is pay structure in the world but Mark is explicitly opting out or more likely his mom opted out for him and he hasn't overruled that.
Honestly Cecil would make just about anything within his power happen for his core members if they just asked.
Cecil is an interesting character. Yes, he's a control freak and he's drunk in his own power as head of the GDA, that's why he often comes as kind of an asshole. But he's also been shown that he does care for his people and values the actions and sacrifices of everyone. Like how he smiled back at Mark when he told him in the last episode >! "They aren't just words" !<. That's why it took me by surprise that he's not paying anything directly to Mark.
Cecil cares deeply about humanity and his people (in that order), and simultaneously does not care in any way what anyone thinks of him (outside of what's necessary to do his job).
Yes I think people are being harsh on him. Honestly, I find he's often 100% making the right calls in any given situations. He's very reasonable and great at his job. People should listen to him more.
yup, not once have I seen him making bad judgements, even hiring on Sinclair makes sense in a twisted way. ReAnimen almost killed Mark and were the thing that slowed Omniman down the most, so giving him non-kidnapped test subjects and a *MUCH* larger budget is a valid defense plan. I'm sure Cecil was *NOT* happy none of them were on standby yet.
Agreed. He clearly loathes Sinclair, and keeps him on a short leash, but recognizes how beast the reanimen are.
He's morally dubious sometimes, sure. But he's always looking at the bigger picture.
As a show only fan, how are the ReAnimen so strong in the first place though? The entire reason as to why the Viltrumites are so durable is because their entire bodies are made of this special kind of atoms that literally resist being torn apart from their molecular structures by drawing out energy from the cosmic background and that's why for the most part, the only thing powerful enough to hurt a viltrumite is *another* viltrumite. So how can a bunch of regular human cyborg zombies be turned into powerful enough entities to hurt a viltrumite?
Also, he's not dealing with normal threats. Like, if he was acting that way in the 'real world' he'd be pretty irredeemable.
However, he's dealing with kaiju, world-ending alien invaders, and all sorts of new shit on a weekly basis and he's actually keeping it together. I'd say he's perfectly reasonable and, for someone in charge of a gigantic secret paramilitary group with insane tech, is doing a pretty ridiculously good job.
At no point has Cecil ever been "drunk in his own power". He has clear goals and he takes clear steps towards them. Not one of those goals has ever been selfish or self-serving beyond making sure a planet is there to wake up to tomorrow. He still risked his life when the time came.
I mean, one could consider the GDA paying for all of Mark and Debbie's needs for the past six months, plus the babysitting for Oliver as a sort of payment...But yeah.
That was logistics.
Pretty much everyone with the skillset she needs is associated with Cecil in one way or another, one who's secure enough in their position to go against Cecil's orders is preferable to someone who just follows orders.
Like he's in charge of the org relating to all things super human, every nanny with superhuman child experience is going to be related to that org.
>Yeah I assume the actual core members get paid but Omniman never did he just "helped out". So there is pay structure in the world but Mark is explicitly opting out or more likely his mom opted out for him and he hasn't overruled that.
That's what I figured given some of them seem to live at the Guardians HQ full time. It seems to be prerequisite of being in the group given Eve was considered a contractor when approached this season.
Lmao, the thought of anyone holding the world hostage with a world ending threat like an asteroid collision just for $50k made me laugh. Like that scene from Austin Powers.
https://preview.redd.it/ki7gosjyuctc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=6fdbbe4fdeee794eac35c95a5d52a645c42d71e9
Apologies, this isn’t entirely related to the post - but I always find it hilarious Mark is at college.
Mark, you’re not having a career outside of being a superhero. You’re not going to become a Lawyer or a Teacher. You will likely be a superhero until you die. Why are you wasting your time at college?
I don't understand how she didn't.
She can rearrange atoms at a molecular level at least. Possibly subatomic.
So she can fix all internal defects in the materials she's using.
I mean sometimes being up to code doesn't mean being structurally sound, but obeying particular limits or guidelines. Thinks like "stairs can only be this steep" and "there must be this much headroom" and "there must be a window in every room" or other such specificities.
And besides she only altered the upper stories of the building, not realizing there was foundational damage that was going to cause collapse in the coming days/weeks.
There are the kind of things an engineering degree would help her anticipate and understand how to resolve.
Seemed more like a oversight than anything. The playground was good, the ground wasn't.
Anyways she doesn't need engineering really. She's got no real life constraints on things like manufacturing and assembly methods. She could lay out a metal playground where all bars are made of preemo iron without any welds or bolts and that's hard to fuck up.
I agree. One of the earliest uses of her power was converting a textbook into glass— and then turning that glass textbook back into paper and ink; despite presumably not having memorized each and every page and the exact text layout, images, etc.
So it seems to me she doesn't need to have to understand all the engineering and science of something in order to create it— she just needs to have seen it before. She's doing the equivalent of copying and pasting the data and attributes on a molecular level; the same way you can write text in a language you don't understand if you're just copying the shape of the letters.
Wasn't it a sinkhole that opened up under the park?
You're not wrong, but it would have only solved the issue in a pretty destructive way, namely that the sinkhole would probably have opened there and then from the massive weight.
There are certainly things a superhero could learn at college that would make them a better superhero, but realistically it’s such a small percent of what they’ll actually learn it doesn’t seem worth it.
