After a short wait, the Amazon original series “Invincible” is back and just as good as it was before. Mark Grayson is still the world’s finest superhero, but he’s been through the ringer lately. The first season’s fight against his own father, second season’s dimension hopping battle against Angstrom Levy, and third season’s “Invincible” war, the show just keeps raising the stakes for its characters. I’m just wondering if Mark will survive what’s to come intact.
The previous season’s fight against Conquest shocked audiences with its brutality, but it can be hard to follow up in a way that leaves fans satisfied. I can personally attest, as someone who has followed the show for years and has read the entire comic run, this season is on track to be the best yet.
“Invincible” has been known to have some troubled production with its visuals. Last year I wrote about a few issues I had with season three, and I’m glad to say that most of my issues have been resolved. Not everything is perfect, but when the animation matters, it more than delivers. The fight scenes are better than ever, and they are only noticeably low quality when closely scrutinized. This is a huge win for the series as it means maybe Amazon has finally given a better budget to one of their flagship shows.
The story is continuing to be one of the best superhero stories in any media these days. The show’s producer, and original comic writer, Robert Kirkman is doing an amazing job. He is not only adapting the source material of his original comics, but he is creating the definitive edition of the story.
As a huge fan of the comics, I can say that is certainly for the best.
While the comics are certainly amazing, they have not aged the best. Changes to characters like Debbie and Eve are for the better, making them more complex and deep than they ever were. Events are also shuffled around and altered in ways that make them more meaningful to the overall plot. It’s hard to talk about without spoilers though, so from now until the conclusion will be marked with spoilers.
SPOILER WARNING, SKIP TO THE CONCLUSION TO AVOID STORY SPOILERS
Mark’s internal struggles with his morality takes center stage in the first episode. After he thinks he killed Conquest, Mark tries to kill a villain who wasn’t in control of his own actions. His emotions are stuck between trying to be the best hero he can be, and actually solving his problems permanently. This comes to a head at the end of the episode when the Sequids rise again, and the only way to stop them is to kill another innocent person. Mark does what he thinks is best, leading him down an even darker path.
Episode two starts with what I think is Kirkman’s best decision so far with the show, showing Viltrum being torn apart by the Scourge Virus. It’s a sequence that is genuinely haunting and makes the viewer feel sympathy for the genocidal aliens of Viltrum. The episode then follows Allen and Nolan as they search for weapons that are effective against Viltrumites. This causes Nolan to go through his own internal conflict, as he now must finish off his own race of people before they hurt another planet. The weapons search also mentions a huge player in the coming Viltrumite War, Tech Jacket.
I’ve read all of Tech Jacket’s comics in preparation for this season, and while it’s still unconfirmed as of writing this article, there seems to be some major changes to the character. I really hope that there is an episode dedicated to Earth’s first line in space defense to show these supposed changes, but I’m not holding my breath. Maybe there will be another episode like the Atom Eve special to cover them, but even if there isn’t, that is fine too.
Overall, the story is heading in a very good direction. I’m absolutely pumped for next week’s episode and every episode after that. Because if it follows the comics like I think they will, we’re in for the biggest, bloodiest battle of the series so far.
END OF SPOILERS
What else is there to say? “Invincible” is in an amazing spot right now, with a new season of the show and a video game releasing soon the series has never had more eyes on it. The show is rumored to run for seven seasons, although Robert Kirkman is pushing for nine to ten seasons to round out the story completely. I hope there isn’t any conflict between the showrunners because I feel that if the show continues the course it’s going, it could be one of the greatest superhero shows of all time, period.
