Lee Pace Addresses Comparison Between His Invincible Season 4 & MCU Villains

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Thragg flying at a fast speed while looking angry in Invincible season 4

Published Apr 23, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends.

Lee Pace is back in the world of superheroes as another villain in Invincible season 4, and acknowledges there are a few similarities to his last one.

Pace first broke out with his Golden Globe-nominated turn in 2003's Soldier's Girl, subsequently finding further success with everything from the cult favorite fantasy comedy Pushing Daisies to Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy and AMC's acclaimed period drama Halt and Catch Fire. More recently, the star has led Apple TV's adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation, which has its fourth season currently in production.

Invincible season 4 introduces Pace to the fold as Thragg, the Grand Regent of the Viltrum Empire who has been leading the charge with the remaining Viltrumites to restore their control over the galaxy, and punish J.K. Simmons' Omni-Man for joining Steven Yeun's Mark and his group to fight against them. Involved in wiping out certain characters, all while suffering a major loss himself, Thragg's journey is only just beginning in the series, as the season ends with a tease of his emotional storyline from the comics being brought to life.

Ahead of the finale, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Lee Pace to discuss Invincible season 4. The star opened up about his initial feelings about joining the series, as well as how it presented him with the chance to flex new creative muscles, and the comparisons between Thragg and his previous superhero villain role.

Pace Doesn't Recognize Himself In Either Thragg Or Ronan (But Loves Playing Them Both)

Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser in Guardian's of the Galaxy 2014.

Prior to joining Invincible season 4, Pace began his superhero genre journey with the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy, starring as the villain of the James Gunn film, Ronan the Accuser. Though defeated by the end of the film, the Emmy nominee would later reprise the role for the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel, whose story was set 20-plus years before his character's death in the 2014 film.

When asked about stepping back into the genre with another villain, Pace began by expressing that "I did Ronan such a long time ago," and that the MCU production "feels like another time ago." He did, however, go on to warmly reflect on having had "a great time playing that character," and calling his Guardians of the Galaxy cohorts as being "a fun group of people to work with":

Lee Pace: I can look at a picture of Ronan and I don't recognize myself at all [laughs], because I'm so covered with [makeup]. But I had a great time doing it. With Thragg, I don't recognize myself at all, either, because he's animated. But I think it's interesting [to play] a character who's very strong and who has the insane ambition of conquering the galaxy.

Pace went on to explain that Thragg "wants nothing less than total domination over everything he could possibly conceive," feeling that his Invincible season 4 villain "thinks that he can get it, because he's durable, he's strategic, and he's got principles." The star's quick to denote Thragg's principles "are not my principles," given the character "does some pretty heinous things," but finds that the reason for his ambition makes him an interesting one to play.

He also shared his excitement about how Thragg will evolve going into Invincible's future, feeling it will be "interesting to put that strong character in front of obstacles that he cannot overcome." For season 4, the violence his character unleashes on Mark, Nolan and their cohorts is "cake to him," until the moment comes when he "snaps and gets really rageful." Pace found it exciting finding the extent of Thragg's rage amid his normally reserved nature:

Lee Pace: That was an interesting quality that we found in the recording booth is that when he's pretty cool, calm, he's got a plan, but when he gets violent, when the beast comes out of him, he turns into a monster. And that was fun to play in the room. It was really fun to see once the animation came together where I could hear my voice coming out of this. It's so cool, because they animate it up close, and then you pull back to a shot that you could never get on camera, which is, like, Thragg is the size of a chia seed, and the whole galaxy is littered with dead bodies. And the visual landscape of the show is wild. So, I think it'll be fun to see where the character goes.

Pace Had One Objective Going Into His Work On Invincible Season 4

In addition to bringing Pace back to the superhero genre, Invincible season 4 also marked a reunion for the star with Robert Kirkman, who he "knew a little bit when I did Halt and Catch Fire while he was doing Walking Dead." He went on to praise the comic and show creator as being a "super cool person," while also being in awe at "the worlds he creates [being] so thorough and interesting."

With the star having "never done the voice of a character like" Thragg before coming into the series, the star had one objective at the beginning of Invincible season 4's recording:

Lee Pace: I remember walking into that first recording session and being like, "All right, how do we do this? What are we going to do here? I've done my research, but really the only thing I care about is what do you want? What do you need? How are you going to see the character?" I wanted to give them a bunch of options, and try things on with the way I said things, and figure out a way to focus Thragg into an entertaining setup for a character that's about to go on a pretty wild arc.

One thing that Pace expressed being helpful with his approach to his characters is seeing how they look, calling himself "one of those actors where the costume gives me most of the work." For Thragg, the Emmy nominee described as looking "cool" and, getting to see the design before the animation, gave him the feeling during recording that "this is a pretty cool customer here" and is "ready for anything that comes his way."

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