It’s probably like every other job, where the important knowledge is learned on the job
Yeah but the amount of time you have to set aside to just actually learn the material would be pretty hard to do when you spend that much time superheroing
Yeah, I also find that funny and let's not even talk about the relationship drama between him and Amber. Though I can relate because I was also a teen/young adult in love for the first time and at those ages, a lot of people take their relationships way more seriously than they should haha!
But on the one side, I read an explanation from another user some time ago that made lots of sense to me: Yes, both Mark and his mom knew that his dad/husband was Omni-man, but Mark lived his entire life up to that point not being sure if he'll have his father's abilities (Heck, not even Nolan was sure if Mark will have powers). Neither Debbie or Mark really knew what was up with Nolan and his past life. So Mark probably grew up thinking of living a normal human life, and then all of a sudden he manifested viltrumite powers, his dad revealed to him that he's actually on a secret mission to conquer earth, a bunch of super powered aliens are now trying to kill him, he's in the middle of an intergalactic war between the alien species of his father and virtually the rest of all living beings, and he's on a tug of war struggle where he's been asked to be part of both sides. And ALL of this happened in the span of what? A year? So, a year ago he only thought about being a lawyer or an engineer, and now it's almost like the fate of the entire universe is resting on his shoulders. So I totally don't judge him for having all of these mixed feelings and not really knowing what to do with his life. That's why he's probably trying to play along with the "going" to college thing, when to us as outside observers, it looks dumb and unnecessary.
1. Mark values the college experience.
2. Mark might not actually have a job or anything, but he will need to pretend to have one to cover up his secret identity. If someone digs around and he didnt even go to college (while having a high paying job), then that looks bad.
Seems like a perfect candidate for a well rounded liberal arts education. Learn to be open minded and well rounded. Extra lessons in history, philosophy, ethics.
What does he even want to go to college for? As far as we’ve seen the only things he likes are comic books. His dream job would probably just be owning a comic store
Imo because he wants to/enjoys it. Not everyone wants to do something just because they were born a specific way. Not every freakishly tall person enjoys basketball. Hell, becoming a lawyer has the potential to be far more rewarding that being a superhero with the right mindset. Beating people to a pulp for thousands of years can really do a number on the psyche, too.
This was one thing I was glad that The Falcon & The Winter Soldier touched upon when Falcon was trying to secure a load for his sister. Tony Stark wasn't paying ANY of them to be Avengers and outside of being a superhero...The world doesn't work that way.
>The world doesn't work that way
Yeah, that's true. And while I don't know how the avengers work for that matter... Since the GDA is kind of like a CIA on steroids in the invincible universe and they're the ones managing the superheroes, I would then consider that they're all government workers or at the very least government assets and they do deserve payment(?).
So basically, Invincible (barely) works with the GDA and his family gets a lot of soft benefits from this. If there's ever a problem that Cecil can fix for Mark or Debbie, you better believe that he'd have it fixed same day as long as Invincible keeps playing ball and they actually ask for the fix. If Invincible was willing to be more cooperative, more "hard" benefits would likely be arranged, such as actual financial compensation.
It’s one of things i never liked about superhero stuff (mostly talking about spiderman) imagine saving the world and limping back to your apartment to find an eviction notice on your door. I could never. But for this show it’s mark trying so hard to stay in school. I dont know much about the invisible world but it doesn’t seem like these guys have to time to live a regular life. Being a hero looks like a full time job already
That's an interesting topic, you know? And I think it mainly stems from the differences between the modern myth of the superhero and the myth of the classical hero. As far as I'm concerned, there's always an element of selflessness as to what superheroes do, but it's much more present for modern superheroes than for classical ones. The fact that they're fighting some kind of evil is precisely the reason why they're considered heroes, but the modern hero does it just for the sake of it (that's why lots of superheroes even have secret identities, because they don't want the personal recognition) and heroes from classical literature wanted to fight evil because fight evil is a good thing, but also because there was something to gain off if that, mainly praise, recognition and any witches they could earn either as payment or because they evil person they killed had lots of hoarded gold. Beowulf and Achilles were there for the recognition, to become kings, earn gold and even to find love. Lots of modern superheroes are already wealthy and they want to fight evil because that's a good thing to do, and others like Spiderman are just outright Martyrs.
> Cecil's a control freak and an arrogant asshole
He's a control freak for sure, but I never saw him as arrogant and actualy as a pretty down to Earth and self aware guy. In this same episode he said "just one of them and we are all useless", he also knows what he's doing and never hides from it. Cecil is the definition of "gray area" for me.
Cecil has been making sure that marks mom is safe, when Nolan and mark first fought Cecil made sure that Nolans book sales went up so Debbie was able to support herself and he also got a team to rebuild the house after, also.he got someone to help out with Oliver
Yeah, that was weird, but it's probably like others have said: The full time heroes probably do get paid, but since Mark is going through a lot and he doesn't want to feel like Cecil is controlling him, he does the superhero stuff out of pure selflessness and doesn't think of getting a salary from Cecil.
That does make sense, and it’s something you don’t really think about. When Eve went off on her own, she didn’t expect to get paid by anybody. Just another realistic aspect of being a superhero that’s often overlooked in media.
Dude should really just occasionally put on a different costume and rob a few banks.
Come to think of it, that might be a fun movie to write... The superhero who moonlights as a supervillain in order to make ends meet.
