13 Adaptations of H.G. Wells novel The Invisible Man (well, lots more than that…)
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“My fantastic stories do not pretend to deal with possible things.”
—H.G. Wells.
Celebrating the classic novel from the father of science fiction—and lots of times that they borrowed Wells’ ideas for movies and TV.
Classic science fiction novel The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells blends comedy and tragedy in its story of a scientist who discovers a way to make himself invisible. The Invisible Man, written by the same man behind the speculative classics The Time Machine and The Island of Doctor Moreau, helped establish Wells as the “father of science fiction.”
Originally serialized in Pearson’s Weekly in 1897, The Invisible Man was published as a novel that same year. The novel stars the scientist Griffin, who has invented the ability to change his body’s reflection so that can’t reflect or absorb light. Unfortunately, once he makes himself invisible, he finds it impossible to reverse it.
Over the course of the novel, the result drives him mad. Griffin’s inability to cure himself leads to a radical disconnection from society—and eventually from his own sanity.
Arriving in a town where no one knows him, disguised in bandages and dark glasses, the invisible man is driven to violent and criminal extremes before his secret is revealed. This prescient parable of the dark side of scientific progress demonstrates H.G. Wells’s signature gift for dramatizing humanity’s grandest possibilities and darkest fears.
“My fantastic stories do not pretend to deal with possible things,” said H.G. Wells. “They aim indeed only at the same amount of conviction as one gets in a gripping good dream.”
The original novel The Invisible Man has been adapted, borrowed and referenced in lots of movies, TV shows, audio dramas, and comic books.
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13 Adaptations of H.G. Wells Invisible Man (well…)
#1 The Invisible Man: Complete Universal Monsters Movies
During Universal’s classic monster movie era from the 1930s-1950s, they created movie franchises around iconic monsters. Some of them were inspired by classic novels (before ramping up into new territory). These series included movies about the Invisible Man, as well as Dracula and the Frankenstein’s Monster. The films in the Invisible Man series included:
The Invisible Man (1933) adapts the original novel. The movie, directed by James Whale, starred Claude Rains as Griffin. He died at the end of the movie (spoiler if you haven’t already read the book or watched the movie)—which means all the sequels were completely new and different from Wells’ novel. Find The Invisible Man on Amazon
The Invisible Man Returns (1940) starred Vincent Price as Geoffrey Radcliffe, who is sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. He asks the brother of the original invisible man to make him invisible so he can escape his execution and find the real murderer. Find The Invisible Man Returns on Amazon
The Invisible Woman (1940) moved even further from the source material—it’s a comedy that starred Virginia Bruce (as a woman who goes, well, invisible) and John Barrymore as the scientist who invented how to do it. The film also included Margaret Hamilton (who played the witch in The Wizard of Oz) and Shemp Howard (who was one of the Three Stooges). Find The Invisible Woman on Amazon
Invisible Agent (1942) is a wartime spy movie starring Jon Hall as Griffin’s grandson, with Peter Lorre and Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Axis agents. Find Invisible Agent on Amazon
The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944) stars John Carradine as the scientist who invents invisibility this time, and Jon Hall stars as the invisible person (again), but this time as a different character who goes on a crime wave. Find The Invisible Man’s Revenge on Amazon
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)—one of the best Universal Monsters movies of all—features classic Universal Monsters crossing paths with the classic comedy team Abbott and Costello. Although he only has a quick cameo at the end, the Invisible Man is voiced by Vincent Price. Find Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on Amazon
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)—where the comedy duo gave a full movie now to the Invisible Man, guest starring Arthur Franz as a boxer framed for murder who takes the invisibility formula to find the real killer and clear his name. Abbott and Costello play private detectives who help solve the case. Find Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man on Amazon or you can grab the Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters Collection.
#2 The Invisible Man TV series (1958-59)
This British TV series was a sci-fi spy show created by Ralph Smart (who later created Danger Man, shown in the U.S. as Secret Agent, starring Patrick McGoohan). The Invisible Man TV series revolved around scientist Dr. Peter Brady, whose experiment goes wrong and he’s—no surprise by this point—stuck being invisible. At first, the U.K. government locks him up, but they then decide to put him to work. (And in case you were thinking, “Wait, ‘sci-fi spy’ is actually called ‘spy-fi,’” I think you have to use all the gadgets to use that term.)
#3 Mad Monster Party? movie (1967)
This stop-motion animated musical comedy movie produced by Rankin/Bass Productions featured the voices of Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, and Phyllis Diller. A mad scientist who plans to retire invites to his island lots of classic monsters—including the Invisible Man (voiced by Swift).
#4 TV shows The Invisible Man (1975) and Gemini Man (1976)
These were two TV shows featuring invisible men who solve crimes and stuff. The series The Invisible Man starred David McCallum as Dr. Daniel Westin, who becomes invisible and ends up going on special missions for the government while trying to figure out how to cure his condition.
At the end of the season, the show The Invisible Man was replaced with a new model titled Gemini Man, starring Ben Murphy as agent Sam Casey—who was turned invisible by radiation from the explosion of a fallen satellite. I guess they fixed it (I’ve never actually seen the show) because he’s wearing a special wrist device that makes him invisible for a short time. That series also just lasted one season.
