Spoiler Free Overview
Invincible is an animated show developed by Robert Kirkman, the same creator behind The Walking Dead. First released in 2021 on Amazon Prime, the series has now completed its third season. This seems like the perfect time to review the show as a whole and, more specifically, why some have described Invincible Season 3 as "peak fiction."
The show features a star-studded cast, including Steven Yeun, J.K. Simmons, Sterling K. Brown, and Sandra Oh, all lending their voices to bring this comic book story to life. They do an excellent job of building the world of Invincible.
To give a brief summary of the story, main protagonist Mark Grayson is an high schooler in a world of superheroes and super villains, including a Justice League knock off called the Guardians of the Globe. We're introduced to his mum Debbie and his dad Omniman (Nolan) who is an alien from the planet Viltrum and possesses a set of superpowers to similar to Superman (super strength, durability, flight, etc). The show follows Mark as he gets his powers similar to his dad, becomes Invincible and he discovers what it really means to be a superhero in his world. I’ve left out a lot of context and spoilers to give those who haven’t seen the show a chance to click off and watch it. In this review, I’ll be discussing all the highs and lows.
Focusing on Season 3
After two seasons of watching Mark getting beaten, battered, and borderline abused by almost everyone he fights, you'd think Invincible would've learnt to block a punch by now.
Season 3 kicks off with Mark pushing his limits and going through his "winter training arc," where his strength, speed, and size all drastically increase. We start to get the idea that maybe he really is
He begins to develop better relationships with his fellow superheroes, including Rex, and a romantic relationship blossoms with Eve. He even starts mentoring his younger brother, Oliver. However, that pretty much sums up everything positive for Mark this season, as he is truly put through the wringer.
This season does an extremely good job of showing the viewer just how horrific and depressing a superhero life style for Mark can be and it becomes clear that his name, "Invincible," refers more to his willpower than his physical strength and for an animated show to present this is such a raw, intense way is extremely impressive.
Throughout the season, we watch Mark wrestle with his morals, contain his strength, and hold back—even when his younger brother takes more extreme measures. The show continues to break him down until the final episode, where we finally see a more unhinged Invincible let loose.
Season 3 is a great continuation, building on the events of the previous season, showing character progression, and expanding the vast, intricate world of Invincible.
[SPOILERS BELOW - you've been warned]
Rex's Redemption
I know Invincible is the main character but applauds and flowers has to be given to Rex this season for his redemption alone. Everybody loves a redemption story and it does not get much better than Rex's.
This season, we see him actively trying to be a better person, and there’s real sincerity behind it. From backing up Invincible against Cecil without hesitation to his short-lived relationship with Shrinking Ray and his ultimate sacrifice, Rex’s journey is a rollercoaster. The show does a great job of portraying how the events of the previous season opened his eyes and made him want to be a better man. His arc humanizes his character, and in a world of superheroes and villains capable of destroying cities in seconds, that was refreshing. However, it’s unfortunate that his character was killed off so quickly after his redemption, his death wasn’t given much focus, aside from a brief funeral scene in the final episode, "I Thought You’d Never Shut Up." For a major side character who has been around since the first season, you’d expect a more significant send-off.
The Epitome of a younger brother
Oliver was one of the more interesting characters this season. He truly embodies the idea of what it would be like if a child got superpowers. While he’s surprisingly mature, his actions and words constantly remind us that he’s still a kid.
Oliver refuses to listen to Mark, his older brother, but shows up when it matters to defend his family throwing punches like it’s nobody’s business, even to the point of killing. His philosophy of "why should the bad guys live" has been explored many times probably most famously by Batman and his no-killing rule but seeing it spoken and acted on through a child was a lot more interesting because as kids we're taught that there is good and there is bad and when you're bad you should and will be punished, so it stands to reason why should a supervillain who has murdered and wreaked havoc not be put down?
Mark and Debbie spend the season trying to explain to Oliver that it’s not that simple—that there’s a gray area and that superheroes aren’t judge, jury, and executioner. While Oliver isn’t always right, his intentions are pure... for the most part. His dynamic with Mark is excellently written and portrayed. Anyone with a younger sibling can probably relate to experiencing something similar. Oliver is the definition of an annoying but lovable younger brother—never listening but always fighting for you. Christian Convery did a fantastic job bringing his character to life
The Multiverse trope
A major plot point this season comes during the latter half of the season when Angstrom Levy, still filled with unbridled rage after his encounter with Invincible in Season 2, uses hi inter-dimensional powers to bring Invincibles from other universes and aid him in his master plan to cause chaos and ruin the name of Invincible.