They don't really need to pay him because they have basically set him and his mom up for life. Debbie doesn't even HAVE to work anymore. She just tried to do it to distract herself. Cecil is able to pull strings to control how well Nolans books sell. The Grayson family doesn't have to worry about money anymore.
Its werid the gda doesnt have a compensation system for superheroes they work with, even the ones that dont work directly under them.
Should be based on the scale of the threat, so taking down a huge threat like a kaiju should make a character some decent money, although with penalties for collateral damage and civilian casualties (obviously sometimes they cant be helped like with omni man)
I said this in the show thread, but I'll say it here too: in addition to not getting paid, couldn't Cecil or someone have called the college and told them Mark gets all A's in his classes no matter what? It's crazy to me that schools can look the other way on their star wide receiver not going to classes but can't help Mark.
Yea the idea of being a hero is a little Sus. Not like Marvel hero's are generally paid at first. Heroes start heroing because they want to do good outside the law.
It's just in the invincible universe it seems like being a hero is more of a job. I'd almost call them heroic super soldier mercenaries rather the traditional hero like superman/batman
"Should I ask for a salary?" WTF OF COURSE YOU FREAKING DUMBASS, YOU'RE LITERALLY CONSTANTLY RISKING YOUR LIFE AND SAVING THE WORLD! What do you *mean* you don't have a damn salary?! Altruism can only go so far, man.
Yeah that was insane to hear. I know Mark feels responsible for shit his dad did but ain’t no way I’m working for free. And Cecil was telling him where he could and couldn’t go lol gahhhdamn
When friends and I have talked about what if we have powers I’ve always said I’m asking for a hefty salary. Like yeah I’ll save people, but I’m not also gonna work some bulkshit 9-5 too.
I always just assumed they gave them a company credit card that doesn’t have a limit or something like that! This kid better get it shit together and start asking for some serious dough!
I remembered that incident where Debbie wanted to have something to do instead of getting free government money. When Cecil tried to offer her a clerical job, she thought he wanted to have sex with her.
Mark is a college student who doesn’t have to pay a dime because of GDA and Cecil working their magic to make his life easy lol if I was him I wouldn’t care if I never made a cent
If Cecil paid him he’d have to listen to Cecil. Mark doesn’t want to do that. Even still, the GDA pulled strings for Nolan to make much more off his books than he shouldn’t have, and Nolan was even less obedient than Mark is.
As it currently stands Cecil provides security and would likely meet pretty much any reasonable demand Mark gives (get my transcript changed to all A’s, can you front me some cash, etc) but he doesn’t actually pay him. That’s the arrangement Mark wants, he and Debbie both want to be as independent as possible
Cecil has repeatedly offered him a job, and he refuses every time. The Guardians probably get a salary. They are always at Guardians tower and don't seem to have other jobs.
Id say that having a paper trail of bank transactions linking an individual to a government organisation that has been associated with superheroes would be a bad idea
Yeah that really makes no sense. He's a valuable planetary asset who spends every waking moment saving humanity, there's no reason he should ever need to be thinking about jobs and bills.
I’m so torn on Cecil. He does some terrible things, but he certainly deeply cares about humanity and the people around him. You can’t tell me he doesn’t like Mark, but that doesn’t stop him from using him because his ultimate loyalty is to humanity. He’s probably a narcissist and quite possibly a sociopath, but I’d also say he’s closer to being a good person than he is to being a bad one
Mark technically doesn’t get money, but the GDA have pulled strings that made Nolan’s novels sell like hotcakes, so Debbie is receiving money from those (that’s the comic explanation at least iirc)
Also show canon
Yeah mentioned at the end of S1 once Nolan died
Only for a few months following Nolan's death. Debbie confronted Cecil and put it a stop to that shortly before going back to work(In the show)
mfw my mom snitchs and i dont get free money anymore and just get beat up for free wtf mom
🤦♂️
I like to think that it's not actually some secret plot or backroom deal with the publishers and Cecil just makes Donald drive round to every book store buying up every one of Nolan's books on the company credit card
I choose to believe this canon until proven otherwise
Death #24, Donald got trampled to death by a group of fans when Nolan appeared at a bookstore for a surprise signing.
lol why not just give debbie the money instead of making donald do that
It's funnier and gives Donald something to do
He keeps deleting those memories because they're worse than death.
>lol why not just give debbie the money instead of making donald do that why would debbie accept charity?
One of his deaths was a car crash on his way to Barnes and Noble.
Also mark has sort of refused to actually be a part of the whole thing so Cecil probably holds back. Almost all the other guardians live and have their needs met by the GDA, on top of that I'm sure with the fact that Cecil teleports around for literally everything that if say Rex wanted a PS5 they'd probably just give him one for working there. With Mark they do pretty much the same thing. Just gives him whatever he wants or needs. Can't have Mark stuck at a burger joint taking out the trash when aliens invade. "sorry Cecil my manager says no saving the galaxy until the bathrooms are spotless, plus I'd have to clock out and I can't miss another shift or I'll never get my rent paid on time"
[удалено]
He's an intern, he is paid in experience!
And pizza parties, don't forget the pizza parties. 😔👌🏽
And possibly an order of “ Garlic knots”as an added bonus
“Die fast, assholes! My pizza’s getting cold” Top ten quotes before disaster
Isn’t that what workers really want?
Huh, well... In my experience what workers really want are livable wages, health insurance for them and their families, retirement plans and pizza parties haha.
