Shadowing Practice: Invincible's Voice Actor Problem - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Invincible has a huge problem, and it has to do with the voice actors.
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About two weeks ago, I kept hearing about how the animation was getting worse, and how the show was getting sloppy.
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Even though I was really enjoying season 3, I thought I might as well see if that's true.
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It was an excuse to rewatch the last two seasons and introduce my buddy to an- I know, I'm a real hero.
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So as we're watching the Flaxen invasion scene, he says he has to go pee, and I pause the show.
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But as I pause right at the bottom where Prime shows the cast, I see the voice actor for the Flaxons Jimon Honsu.
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Wait, the guy from Blood Diamond?
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Gladiator?
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Guardians of the Galaxy? That guy?
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Isn't he a kind of famous movie actor?
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Why is he voicing the space aliens who literally say gibberish with a voice filter and have one word of dialogue?
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It seemed like an odd choice, and so now every time we pause I take a quick glance at the cast.
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It didn't take me long to realize that Invincible has a lot of celebrities doing the voice acting.
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Most of the main characters are voiced by pretty famous TV and movie actors, including side characters that have barely any lines or impact on the story.
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People like Jimon Honsu, which I mentioned earlier, Jon Hamm who voices Steve, who?
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He's the guy at the very beginning, who talks for two minutes before the Molo twins show up.
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I am Steve.
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Ella Purnell as the daughter of that one guy who died to Cahor, Justin Roiland as DA Sinclair's first victim, Tim Robinson as Philip Schaaf,
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the comic book guy, and 19 Steven Yeuns.
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What's next?
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Are they gonna get The Rock to voice Galatia Peanut Freeman in a cameo?
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Please don't do that.
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Look, I'm not against famous movie and television actors voicing people in shows.
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Steven Yeun, Sterling K.
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Brown, that guy from The Red One, Aaron Pohl, they're all phenomenal.
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But when you're hiring such popular actors for almost everyone, including the side characters that have two sentences of dialogue and never show up again,
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is that really necessary?
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For example, getting Ella Purnell to play as Jane
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while she's working on other big TV series like Arkane and Fallout couldn't have been cheap, and you can't get her to do other characters unless you
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want to add it to the shopping list of expensive cast members.
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The only way to get some bang out of your buck
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is to get it to do a few more lines for side characters that rarely show up.
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You've already paid to bring it to the studio, so it would make sense to keep them there for more than 20 minutes.
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Get it to play multiple non-reoccurring bums or background nobodies like how Fred Tat- Tatis-Squo-R does.
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Although, Fred is actually a professional voice actor, so it still wouldn't make sense.
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Because you're hiring an expensive actor like her to do what cheaper, more experienced people can do with the same impact.
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Respectfully, it's not like Pernell was needed to play Jane, so I guess it's an interesting cameo?
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But it's not like you get to see her face, and it's completely overshadowed by the Angstrom fight that happened 10 minutes ago.
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I didn't even know it was Ella Pernell until I was doing research for this video, and the same goes for the many other celebrities in Invincible.
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Frankly, it seems like a waste of money.
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A waste that'll only grow over time as new characters are introduced and given more screen time.
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Now, the reason I keep bringing up money is because executive producer, Marge Dean, said that Invincible's budget is only a quarter of what the shows like The Boys have,
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which is about $11.2 million per episode, meaning that Invincible only has $2.8 million per episode.
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That is not a lot considering how they're animating such a large action-heavy IP.
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I definitely could be wrong, but I'd bet that a quarter, possibly more, of Invincible's $22.4 million budget is spent on the voice actors,
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which leaves only $17.8 million for composers,
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directors, writers, storyboard artists, music collabs, and finally the animators to produce six hours of animation in a year.
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I want to frame just how unfair this is.
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Prime, one of the largest streaming platforms, releases Invincible Season 1 after three to four years of development.
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People are eating it up.
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And it quickly becomes a huge sensation on the internet.
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So Prime says to the animators, Hey, we've been hearing about your latest success, so we'll give you the go-ahead on another season.
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So, two and a half years later, they release Season 2.
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And once again, they've hit gold.
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But wait a second, there's a four month break.
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So Prime says to the animators, Hey, so it turns out the fans really dislike the four month break.
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Uh, what's that about?
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Well, we've been working hard to get this out to a standard we want.
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But you know how it is.
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Animation is time consuming and we don't exactly have the money to bring on more animators.
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That anime special took a lot of manpower.
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Yeah, we really needed that four months.
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Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
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I hear you brother.
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We were actually meaning to ask.
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I know this sounds crazy, but do you think by any chance we could add
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that four months to the deadline instead of putting it in between episodes?
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Look man, I hear you, I hear you.
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How does this sound?
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February 6th.
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Like, February 6th, 2027?
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No, no, no, no. February 6th, 2025. Are you serious?
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That's less than a year, that's nine months.
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You're giving me nine months to animate the- So they get to working, and after just 10 months, Season 3 is released.
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And this time, fans aren't happy.
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Fans are criticizing the animation for being a lot less fluid, having more static shots where the PNG just kind of moves across the screen, and being somewhat lackluster at times.
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And that's incredibly unfortunate, because the animators did the best with what little time and resources they had, and to be honest, they received way too much hate.
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While it is admittedly not as well animated as the prior seasons, Season 3 isn't just good, it's amazing.
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You're telling me they made the Invincible War in nine months?
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Who knows what more they could have done if they had the money for more staff.
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I want to close by saying, Prime, you're not Dreamworks.
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It's not Mega Mind.
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You can't just blow so much money on celebrities and expect a development time of one year.
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Maybe if you had $130 million, you could, but not with $22 million and 100 overworked employees.
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That's all I wanted to say.
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I've been putting off to watching the finale until I finish this video, so I'll pin my comment letting you know what I thought of the episode.
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I might think it's terrible, who knows.
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I'm also currently editing my big Marvel Rivals video.
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I'm trying to get it out ASAP, so stay tuned.
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Anyway, like, comment, subscribe, love you, bye.
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Who Should Watch This Video for English Practice?
This video is perfect for intermediate learners aiming to improve English pronunciation and conversational fluency. The casual, conversational tone mimics real-life discussions, making it ideal for practicing listening comprehension and shadowing—key skills for mastering natural speech. Whether you’re prepping for daily conversations or want to sound more like a native, the dialogue’s mix of formal and informal language offers diverse practice opportunities.
Words & Idioms Worth Stealing
- "Gibberish": Unintelligible speech. Example: "The aliens spoke gibberish, so no one understood them."
- "Bang for your buck": Value for money. Example: "Hiring a voice actor to play multiple roles gives more bang for your buck."
- "Overshadowed by": Made less noticeable by something more impressive. Example: "Her cameo was overshadowed by the epic fight scene."
- "Fluff": Unnecessary content. Example: "The article had too much fluff and not enough facts."
How to Get the Accent Right
To nail the speaker’s tone, focus on stress and intonation—they emphasize key points (like "waste of money" or "not a lot") by raising their voice. For shadowing practice, use a shadowing site like ShadowSpeaks to mimic their rhythm. Notice how they shorten words in casual speech ("gonna" instead of "going to") and pause for effect. Practice repeating phrases like "I definitely could be wrong, but I'd bet..." to master natural flow. Remember, the goal is to sound conversational, not perfect—so don’t stress over every word. With consistent practice, you’ll start to mirror their cadence and sound more confident in English.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.