#5 Superhero cartoon TV shows—Spider-Man (1967-70) and Batman: The Animated Series (1992-95)
The Spider-Man episode “Spider-Man Meets Doctor Noah Boddy” featured an invisible robber named Noah Boddy. (Cuz, you know, it sounds like “nobody.”) Find Spider-Man on Amazon
The Batman: The Animated Series episode “See No Evil” featured a criminal wearing an experimental plastic suit that makes him invisible. Find Batman: The Animated Series on Amazon
#6 “Invisible Man” rock single from Queen (1989)
The rock band Queen released the song “The Invisible Man,” a single from the band’s album The Miracle. Written by drummer Roger Taylor, he says he was inspired to write the song while reading a book—and, of course, the title of the song is the novel by H.G. Wells. (But if you’ve been reading this list, you probably already know that.)
#7 Memoirs of an Invisible Man movie (1992)
In this comedy drama, a Wall Street analyst becomes invisible after a lab accident, leading to complications. Directed by John Carpenter, the movie starred Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah, Sam Neill, Michael McKean and Stephen Tobolowsky.
The movie was loosely based on a 1987 novel by H.F. Saint. Of course, the book was clearly inspired by Wells’ original novel—and, apparently, the only book that Saint ever wrote.
Funny side note: When Memoirs of an Invisible Man was in theaters, some friends and I went to the movies that weekend. One friend and I chose to watch Memoirs of an Invisible Man, but his wife and her friend chose instead to watch Medicine Man with Sean Connery. All four of us liked our movies enough that we told the others they had to see it—so both duos went to the other movie. Which means all four of us watched (and enjoyed) both movies that day. We just didn’t watch them at the same time.
#8 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book series (1999) and movie (2003)
This impressive comic book mini-series featured a massive literary crossover that included characters and events from books by H.G. Wells, as well as Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. Rider Haggard, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sax Rohmer. (Is that all the authors? Pardon me if I forgot anyone.) As such, this adaptation included Griffin, the star of the original Invisible Man novel.
In the 2003 movie adaptation—which strayed far from the story and wasn’t nearly as good as the comic book—there was also an invisible man, but instead of the inventor, it was someone who had stolen the invisibility formula. Apparently, the reason they had to change which invisible person was in the story is that, while the book was in public domain, the movie rights were still tied up with Universal. (Of course, that doesn’t explain all the other changes.)
#9 Hollow Man movie (2000) and sequel (2006)
This science fiction horror film was directed by Paul Verhoeven, and starred Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, and William Devane. When a scientist tests an invisibility serum—and it turns out they can’t restore him back to normal—it drives him crazy and he goes on a killing spree.
In the direct-to-video sequel Hollow Man 2 (2006), starring Christian Slater, a government experiment goes wrong, leaving a soldier permanently invisible. (And then, you know, things go bad.)
#10 The Invisible Man (2000-2002)
This Sci-Fi Channel TV show starred Vincent Ventresca as Darien Fawkes, a convicted burglar who is offered freedom if he agrees to join a secret government project. He’s given a synthetic gland that generates “Quicksilver,” a substance which makes his body and clothes invisible.
#11 Hotel Transylvania movie series
In the Hotel Transylvania movies, Dracula’s friends include several classic monsters—including the Invisible Man, who is voiced by David Spade. He generally joins the group when they go on some adventure. There was a particularly funny running gag that comes to mind where he pretends to have an invisible girlfriend—but his friends know that she’s not real. (Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending.)
#12 The Invisible Man (2020)
This movie was a domestic abuse horror story written and directed by Leigh Whannell. Elisabeth Moss stars as a woman who is being stalked by her seemingly deceased ex-boyfriend—but no one believes her because no one can see him. Turns out that the man—played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen—can be invisible.
#13 The Invisible Woman (still in the works)
Elizabeth Banks is planning to direct, produce, and star in the original movie Invisible Woman for Universal. Based on Banks’ original pitch, no story details are available at this point, but apparently this movie is intended to have nothing to do with the previous Universal “invisible” movie. Which, you know, is what they do.
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Related links
The Invisible Man Summary (Shmoop)
The Invisible Man book vs. movie (Slate)
10 Movies Based On H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, Ranked (Screen Rant)
FEAR THE INVISIBLE MAN: New H.G. Wells Remake Secures North American And International Release Deals (Fangoria)
‘Fear The Invisible Man’: HG Wells Remake Inks Key International Deals — AFM (Deadline)
Jason Blum gives an update on The Invisible Man sequel (Xfire)
Best H.G. Wells Movie Adaptations, Ranked (MovieWeb)
12 Mind-Bending Horror Books for Fans of 'The Invisible Man' (The Lineup)
The Science of ‘The Invisible Man’ (Film School Rejects)
'Invisible Man' a great sci fi story (The Brookings Register)
The Invisible Man: 5 Best & 5 Worst H.G. Wells Movie Adaptations (According To Rotten Tomatoes) (Screen Rant)
How invisibility would wreck your body and destroy your DNA (Syfy)
'The Invisible Man (1975) - The Complete Series' Blu-ray review (Entertainment Focus)
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