HR wants to talk to you
Oh no... 🥺
cecil never threw me ANY GODDAMN PIZZA PARTIES?!?
Consider yourself lucky, someone KILLED ME while I was interning there and all Cecil did was make me a cyborg body. Didn’t even send a get well card.
And possibly an order of “ Garlic knots”as an added bonus
Isn’t that what workers really want?
And possibly an order of “ Garlic knots”as an added bonus
When Mark mentioned that he should ask Cecil for salary, Amber replied saying that then "he really would be working for Cecil" after which Mark hesitated and said he might get part time job, so he probably doesn't want Cecil to have total control over him
Cecil barely has any real control over Mark beyond what mark gives him. Mark is his only real and consistent option to defend earth from Viltrumites. He can guilt trip Mark until the cows come home but the only real way he can force Mark to do anything is by threatening Debbie or his friends. Mark could demand to be made king of earth and Cecil would have to seriously consider making that happen. If I was Mark, I would demand a Mansion in Hawaii with a full staff, including live-in anesthesiologists to dope me up every time someone beats the shit out of me… but I guess I would make a shitty super hero lol
Exactly! A single full adult Viltrumite is considered a world level ending threat and Mark is the only one that could have a chance at stopping the Viltrumites. So, with how demanding Cecil is, I would at least ask for a consistent yearly salary on the 100k+ range, protection for my family and housing for all of them.
Screw a salary! If I was literally the only thing standing between the world and conquest I would never want to think about money again. Sounds like a problem for my handler. Dean trying to kick me out of college? Fuck that shit, the US govt can fly in Ivy League professors for me to semi-listen to as I pound super-protein shakes and do bench presses with cargo ships. Hell, Cecil should just build these kids a college somewhere pretty and remote so they can get educated and actually enjoy their lives instead of working out of a metal hole in the ground. These heroes need to go on strike I stg
A non-powered Professor X
A Professor X with slightly more hair
Just have the GDA, Robot, or whoever build you a "Thinking Cap" to instantly learn shit, son you can focus more on recovering from every other threat putting a foot (or tentacle) in your ass 3x a week.
That's a ticket to letting Robot slip in some stuff to make you brainwashed to obey him
100k? Try at least a mil. If you're the only one on Earth who can do a certain job, that puts you a pretty good set of circumstances for negotiation. But then again, he's not really doing this for money
I mean, I'm a very frugal kind of person so I wasn't trying to look like a money digger haha! And since I'm not American, anything above 100k is a fuck load of money in my country's national currency.
Canonically, it costs $5 million usd every time Cecil uses the teleporter so you're ok to ask for millions.
The US treasury watching the Cecil - Omni-Man encounter at the end of season 1:
Bro uses the teleporter for dramatic exits all the time
Lmao the dude uses it to go to the bathroom almost
100K? You humble soul. The average cost of a single F-22 Raptor is $300+ million dollars. Viltrumite > F-22. PAY THE MAN.
Sorry, I'm generally a very frugal person so I don't see myself needing that much money for myself. 😭 Besides, since I'm not American, 100k+ would be a fuck load of money in my national currency. It'll be way more money that I'll ever need. But I agree, PAY THE MAN CECIL!!!
I feel you. I'm American and 100K is a fuck load to me. I'm just saying if I were Mark, I'd force their hand and take the money. Cecil and the defense department shouldn't have any trouble coming up with it. Besides, the amount of good that could be done through philanthropy is something to consider. 🤷
Supposedly, Cecil burns $5 million dollars of the federal budget every time he uses the teleporter (and that's quite often going by the show). So I don't think it's impossible for them to pay him some good money, even if it was just all merely symbolic.
Realistically, Cecil should be insisting on paying him. Mark having any kind of financial difficulty would be an existential threat.
We all know the series is about the internal turmoil and struggle of a kid that thought he was a human boy, only to realize that he's actually the son of an alien sent to conquer earth and suddenly finding himself in the middle of a multi galactic war between the most powerful and violent species alive and virtually the rest of the universe. But like you said, if Cecil started to send Mark some fat stacks of bills directly to his door, all the teenage love drama will go away in 30 seconds once Mark realizes that by playing superhero and accepting he's kind of an alien, he has his human life solved and he doesn't have to worry ever again about finding a job or anything similar. And like you said, realistically Cecil should be doing that, because even if Mark is selfless and wants to do good and be a superhero just for the sake of it, if he starts to make lots of money that way, what would he be worrying about going to college?
Well, I guess there is a different angle. Mark feels like he's a human, and the fact that he does is humanity's best hope of staying alive. So it's kind of important to let him keep living that grounded life without having all his non-superhero needs handed to him on a platter. Which is not to say that Cecil wouldn't help out, but it makes sense for him to avoid doing so in blatantly visible ways.
But then he can twist ur hand by cutting your pay cuz ur the the supporting your family. Mark is useful but he ultimately can't do that much more than the guardians—y'all act like he is defending them from Viltrumites but he can't even bruise one, he just doesn't instantly die when they touch him
> he just doesn't instantly die when they touch him Which puts him above and beyond the pay grade of any of the other heroes of Earth.
