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TV's Original Invisible Man Takes On Heroes' Newcomer
Heroes' big invisible twist? I'm just not seeing it. Call me literal, anal or simply intolerant of bad science, but I have a "super"-sized problem with the NBC show's brand-new addition. Introduced last night, Claude (as in Rains, get it?) was spied by Peter liberating unsuspecting diners of their wallets and whatnot. Being an invisible man, as we later would learn, Claude's crimes went unseen.
As did — inexplicably — the clothes on his back. That's some aggressive DNA, huh?
Heroes' "list" is of people blessed (cursed?) with a genetic anomaly, one that manifests itself in assorted abilities that, by stretches great and small, could be born from "super" DNA. But someone explain to me how something inside me can change the transparency of my jeans, of my Lacoste sweater?
Having screened last night's episode some weeks ago, I had to share my frustration with somebody who might care. So I tracked down TV's original Invisible Man, David McCallum, now known as NCIS' Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard and the voice of C.A.R.T.E.R (a car) on Disney Channel's The Replacements. After getting briefed on Claude's debut, McCallum had to agree that the new kid on the block is indeed cutting corners. "He's either naked or he isn't," the actor says with a chuckle. "When we did it, I had to take all my clothes off — and sometimes it was in the snow!"
See, The Invisible Man's Dr. Daniel Westin, like The Fantastic Four's Sue Storm or Hollow Man's Kevin Bacon, can only "disappear" if buck-naked (or in Alba's case, outfitted, drat, with a special jumpsuit). McCallum's alter ego, in fact, was transparent 24/7, and could only be "seen" by slipping on a latex mask and gloves. McCallum remembers the old-school special effects with which he had to work. "You have to remember, there was no CGI, no trickery," he notes. "I used to think of myself as Marcel Marceau, because I was totally doing mime against a blue screen or a green screen. I would pick up my own head with my right hand, and walk it across the room and put it down on the table, with the rest of my body blued out so you didn't see it. The physical antics we got wrapped into to make that whole thing work were incredible."
That said, McCallum offers bad news and good news for Heroes' Claude. "Being invisible is a dreadful thing to happen to you, because the one thing you want to do is get visible, otherwise you're going to be a freak for the rest of your life," he says. "Of course, the one great thing about playing an invisible man is it's a most wonderful production schedule. You're only there when you're there!"
UPDATE: My complete Q&A with David McCallum can now be found in Interviews & Features.
CBS' NCIS airs Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET. The Replacements airs Saturday at 8 pm/ET on Disney Channel, and Saturday at 9:30 am/ET on ABC.
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Jan 23, 2007 8:24 AM
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Matt Matt Matt - you are showing your true sci-fi geek colors, my friend! I can't believe that you can suspend your disbelief about the Heroes even being heroes, but you find it hard to take that extra 1/2 step about the invisible man. And the Lacoste sweater? You really are a child of the 80s ... (full disclosure - I have black penny loafers with dimes in them!)
My only gripe with that whole scene between the invisible man and Peter is that it went way too fast - could the passersby hear him yelling at Peter? I just couldn't get a good feel for it all ...
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Jan 23, 2007 9:50 AM
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Matt, I take it you weren't a fan of Sci-Fi's The Invisible Man when it aired a few years back? Darrien could turn his clothes invisible as well but it may have been explained well enough with that whole Quicksilver gland he had. 
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Jan 23, 2007 12:27 PM
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Claude probably projects an aura that encompasses his clothes [that was the reason they used to explain why The Flash's costumes were never burned away by friction - so it could work here, too...].
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Jan 23, 2007 1:22 PM
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To Beto and HeyHeath, sorry.. but one can only suspend disbelief long enough. To me the entire premise is pure laziness.. and in all honesty, I've been losing interest in Heroes.. sorry to say, because I was rather enjoying the series... but it's gotten more than a bit wearying... and it wasn't helped by the drag out wait for the continuation of the new episodes. I was actually looking forward to Eccleston's appearance.. but it's spun out like a bad rip-off from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
Thanks Matt for the great article.. sorry that a few of my fellow readers fail to grasp the intricacies you were pointing out. I enjoyed most especially the remarks of David McCallum, wish there were more actors of his calibre out there. Perhaps the Heroes staff might do well to pick up some of the points he made to flesh out Claude.. that is the point of a hero after all, what he dares to do, despite his all too real vulnerabilities.
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Jan 23, 2007 2:39 PM
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Okay on the invisibility thing, I think there's more than one way to approach it (just like there are multiple ways to approach other powers, or creatures in genre/sci-fi books & shows):
The person has to be nude for it to work or they somehow have the ability to make it affect their clothes (usually the skin touching something making it invisible too)
Depends on how much you can suspend your disbelief. From a scientfic standpoint, I'd prefer the no-clothes route as it makes more sense to me, personally. 
But because I love this show I'll overlook this minor nitpick and keep watching every week. 
