After an over two-year gap, Invincible is finally returning for the first half of its second season to Prime Video. And based on the first four episodes, the hit adult-animated series is stronger than ever.
When we last left off in Season 1, Invincible (Steven Yeun) was dealing with the revelation that his father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), isn’t the world’s greatest superhero… He is actually a Viltrumite, a race of conquering, superstrong aliens. Omni-Man, aka Nolan Grayson, was sent to Earth to take over the planet. In the process, he married Debbie Grayson (Sandra Oh), whom he refers to as a pet, and fathered Invincible, aka Mark Grayson. That makes Mark half-Viltrumite. When Mark refuses to join Nolan, the latter kills thousands of people and beats Mark into a bloody pulp to prove a point.
Season 2 Picks Up Months Later
Season 2 of the series picks up months later, and all of the characters are worse for the wear. In particular, Mark and Debbie are dealing with an unimaginable amount of grief and loss. Not only were they betrayed and belittled by the family patriarch, but they need to grapple with the ramifications of Nolan’s actions… And the reactions of those around them who know the truth. For some interactions, that means pity. Others, empathy. And for yet others, rage over what Omni-Man did… Since he left the planet after his confrontation with Mark, it’s impossible to fight back against him. So some characters take it out on Mark and Debbie, instead.
Don’t worry: in between the in-depth and complicated explorations of grief, the show is still very fun. As a main character, Mark isn’t super-smart, he isn’t a paragon of justice… He’s just a regular guy with superpowers trying to do the right thing in impossible circumstances. That tone carries over from Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley’s Image Comics work, and it leads to a sense of humor that is purposefully off-kilter with the bloody violence both the comics and animated series are known for. Part of that could be credited to EPs Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, known for their slacker humor. But their participation instead lends the perfect support to Kirkman and co-showrunner Simon Racioppa’s vision.
The Whole Invincible Cast Shines In Season 2
While the early episodes (the second four episodes will stream at a TBA time in 2024) are extremely focused on Debbie and Mark, the ever-widening cast also gets plenty of time to shine. Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) made the decision to use her powers to help the world beyond punching supervillains towards the end of Season 1, something that was followed in the Invincible Atom Eve Special episode. However, she discovers that even that lofty goal is complicated by the realities of the world.
And the Guardians of the Globe, the show’s premiere superteam, have some complicated issues of their own to deal with. Robot (Ross Marquand) put himself in a human cloned body last season, but with a human body comes human emotions and feelings. Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas), always hilarious, brings some real pathos to an a-hole realizing maybe he should try to be less of an a-hole. Dupli-Kate (Malese Jow) also gets some intricate emotional beats to hit in the initial episodes, ones that could pay off more as the season continues.
It’s hard to pick a standout in a stacked voice cast that just keeps getting larger. Season 2 continues to highlight the excellent work from the Season 1 cast while adding voice actors like the iconic Peter Cullen to the mix. One early pick though is Sterling K. Brown, who joins the series as a new antagonist, Angstrom Levy. The less said about his character the better, but suffice it to say that Brown brings his usual gravitas to the role and a new sort of threat for Mark that ties directly into the emotional themes of the season.
Invincible Season 2 Will Make Even Comic Book Fans Jaws Drop
Overall, the second season of Invincible works the same way the story worked in the comics: with the secret of Omni-Man officially out in the open, Kirkman and company are able to dig deeper than ever before with the emotional intensity of the storylines. The twists definitely don’t stop in the first four episodes, and if you haven’t read the comics they are some jaw-dropping shockers. Neither do the extremely graphic and bloody confrontations.
But even for comic fans, like the Omni-Man reveal, those twists and fights work just as well on screen as they did on the page — some even better thanks to the additional space provided by a 45-ish minute animated series, over a 20-ish page comic book.
It may have been two years since Season 1, but these four episodes prove Invincible is worth the wait. Now just don’t make us wait another two years to watch Season 2b.
Invincible premieres Thursday, November 1 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on Prime Video.
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