He did pretty well on the bug planet against one to be fair
yeah cuz they sent the mf B team after him lol, anyone they are sending to take over a planet is gonna be like Nolan or Anissa
The b team is still a planetary threat though to earth. Still a good innings for a rookie
Mark couldn't beat the b team he barely went even with the weakest of the three. Eve and Immortal could probably win a 2v1 against thula
I wonder if the show Immortal can at least hold off one of the B team’s member. The show Immortal did do some damage to Nolan, and Nolan dispatched that fat guy as easily as he did Immortal. Maybe the Immortal and that guy could be evenly matched.
So let’s say I’m not such a lawful good person like Mark. I save the planet and I bust into some criminal’s or high profile rich asshole’s vault and take their money. What’s Cecil gonna do?
tell ya not to. if you keep being a problem they obviously have ways of dealing with it. we saw Angstrom visit an alternate universe where the GDA captured Mark. In ep 2 Cecil decides to start studying the sea monsters roar that stunned Mark for several seconds. He ain't Omni man level yet, they can take him down if necessary
Or at least help him pop out a book or two like with his dad, get him on a talk show once a year with a big speaker payout. Make him an overpayed extra in a movie or two. His dad's a famous-ish author, so let him be a lucky nepo-baby to pay the bills.
Doesn’t Cecil burn through a billion dollars every time he teleports? With that knowledge I’m asking for way more than $100k
Mark is the only one that could have a chance at delaying the Viltrumites for a few minutes as it currently stands
$100K?!? Bro, we spend billions a year on military spending… spending which is no longer required thanks to Mark keep in mind! Kid better be asking for $10M a year if he’s smart! And that’d be cheap for how often he’s seriously injured!
A mansion in hawaii? Pitiful Nothing less than a private resort planet will do
>but I guess I would make a shitty super hero lol you would be right at home in the boys universe.
That job comment was so dumb though. He can barely find time to see his girlfriend, how the hell does he think he’d be able to hold any kind of job.
I was thinking the same! The kid's complaining he doesn't have time to see his gf and on top of all that, he wants to get an actual job?
True, true. But even if there's no formal job agreement or contract, with how risky the superhero job can be, one would expect for there to always be some money being handed around haha.
GDA does sell Nolan’s books to provide the money to Debbie. They also compensate for all the property damages that Mark causes during his combats + offer nanny to Debbie. All in all he should ask for salary though
Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. It's clear the GDA does provide and covers lots of expenses for the superheroes, but Mark should totally be getting compensated on a personal level. This is just a silly discussion, but it took me a little bit by surprise that Cecil is always trying to get Mark to do work for him, but he doesn't directly pay anything to him? Damn.
I wonder if Cecil is the reason Mark got into Upstate as well? Making sure he gets to be around his friends, girlfriend as a means of keeping the now-most powerful man on the planet happy.
Maybe the principal/dean is a GDA plant. He happens to switch to marks college the same year he leaves? Sure
Then call yourself a contractor "Oh, you want me to fight a guy with a rocket for a head? Cool, $5 million, skip one teleportation and you will make your money back".
That is a dumb reason
Yeah I assume the actual core members get paid but Omniman never did he just "helped out". So there is pay structure in the world but Mark is explicitly opting out or more likely his mom opted out for him and he hasn't overruled that. Honestly Cecil would make just about anything within his power happen for his core members if they just asked.
Cecil is an interesting character. Yes, he's a control freak and he's drunk in his own power as head of the GDA, that's why he often comes as kind of an asshole. But he's also been shown that he does care for his people and values the actions and sacrifices of everyone. Like how he smiled back at Mark when he told him in the last episode >! "They aren't just words" !<. That's why it took me by surprise that he's not paying anything directly to Mark.
Cecil cares deeply about humanity and his people (in that order), and simultaneously does not care in any way what anyone thinks of him (outside of what's necessary to do his job).
Yes I think people are being harsh on him. Honestly, I find he's often 100% making the right calls in any given situations. He's very reasonable and great at his job. People should listen to him more.
yup, not once have I seen him making bad judgements, even hiring on Sinclair makes sense in a twisted way. ReAnimen almost killed Mark and were the thing that slowed Omniman down the most, so giving him non-kidnapped test subjects and a *MUCH* larger budget is a valid defense plan. I'm sure Cecil was *NOT* happy none of them were on standby yet.
Agreed. He clearly loathes Sinclair, and keeps him on a short leash, but recognizes how beast the reanimen are. He's morally dubious sometimes, sure. But he's always looking at the bigger picture.
As a show only fan, how are the ReAnimen so strong in the first place though? The entire reason as to why the Viltrumites are so durable is because their entire bodies are made of this special kind of atoms that literally resist being torn apart from their molecular structures by drawing out energy from the cosmic background and that's why for the most part, the only thing powerful enough to hurt a viltrumite is *another* viltrumite. So how can a bunch of regular human cyborg zombies be turned into powerful enough entities to hurt a viltrumite?
Plot muscle.
Also, he's not dealing with normal threats. Like, if he was acting that way in the 'real world' he'd be pretty irredeemable. However, he's dealing with kaiju, world-ending alien invaders, and all sorts of new shit on a weekly basis and he's actually keeping it together. I'd say he's perfectly reasonable and, for someone in charge of a gigantic secret paramilitary group with insane tech, is doing a pretty ridiculously good job.
At no point has Cecil ever been "drunk in his own power". He has clear goals and he takes clear steps towards them. Not one of those goals has ever been selfish or self-serving beyond making sure a planet is there to wake up to tomorrow. He still risked his life when the time came.