At this point, we’ve seen this sort of story done many times, especially in similar genres (Marvel). While the concept of a multiverse is objectively interesting and can expand a show’s world, it felt rushed and half-hearted here. We don't get to know about the other Invincibles except they're all evil versions of the protagonist, all slightly motivated by different relationships missing from their dimensions and some are more powerful than others. This storyline, which is a big deal in the comics, is handled in just one episode. The Invincibles are brought in, cause chaos, and then turn on Angstrom, who strands them in the same deserted dimension Mark was sent to in Season 2.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve seen this trope so many times that it’s lost its spark, but I feel it deserved more exploration. That said, I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of these Invincibles or Angstrom.
Conquest's Introduction and Final Episode
The final episode of Season 3 currently has a 9.9 rating on IMDb from 64K reviewers, which speaks volumes. This episode is cathartic, raw, action-packed, and emotional, keeping you hooked from start to finish.
We’re introduced to Conquest, a Viltrumite so powerful and violent that even his own race fears him. Voiced by Jeffrey Dean Morgan (also from the Walking Dead like Steven Yeun), his character is unforgettable, despite appearing in just one episode. Conquest makes Omni-Man from Season 1 look like a saint, and the destruction he causes during his fight with Invincible is truly devastating. Despite the episode being 46 minutes in runtime and most of that being dedicated to fight scenes the episode is very impactful, especially coming off the previous episode where we've seen Mark at his lowest, constantly blaming himself for everything wrong with the world and wrestling with the idea of holding back his full power.
After three seasons of watching Mark hold back and get beaten mercilessly, it was refreshing to see him finally let loose and unleash his full Viltrumite power to the point he crosses the line of killing he tried so hard to avoid. The animation in this episode is top-tier, as though most of the budget was saved for it. The voice acting is powerful, and Conquest’s screen presence solidifies him as one of the most terrifying villains in the series.
The episode does involve a lot of gore, more so than the rest of the season put together and understandable that would put some people off but in a way it is impressive that a show can show so much whilst being only animated.
This episode was definitely the highlight of the season as we get to witness the full power of Invincible, Oliver and Atom Eve against arguably the most unhinged Viltrumite we've seen so far, and by the end of the season we, along with Mark, realise that maybe Oliver was right all along. That those that do bad, those that are evil should be punished permanently.
However, the final moments of the episode where different scenes are shown to tease what's coming next season majorly took me out of the rest of the episode, the teasers didn't really make much sense to me and it felt like important, interesting plot points like Omniman escaping prison had just been forgotten.
Animation Vs Voice Acting
One thing I did notice was the difference in animation this season compared to previous seasons. It was clear that maybe there wasn't as much budget used for animation and whilst the last episode was animated very well at times, most of the season you can tell there's a slight drop off of animation quality. Animation is by no means easy, it takes a whole dedicated team, long hours and this is not a criticism of that or their efforts. However when I looked at the cast of voice actors and noticed just how many famous celebrity actors there are, it did make me wonder, is more of the show's budget spent on that than the actual animation? Celebrity star power is of course important, that's usually what pulls in a percentage of people wanting to watch a show but with voice acting I think it's better to have a good voice actor than a good/famous actor voicing a character. One character that comes to mind is Powerplex voiced by Aaron Paul. He's obviously a very famous actor from Breaking Bad and has an extremely recognisable voice which for me didn't really appeal much to his character. It seems like I'm picking on him but even when you go back previous seasons you'll notice majorly famous actors coming in to voice side characters and whilst that's great, if it's hurting the animation you have to wonder is it worth it? Anyway most of the characters are voice acted brilliantly so again this is probably just me nitpicking.
Final thoughts
Overall, Season 3 is a strong season with an audience score of 93% and 100% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, considering it came out at the same time as other popular shows including Daredevil Born Again and Adolescence. While it doesn’t completely avoid the drop-off in quality that many shows experience after their first season, it still delivers impactful moments with relationships between characters. The season starts strong, managing multiple plot points and continuing to build the world of the show. However, it slightly falters in the middle, only picking up again in the final episode.
If you’re a fan of the previous seasons, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. While we wait for Season 4—whenever that may be—I hope the show continues to focus on its core characters and upward trajectory.
Rating: 8/10
Comments