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Jan 23, 2007 2:58 PM
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OK, first of all, in the COMICS, the Invisible Woman can turn herself and other objects invisible - she could even make the entire Fansticar invisible. Her power involves bending light. Similarly, the various Marvel and DC characters with invisibility powers (Zatana, Mastermind, Professor X, Iron Man in stealth armour,Mesmero, the Martian Manhunter, the Invisible Kid, Flash, Green Lantern, etc) ALL can also turn there CLOTHES invisible as well.
Secondly, Michah's character can phase his clothes, and Hiro can teleport his clothes and man-purse. Why couldn't this guy make his clothes invisible (see above.)
Thirdly, we have a guy who can absorb powers, another who can bend space and time, another who can "see who things work" and somehow steal there powers, including telekinesis, another who can phase through solid matter, and finally
a guy who is a living nuclear reactor - and you are telling me that you are so stupid as to suddenly nitpick over whether or not someone's undefined ability to be invisible is phoney or not?
With the above examples (paragraph one), we have characters who become invisible by moving out of sync with our reality, ones who vibrate so fast the light passes through them, others who can alter there molecular density to make the light pass through them, those who use magic or mental powers to hypnotize you into not seeing them, and several who can bend light so it warps around them. Each of these is as good of a pseudo-scientific explanation as you deserve, considering your previous acceptance of Hiro's or Peter's powers, for example.
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Jan 23, 2007 3:35 PM
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Looks like Jason has the power to render all words in bold! 
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Jan 23, 2007 4:45 PM
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Yeah, the bold was a bit much, but the first paragraph had some good points. There are characters with the power of invisibility who can render their clothes invisible as well. We only saw the character on Heroes for about five minutes anyway. Maybe you've seen the next episode and you know how it all works, but I'm witholding judgement on what I see as an insigificant detail until I see more.
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Jan 23, 2007 5:55 PM
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Looks like Jason has the power to render all words in bold!
Lol, at least it's less destructive than the power to render all words in CAPS.
I'm sure there will be an explanation. The "how do you make your clothes invisible" question has been raised many a time by sci-fi geeks. And Jeph Loeb is no stranger to the comic books so I'm sure he's already thought of something or will just crib it from some comic book. Besides, maybe it's not actual invisibility, maybe he has the power to make people not see him. There's a difference between the two.
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Jan 23, 2007 6:38 PM
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So, should DL have to be naked to phase through something? I suppose when Hiro teleports somewhere he should be showing up naked. Surely he couldn't teleport his clothing too.
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Jan 24, 2007 9:34 AM
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Again, why the need to make things so easy? It's ridiculous to infer that because say, Hiro can teleport, "with clothes on" that critique of Claude's "power" isn't valid. Hiro's ability isn't always as exact as he'd like, and it doesn't always allow him to change events. Back to Claude, sorry, but his character doesn't have enough limitations..
The various incarnations of an Invisible Man story have included such limitations, which were important to pull such a character back into the ordinary world of men and women. I believe it's not only necessary for such a plot line, but for viewers as well. It makes the character far much more compelling.
I do like Christopher Eccleston, and news that he'd be on the show actually kept me interested.
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Jan 24, 2007 11:39 AM
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Obviously, Claude can make more than himself invisible. That is why the lady did not notive here wallet hovering above her purse while he rummaged through it. So I don't understand why Matt and David McCallum didn't catch on to that.
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Jan 24, 2007 12:09 PM
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lol.. again, what you're referring to acheyfakey, just proves the point.. it's too easy.
Sorry, but it's a yawn. Heroes ratings have fallen, so obviously I'm not the only one who feels that way. The difference is I'd care to see them improve.
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Jan 24, 2007 12:12 PM
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ALL the Heroes' powers seem to be manifestations of enhanced brain function. The 'physical' powers (super-strength, regeneration, flight, telekinesis) can all be interpreted as 'mind-over-matter' (hence Claire didn't heal herself when a physical object had displaced parts of her brain); bending light or 'clouding men's minds' to become invisible would function the same way and COULD affect a limited radius around the person in question. (Telepathy and precognition would normally be viewed as 'mental' powers anyway...) Claire might even be able to 'heal' her clothes if she understood her abilities better.
If Sylar ingests brain matter in order to absorb powers, this again could be seen as telekinetic manipulation of his own DNA / brain chemistry / brain architecture -- he analyzes the tissue and then modifies his own brain function to incorporate the unusual bits. Peter's ability is somewhat different -- he's scanning without intimate contact (he imitated Matt's telepathy without touching him at all, I think) and (so far) the absorbed powers seem to fade away unless refreshed by proximity.
As for the nuclear man -- presumably, his telekinetic powers are focused at the subatomic level, destabilizing nuclei in his own body and in matter around him. He seems to be immune to the radiation he releases -- a variation on Claire's instant healing ability (maybe he can heal other types of injuries too?).
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Jan 24, 2007 1:07 PM
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