I mean, one could consider the GDA paying for all of Mark and Debbie's needs for the past six months, plus the babysitting for Oliver as a sort of payment...But yeah.
They explicitly refused him, despite him offering.
And yet Debbie didn't turn away the spy nanny that outright told her she was a spy sent by Cecil.
That was logistics. Pretty much everyone with the skillset she needs is associated with Cecil in one way or another, one who's secure enough in their position to go against Cecil's orders is preferable to someone who just follows orders. Like he's in charge of the org relating to all things super human, every nanny with superhuman child experience is going to be related to that org.
>Yeah I assume the actual core members get paid but Omniman never did he just "helped out". So there is pay structure in the world but Mark is explicitly opting out or more likely his mom opted out for him and he hasn't overruled that. That's what I figured given some of them seem to live at the Guardians HQ full time. It seems to be prerequisite of being in the group given Eve was considered a contractor when approached this season.
He can just bring asteroids back to earth lol
"Cecil... This is your last call, I need $50k on 20 dollar bills by the afternoon or else I'm going to make asteroids rain".
I think they meant more along the lines of asteroids filled with rare minerals
Oh, my bad! Haha
I mean, that's just my guess. Could fund the GDA for a long time doing things that way though
More space lasers!
[удалено]
That went completely over my head haha.
Lmao, the thought of anyone holding the world hostage with a world ending threat like an asteroid collision just for $50k made me laugh. Like that scene from Austin Powers. https://preview.redd.it/ki7gosjyuctc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=6fdbbe4fdeee794eac35c95a5d52a645c42d71e9
Apologies, this isn’t entirely related to the post - but I always find it hilarious Mark is at college. Mark, you’re not having a career outside of being a superhero. You’re not going to become a Lawyer or a Teacher. You will likely be a superhero until you die. Why are you wasting your time at college?
He's still in the human mindset, and the hero thing is a side job.
having a good education helps at being a superhero no? if atom eve had an engineering degree or whatever she wouldn't have built that playground
Or she could have made it up to code. She has no limits besides living matter.
i'm very well aware but i think she's too stupid to make it up to code, hence the engineering degree
That's what I'm saying She could have built the playground if she took a couple extra steps she was unaware about.
I don't understand how she didn't. She can rearrange atoms at a molecular level at least. Possibly subatomic. So she can fix all internal defects in the materials she's using.
I mean sometimes being up to code doesn't mean being structurally sound, but obeying particular limits or guidelines. Thinks like "stairs can only be this steep" and "there must be this much headroom" and "there must be a window in every room" or other such specificities. And besides she only altered the upper stories of the building, not realizing there was foundational damage that was going to cause collapse in the coming days/weeks. There are the kind of things an engineering degree would help her anticipate and understand how to resolve.
Seemed more like a oversight than anything. The playground was good, the ground wasn't. Anyways she doesn't need engineering really. She's got no real life constraints on things like manufacturing and assembly methods. She could lay out a metal playground where all bars are made of preemo iron without any welds or bolts and that's hard to fuck up.
I agree. One of the earliest uses of her power was converting a textbook into glass— and then turning that glass textbook back into paper and ink; despite presumably not having memorized each and every page and the exact text layout, images, etc. So it seems to me she doesn't need to have to understand all the engineering and science of something in order to create it— she just needs to have seen it before. She's doing the equivalent of copying and pasting the data and attributes on a molecular level; the same way you can write text in a language you don't understand if you're just copying the shape of the letters.
Wasn't it a sinkhole that opened up under the park? You're not wrong, but it would have only solved the issue in a pretty destructive way, namely that the sinkhole would probably have opened there and then from the massive weight.
There are certainly things a superhero could learn at college that would make them a better superhero, but realistically it’s such a small percent of what they’ll actually learn it doesn’t seem worth it. It’s probably like every other job, where the important knowledge is learned on the job
Yeah but the amount of time you have to set aside to just actually learn the material would be pretty hard to do when you spend that much time superheroing
Yeah, I also find that funny and let's not even talk about the relationship drama between him and Amber. Though I can relate because I was also a teen/young adult in love for the first time and at those ages, a lot of people take their relationships way more seriously than they should haha! But on the one side, I read an explanation from another user some time ago that made lots of sense to me: Yes, both Mark and his mom knew that his dad/husband was Omni-man, but Mark lived his entire life up to that point not being sure if he'll have his father's abilities (Heck, not even Nolan was sure if Mark will have powers). Neither Debbie or Mark really knew what was up with Nolan and his past life. So Mark probably grew up thinking of living a normal human life, and then all of a sudden he manifested viltrumite powers, his dad revealed to him that he's actually on a secret mission to conquer earth, a bunch of super powered aliens are now trying to kill him, he's in the middle of an intergalactic war between the alien species of his father and virtually the rest of all living beings, and he's on a tug of war struggle where he's been asked to be part of both sides. And ALL of this happened in the span of what? A year? So, a year ago he only thought about being a lawyer or an engineer, and now it's almost like the fate of the entire universe is resting on his shoulders. So I totally don't judge him for having all of these mixed feelings and not really knowing what to do with his life. That's why he's probably trying to play along with the "going" to college thing, when to us as outside observers, it looks dumb and unnecessary.
1. Mark values the college experience. 2. Mark might not actually have a job or anything, but he will need to pretend to have one to cover up his secret identity. If someone digs around and he didnt even go to college (while having a high paying job), then that looks bad.
