Invincible was one of Amazon Prime’s biggest surprises. The Robert Kirkman comics series has plenty of fans but nobody expected Invincible would become one of the best superhero shows anywhere on telly.
Season one was a tour-de-force, with eye-popping animation that riffed off classic Saturday morning cartoons alongside a sadistic touch, great character work and almost immaculate pacing.
There were two focuses for the first series: Mark’s transformation into Invincible, and the discovery that his father, Omni-Man, happens to be an alien mass murderer. Throughout the season, we navigate Mark’s unsuccessful attempts to balance his human and superhuman responsibilities, building up to the fascinating dynamic shift where Mark discovers the truth about his father and becomes his nemesis.
Perhaps the reason why it worked was because it felt so fresh. It offered something completely new to an oversaturated genre whilst appealing to superhero fans by profiting on well-worn tropes. It helped that, despite the fantastical edge, the show felt wholly real and you could truly associate with these two-dimensional people.
Season two is more of the same. Since it follows the comic pretty strictly, Kirkman’s work on the comics may be more to blame than his work on the show. Not that the season is irredeemable – far from it, as the show is still littered with plenty of moments of genius – yet it feels like more of a chore to sit through because the show feels less daring and challenging than it was at its inception.
The main priorities include developing Mark’s arc and his need to step up to fill his father’s shoes. We return to the comparison between the conventional imposter syndrome and Mark’s struggle to belong as Invincible. He fails to keep up his relationship with Amber, learns that he has failed all his classes at college, and his mother is struggling in his absence. His life is an absolute disaster, yet his many distractions often make him forget that.
Mark is far from the only one who struggles to fit into his own body and role – a message about belonging that feels interwoven into the show’s fabric. The eclectic superhuman gang, the Guardians of the Globe, are back, as Monster Girl furthers her relationship with Rudy/Robot, Rexsplode is left to reflect on his ego-driven flaws, and and Eve must fix her broken ties with her parents.
All the other familiar characters are back, often retreading their storylines from the first season, either as heroes or villains. Donald and Cecil are drawn into conflict, William’s boyfriend fears he might just be experimented on again, and the Mauler twins are still debating which one is the original and which is the clone.
The first moments of the series open up with a fascinating premise: Invincible has gone rogue and is working with his father to destroy the world on behalf of the Viltrum Empire. We learn as the season progresses that this is merely a red herring, and just a flash to an alternative universe which is never properly revisited. Perhaps it will be at some point, but the multiverse premise is explored too little to be as efficient a framing device as the father versus son concept in season one.
Omni Man does make appearances, though his role (and indeed that of Seth Rogen’s Allen the Alien) just feels like set-up for the next season. The Viltrumites play an equally underwhelming part, with characters like Kregg and Anissa showcasing their shocking dominance in one or two scenes before petering away. The Invincible writers are understandably playing the long game – with at least three more seasons on the way – but sometimes that feels like it sacrifices what is happening currently.
One of these characters would have been more suitable a threat for the finale than Angstrom Levy. Sure, it sets Mark’s arc on an interesting journey for seasons ahead. Again, though, this is prioritising the future over the present. Whereas Nolan was difficult not to care about or be afraid of, Levy pops in one episode, then pops out, then returns at a point that everybody has forgotten about him. He feels so separate to Mark and the narrative the show was building, compared to characters like Kregg and Anissa.
Criticising Invincible feels like a cheek, considering this remains one of the most watchable and enjoyable superhero dramas on telly, with brilliant, well-paced scripts and snappy dialogue that understands the genre it forms a part of and often criticises. The animation is also absolutely divine, striking the balance between modern graphic novel and classic cartoon.
Robert Kirkman has been hyping series three up as the beginning of some new stories, and some absolutely crazy things are set to come for Mark and those around him. So, hopes are still up for something great to come out of one of TV’s most innovative concoctions.
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