#INVINCIBLE SEASON 2 REVIEW (🚨SPOILER ALERT!):

After an earth-shattering betrayal, Mark fights to rebuild his life. In the face of apocalyptic threats, he discovers new allies and wrestles with his greatest fear - that he might become his father. I admittedly did not see the first season of Invincible until last year after many of my friends requested I give it a watch. Long story short, I watched it, and loved it. It was a refreshingly subversive take on the superhero genre that touched on familiar themes of identity, responsibility, and betrayal. To give the reader an idea of what this review will be about, I have to preface by stating that unlike a lot of the other mainstream comic book based films/shows, I have never read the Invincible comic series. So, if you are looking for me to make comparisons to the source material and how different or similar the show is, then I’d advise going to YouTube for that. I will mainly be touching on what I feel to be important plot points and moments from this season. With that said, Invincible season 2 is genuinely one of the best superhero shows or movies of the past five years, building upon the themes and story arcs from the first season while also adding new layers of dimensions to the characters. 

After being betrayed by his father Nolan, AKA Omni-Man, Mark Grayson has to grapple with the idea that he may become a killer like his father all while trying to balance his college/love life with his responsibilities as a superhero. In another dimension, we are introduced to Angstrom Levy, resistance fighter from an alternative reality who enlists the big blue twins from season 1 to help make him transfer his memories to different versions of himself. When Cecil sends Mark to confront the twins, the transfer goes awry and leaves Angstrom completely mutated. This is a storyline I did not expect to be a big deal, but it comes up in a crucial way in the second half of this season. Not having read the comics, I was genuinely shocked by the reintroduction of Nolan as leader of the bug looking Thraxans and this revelation gave him a side we hadn’t seen before. He marries a female Thraxan and has a child named Oliver, which means Mark now has a brother. The team up between Mark and Nolan to fight the Viltrumites in episode four was quite brutal and left both of them defeated, with Nolan taken prisoner. This is where Mark really starts to mature and grow as a hero. 

With the added burden of now having a brother and his superhero life getting in the way of time spent with his girlfriend Amber, Mark has to make seemingly impossible decisions. At the beginning of the season, Amber seems pretty okay with Mark’s absence and is willing to go along with it, but once she gets physically threatened in public by a powerful female Viltrumite, her perspective totally shifts. There is a very emotional scene between Amber and Mark where Amber says she doesn’t know if she can keep this relationship going. Up until that point, both Mark and Amber had conversations with Art and Eve respectively regarding the state of their relationship. Neither thought they were doing a good enough job to maintain it, and so this point of uncertainty between the two was only bound to happen. I love what they did with Donald in this season, and you can’t help but feel bad for him as it’s revealed he agreed with Cecil to pass down his consciousness to new android bodies each time he “dies” trying to save people. 

After persuading Cecil, Mark’s mother Debbie starts caring for Oliver, who grows at an abnormal rate. All of this comes to a head when the now mutated Angstrom Levy holds Debbie and Oliver hostage. Mark barely even remembers Angstrom and the two get in to a vicious inter-dimensional brawl. One of the most shocking moments is when Angstrom breaks Debbie’s arm and nearly kills Oliver. This horrific moment leads to Mark carrying out an utterly beyond brutal beat down on Angstrom, unleashing all of his anger and rage on him. Mark ends up killing Angstrom and immediately starts questioning the very thing he’s been wondering all along. “Am I my father?” He thought Angstrom was strong enough to take such a beating, but Mark lost control and ultimately did what he had to do to save his mom and brother. Cecil emphasized to Mark that he isn’t a cold blooded killer and had no other choice, while Mark rebuts with “you weren’t there.” Both have valid points. What truly took me by surprise was the revelation that Eve is in love with Mark. With Mark now dropping out of college, it’s going to be interesting to see this new love triangle between him, Amber, and Eve in the next season. 

Season 2 ends with Allen the alien and Nolan in a space prison run by the evil Viltrumites. Nolan goes on a rant expressing regret for the awful things he’s done and right before we cut to black, he admits that he misses his wife, Debbie. The two haven’t seen each other since the end of season 1, so their reunion is shaping up to be a rather interesting one. I found the evil Viltrumite militants led by Clancy Brown’s General Kregg to be extremely intimidating villains and I’m intrigued to see more of them in the third season. Very impressive voice work from Steven Yeun, JK Simmons, Sandra Oh, Zazie Beetz, Walton Goggins, Gillian Jacobs, and Jason Mantzoukas who is hilarious as Rex Splode. There is plenty more I can talk about like just how great the writing is from Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley or how awesome the song choices are, but I’d be yapping for hours on end. Overall, Invincible’s second season is absolutely fantastic. Adding complexity and introspection to Mark’s character development/dynamic with others along with throwing in a few unexpected curveballs and twists, this second season raises the stakes while never losing sight of its relatable human drama and emotions.