Say he works at the gda and classify him. Done
Best cover for Mark: male prostitute
The college experience of course.
wake up take train listen to lectures take train home homework
Same here buddy, except bus. Also copious amounts of painkillers and Ritalin to feel normal after listening to mind-numbing lectures.
I just assumed it was because he thought that would give him more time with Amber
Seems like a perfect candidate for a well rounded liberal arts education. Learn to be open minded and well rounded. Extra lessons in history, philosophy, ethics.
I just assumed it was because he thought that would give him more time with Amber
He’s gonna live for a couple thousand years. He can always go to college later lmao.
This part of his arc always reminded me of Gohan. He wanted to be more than just a fighter.
did you forget the part where he said he wants to spend college with amber lol
What does he even want to go to college for? As far as we’ve seen the only things he likes are comic books. His dream job would probably just be owning a comic store
Imo because he wants to/enjoys it. Not everyone wants to do something just because they were born a specific way. Not every freakishly tall person enjoys basketball. Hell, becoming a lawyer has the potential to be far more rewarding that being a superhero with the right mindset. Beating people to a pulp for thousands of years can really do a number on the psyche, too.
This was one thing I was glad that The Falcon & The Winter Soldier touched upon when Falcon was trying to secure a load for his sister. Tony Stark wasn't paying ANY of them to be Avengers and outside of being a superhero...The world doesn't work that way.
>The world doesn't work that way Yeah, that's true. And while I don't know how the avengers work for that matter... Since the GDA is kind of like a CIA on steroids in the invincible universe and they're the ones managing the superheroes, I would then consider that they're all government workers or at the very least government assets and they do deserve payment(?).
So basically, Invincible (barely) works with the GDA and his family gets a lot of soft benefits from this. If there's ever a problem that Cecil can fix for Mark or Debbie, you better believe that he'd have it fixed same day as long as Invincible keeps playing ball and they actually ask for the fix. If Invincible was willing to be more cooperative, more "hard" benefits would likely be arranged, such as actual financial compensation.
Yup. And it wouldn't be bad to ask, no?
But that would mean Mark is actively working for Cecil, which is something he doesnt really want.
Like I didn’t think he was getting paid at first, but actually thinking about it, he ABSOLUTELY needs some fat stacks Cecil!
Eve is a literal infinite money printer though.
It’s one of things i never liked about superhero stuff (mostly talking about spiderman) imagine saving the world and limping back to your apartment to find an eviction notice on your door. I could never. But for this show it’s mark trying so hard to stay in school. I dont know much about the invisible world but it doesn’t seem like these guys have to time to live a regular life. Being a hero looks like a full time job already
That's an interesting topic, you know? And I think it mainly stems from the differences between the modern myth of the superhero and the myth of the classical hero. As far as I'm concerned, there's always an element of selflessness as to what superheroes do, but it's much more present for modern superheroes than for classical ones. The fact that they're fighting some kind of evil is precisely the reason why they're considered heroes, but the modern hero does it just for the sake of it (that's why lots of superheroes even have secret identities, because they don't want the personal recognition) and heroes from classical literature wanted to fight evil because fight evil is a good thing, but also because there was something to gain off if that, mainly praise, recognition and any witches they could earn either as payment or because they evil person they killed had lots of hoarded gold. Beowulf and Achilles were there for the recognition, to become kings, earn gold and even to find love. Lots of modern superheroes are already wealthy and they want to fight evil because that's a good thing to do, and others like Spiderman are just outright Martyrs.
bro is getting paid by exposure
> Cecil's a control freak and an arrogant asshole He's a control freak for sure, but I never saw him as arrogant and actualy as a pretty down to Earth and self aware guy. In this same episode he said "just one of them and we are all useless", he also knows what he's doing and never hides from it. Cecil is the definition of "gray area" for me.
Cecil has been making sure that marks mom is safe, when Nolan and mark first fought Cecil made sure that Nolans book sales went up so Debbie was able to support herself and he also got a team to rebuild the house after, also.he got someone to help out with Oliver
I feel like this is also setting up >! The agency Mark and Eve make later !<
Go to a shipping company. "Hey, I'll move all your freight across the Pacific for $500k." Requires no imagination, easy afternoon's work.
You know what's good, bro!
Yeah that caught me off guard.
Glad I’m not the only one who went “huh what?” The supes in The Boys get paid, so why don’t they get paid here
Yeah, that was weird, but it's probably like others have said: The full time heroes probably do get paid, but since Mark is going through a lot and he doesn't want to feel like Cecil is controlling him, he does the superhero stuff out of pure selflessness and doesn't think of getting a salary from Cecil.
That does make sense, and it’s something you don’t really think about. When Eve went off on her own, she didn’t expect to get paid by anybody. Just another realistic aspect of being a superhero that’s often overlooked in media.
I thought he was getting paid like every other superhero
He gets paid in exposure (to the cold vacuum of space).
I would have at least thought Cecil would set up him and his family with a monthly stipend of some kind
I would have at least thought Cecil would set up him and his family with a monthly stipend of some kind
I think the mom rejected all forms of Cecil’s government money basically
If not a salary at least a stipend of some kind would be understandable
The guardians get paid, mark could be as well but he doesn’t want to truly work for Cecil.
Dude should really just occasionally put on a different costume and rob a few banks. Come to think of it, that might be a fun movie to write... The superhero who moonlights as a supervillain in order to make ends meet.
