In a pop culture world that is overrun with superheroes and villains, “Invincible” is something very, very different. While Marvel and DC dominate the field, Image Comics managed to break the mold with their own spin on the “Evil Superman” trope, creating something so much richer than its contemporaries. A series about the true moral quandaries of fighting evil. A series about balancing real life with an innate responsibility to do good. A series that truly creates a new and well-developed world of rich and complex characters. A series that is:

INVINCIBLE

Based on the 2003 best-selling indie comic book series of the same name, “Invincible” was the brainchild of “Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman, along with the help of Amazon Prime Video. Originally greenlit in 2017, the series went through multiple iterations, even dipping into a potential live-action production. The show that we know of today didn’t find proper footing until around 2020, when pedigreed actors Steven Yeun and J. K. Simmons joined the voice cast. 

“Invincible” is set in a typical world of superheroes and villains, where teenager Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), son of Omni-man (JK Simmons), discovers he has powers and must learn to become a superhero while balancing school and his own life, with dark threats looming closer than he knows.

While the premise of the show may sound very similar to many other superhero shows and movies, it stands out in two key ways: gratuitous violence and grounded characters. A key point of this show is that Invincible is a terrible superhero at first. He ends most episodes drenched in blood and clinging to life, but each of these experiences teaches him how to be a better superhero, just like everyone around him. Seeing actual growth like this is truly rare in superhero movies these days, turning “Invincible” into a uniquely grounded story. 

Grayson isn’t the only that has this maturation story, however. He is surrounded by a plethora of different heroes, villains and civilians, all trying their best to survive in a thoroughly complex world, making the show an immediate hit with fans. 

Audiences came into season 3 of “Invincible” with very little faith. Season 2 had been, by all means, a massive disappointment. Coming almost three years after the first season’s release on Prime Video, the show had amassed millions of fans during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Amazon had failed to properly capitalize on its popularity in that gap. 

When the second season was finally released in 2024, several questions were raised. A new art style had been incorporated, but there had also been a visible drop in overall animation quality. 

Many of the action scenes felt slower, and there was a dizzying amount of reused art, making the three-year-long break seem even less reasonable. To make things worse, there was a season break halfway through, which lasted almost six months, further frustrating fans. All of these compounded issues left watchers even less sure of the validity of a third season, but, thankfully, Kirkman and Prime listened to the outcry. 

Season 3 of the show begins much faster, making it clear very quickly that changes were being applied and fans were being properly understood. A large focus of this season is exploring the gray areas of being a superhero. Some of the best superhero stories have come from discussing and debating the moral quandaries of “doing the right thing.” Mark takes on the villains and problems of this season, debating if his current plan of punching bad guys and throwing them in jail really works. 

This line of questioning continues throughout each episode, helping to flesh out new characters and further develop the regular supporting cast. Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) and the Global Defense Agency especially come to a head with Mark on this debate. With both sides so stubborn, they’re unable to listen to the other, even when neither of them are right. 

Goggins’ character Stedman was a standout this season, with special episodes even dedicated to his origins, showing how he became the harsh, stoic leader of the world’s premier superhero agency, and how he developed his moral and ethical gray areas. They better flesh out him as a person and help the audience better relate to his young stoicism which slowly turns into the common cynicism he is known for. 

Another big star of the season is Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas), a surprising star to come out of the chaos this year. His character over the past 2 seasons was somewhat annoying, mainly antagonizing Invincible and Atom Eve, not being a big help in any fights or moral debates. He did, however, turn a new leaf this year, turning into a more mature and compassionate person. He goes on a one-man apology tour, showing us that this rude man is truly just a kind-hearted hero inside, making him easy to root for. 

Despite all the improvements this season, there was one apparent problem with this season: the decreasing quality of animation. While the show is fully animated, many of the slower scenes will merely have characters stay still, almost locked into place, with only their mouths moving. For many of the fights, the actions are slow, and sometimes poorly drawn. While the show did poke fun at this issue in season 2, there was no redeeming moment this year, making the drops in quality frustrating at times. 

While this problem can become annoying, the animation redeems itself in the final episode, “I Thought You’d Never Shut Up.” This episode is nonstop action, with Invincible fighting the massive threat that is Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a Viltrumite with the sole purpose of destruction. While most of the season had Mark struggling with a few villains, Conquest was an extreme challenge of a higher degree. The animation and fight choreography for this episode are amazing, with over 40 minutes of battles across the entire world, with special tag-ins from various villains and heroes. 

This season was clearly an improvement and, hopefully, will mean that the show is becoming better and better. Invincible maintains its reputation as a dark, grounded superhero show, and with more exciting things to come, the sky’s the limit.