After taking a two-year hiatus between seasons, and then a four-month hiatus dividing the second season, season 2 of Prime Video’s animated superhero show “Invincible” concludes with a multiverse hopping showdown and promise of an even greater confrontation in the future. But, will the story make it to that point?
A different Prime Video superhero show, “The Boys,” takes a cynical and satirical approach to the superhero genre. “Invincible” does the same to a degree, but takes it a step further. Arts Desk writer Ethan Blume wrote about the first half of the second season, saying this entry into the superhero genre “pushes the envelope for the stories comic books can tell, but not in an edgy way.” The comic book and the show remind the audience of the dire stakes superhero stories can truly have, the true turmoil these flawed costumed heroes go through and why they still rise to the occasion.
Delays in Development
Amongst the fandom, some have lamented that the extended mid-season break may have hurt the show’s ratings and potential for a third season. In an interview with Collider, series and comic creator Robert Kirkman spoke about how COVID-19 delayed production. Kirkman described the break as artistically necessary for the audience to process the insane season 1 finale where Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson gave Invincible/Mark and the planet the beatdown of the century.
Episode 7 of season 2 has a cheeky, fourth-wall-breaking scene where Mark meets with the animator of his favorite comic book, “Seance Dog,” who explains why animation can take a while to come to fruition. He cites animating background characters, tricks to avoid animating mouths during dialogue and cutting to wide shots to avoid detailed animation all while such examples play during the scene.
Sure it’s not a knock against the show that so far has taken strides in time to continue, but it is a sign of quality that fans continue to clamor for more.
A special prequel episode was released during the hiatus that served as an origin story for Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs, younger versions voiced by Jazlyn Ione and Aria Kane). Perhaps to bridge the gap between seasons, the Invincible team could produce another special episode for the show’s many other heroes and supporting characters like Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas), The Immortal (Ross Marquand), Robot/Rudy (Zachary Quinto/Marquand), Monster Girl (Grey Griffin) or even Global Defense Agency head Cecil (Walton Goggins).
The finale is oddly paced as its focus is largely on the main conflict and only briefly concludes the story arcs for the supporting cast, hence the market for standalone episodes focusing on these characters.
‘I thought you were stronger’
The penultimate episode, “I’m Not Going Anywhere,” ends with the tense introduction of Anissa (Shantel VanSanten) threatening to kill Mark’s girlfriend Amber (Zazie Beetz). Anissa is a deadly new Viltrumite who portends the true galactic danger to come — a danger the audience got a taste of from Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson (J.K. Simmons). However in the finale, “I Thought You Were Stronger,” Invincible/Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) can’t seem to catch a break as he learns Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) has his mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh) and half-brother Oliver hostage.
Levy has good cause to want to attack Mark, as variants of himself have seen universes where Invincible and Omni-Man have teamed up to subjugate Earth. Although, the multiverse-hopping fight with Levy goes on for quite a while. Silver linings include cameos from Agent Spider (Josh Keaton), zombies (i.e. “The Walking Dead,” Kirkman’s other creation), Invincible questioning an unseen man’s choice to dress up like a bat and an apparent Fortnite reference.
Their battle ends with Mark losing control of his powers in a fit of rage and brutally putting a stop to Levy once and for all. Mark tries to rectify the shock of killing for the first time saying, “I thought you were stronger.” The ensuing emotional breakdown is some of Yeun’s best voice work as the character the hero wrestles with having crossed this line.
“It’s him just really reconciling who he is and where he’s from and how he was raised and the things that are inside of him,” said Yeun in an interview with IGN about season 2. “You are kind of touching at an unanswerable question in a way, of who we all are and what is life and what does it all kind of mean? What characters do we play in this life? And I think for someone like Mark, I think the biggest struggle is finding out new parts of himself. And life is, to me, a lot about awareness. And I think that is a hard journey, to become aware, and then not let that awareness take you down with it.”
Debbie continues to suffer an exorbitant amount despite being an objectively good person. Perhaps her steadfastness is why this version of Invincible continues to be a hero. Even though he now wonders if he has become like his father, his beatdown of Levy mirrors Omni-Man’s beatdown of himself.
As for Nolan, he prepares for his impending execution by the Viltrumites for having abandoned his mission to prepare Earth for Viltrumite conquering. In a telepathic conversation with Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen), Nolan, who once referred to his wife as a “pet,” finally admits he regrets the damage he has caused and that he does care for fragile lives despite being from an indestructible race that can live for thousands of years.
Nolan concludes the season with the monologue, “What I did on Earth, the pain and destruction I caused was immeasurable. What I did to those people, what I did to my son. I deserve death. And yet, I think I miss my wife.”
So what does season 2 leave the audience with besides a catalog of “Cage the Elephant” song recommendations? Given that it has secured a season 3 renewal that will come sooner rather than later, it’s ostensibly another great season of superhero storytelling in a sea of an oversaturated genre.