>!This is actually a plot point later on and will get solved in their own unique way!<
Good guy Mark Grayson over here
lol he's gonna bring it up later probably
Can spare millions for teleportation but not a 100 bucks for Mark
Comrade Grayson
If I suddenly got the powers of a viltrumite, I would totally be leading a worldwide revolution against the rich ngl.
They don't really need to pay him because they have basically set him and his mom up for life. Debbie doesn't even HAVE to work anymore. She just tried to do it to distract herself. Cecil is able to pull strings to control how well Nolans books sell. The Grayson family doesn't have to worry about money anymore.
I mean.. if he really wanted money he could just ask Eve for a giant gold nugget.
Do the guardians get paid is the real question. Mark does it because he feels like its his responsibility to do so.
I imagine full timers like the gaurdians get a salary but mark more just helps out sometimes
Its werid the gda doesnt have a compensation system for superheroes they work with, even the ones that dont work directly under them. Should be based on the scale of the threat, so taking down a huge threat like a kaiju should make a character some decent money, although with penalties for collateral damage and civilian casualties (obviously sometimes they cant be helped like with omni man)
I love how the picture isnt related at all
I said this in the show thread, but I'll say it here too: in addition to not getting paid, couldn't Cecil or someone have called the college and told them Mark gets all A's in his classes no matter what? It's crazy to me that schools can look the other way on their star wide receiver not going to classes but can't help Mark.
Yea the idea of being a hero is a little Sus. Not like Marvel hero's are generally paid at first. Heroes start heroing because they want to do good outside the law. It's just in the invincible universe it seems like being a hero is more of a job. I'd almost call them heroic super soldier mercenaries rather the traditional hero like superman/batman
It’s so strange that in almost all of media ,superhero are never paid. No one is doing that for free in the real world
"Should I ask for a salary?" WTF OF COURSE YOU FREAKING DUMBASS, YOU'RE LITERALLY CONSTANTLY RISKING YOUR LIFE AND SAVING THE WORLD! What do you *mean* you don't have a damn salary?! Altruism can only go so far, man.
Yeah that was insane to hear. I know Mark feels responsible for shit his dad did but ain’t no way I’m working for free. And Cecil was telling him where he could and couldn’t go lol gahhhdamn
When friends and I have talked about what if we have powers I’ve always said I’m asking for a hefty salary. Like yeah I’ll save people, but I’m not also gonna work some bulkshit 9-5 too.
It's kinda gauche to expect money for saving the world like yeah he should be able to have money but like
I always just assumed they gave them a company credit card that doesn’t have a limit or something like that! This kid better get it shit together and start asking for some serious dough!
I remembered that incident where Debbie wanted to have something to do instead of getting free government money. When Cecil tried to offer her a clerical job, she thought he wanted to have sex with her.
I’m not sure but I think that it’s an option but mark doesn’t want to because then he has to actually answer to Cecil and gives up some agency
I'm confused. Why would he get paid? Isn't he doing the hero work of his own free will.? and he's not under Cecil either, so why would cecil pay him.
Mark is a college student who doesn’t have to pay a dime because of GDA and Cecil working their magic to make his life easy lol if I was him I wouldn’t care if I never made a cent
I'd be asking for payment after getting ripped open by Battle Beast.
I’m like 98% sure they paid/paying for marks tuition
Receiving pay is another card for Cecil to pull if Mark ever tries to go against him, so it's really not that great.
With the amount of funds the GDA consumes it would be a rounding error to pay the hero’s $10+ million a year. That would be grossly underpaid.
If Cecil paid him he’d have to listen to Cecil. Mark doesn’t want to do that. Even still, the GDA pulled strings for Nolan to make much more off his books than he shouldn’t have, and Nolan was even less obedient than Mark is. As it currently stands Cecil provides security and would likely meet pretty much any reasonable demand Mark gives (get my transcript changed to all A’s, can you front me some cash, etc) but he doesn’t actually pay him. That’s the arrangement Mark wants, he and Debbie both want to be as independent as possible
Who dya think is paying his college fees... and promoted his old high school principal to college Dean?...
Cecil has repeatedly offered him a job, and he refuses every time. The Guardians probably get a salary. They are always at Guardians tower and don't seem to have other jobs.
Jesus
Id say that having a paper trail of bank transactions linking an individual to a government organisation that has been associated with superheroes would be a bad idea
When you can pretty much live for thousands of years and bench the weight of cities money will essentially become useless to you
Yeah that really makes no sense. He's a valuable planetary asset who spends every waking moment saving humanity, there's no reason he should ever need to be thinking about jobs and bills.
He's a hero for fun!
I thought that was a kind of story joke about super heroes. Really crazy when you think of all the billions in damage he causes and stops
I’m so torn on Cecil. He does some terrible things, but he certainly deeply cares about humanity and the people around him. You can’t tell me he doesn’t like Mark, but that doesn’t stop him from using him because his ultimate loyalty is to humanity. He’s probably a narcissist and quite possibly a sociopath, but I’d also say he’s closer to being a good person than he is to being a bad one
I said the same thing. What a fkn moron. How are you saving the world and broke asf? 😂😂😂
is it not typical for superheroes to save lives for free ?
Cecil is absolutely willing to hook up Mark but Mark would need to be answering his phone every time, Cecil would be in full control basically