Taking place a month after the events of the previous season, Mark Grayson is attempting to regain his life after being betrayed by Omni-Man, while simultaneously withstanding the repercussions of the aftermath and attempting not to end up like his father. But Mark has to deal with a new supervillain in the person of Angstrom Levy, who can create portals to other dimensions and gets even with Invincible after a botched mission.
The season was divided into halves and premiered on Amazon Prime Video Video on November 3, 2023, with the first four episodes each week until November 24, and the final four from March 14, 2024, through April 4.[1] The show was extended further for a fourth season on July 26, 2024.
On a devastated alternate Earth where Mark sided with Nolan, scientist Angstrom Levy escapes through a portal. One month after Nolan's departure, Mark continues to struggle with his father's betrayal while performing his duties as Invincible. Cecil appoints the revived Immortal to succeed Rudy as the Guardians' leader and adds a new hero called Bulletproof to their ranks. The Maulers escape prison with help from Angstrom, who tasks them with building a device capable of transferring the memories of various alternate universe variants of himself to him so he can use their collective knowledge to advance Earth's technology and save other planets. Cecil sends Mark to stop the Maulers as they begin the process, forcing Angstrom to use his multiversal powers to summon variants of the Maulers, who nearly kill Mark. Angstrom stops the transfer prematurely, causing an explosion, with one Mauler, Mark, and a mutated Angstrom surviving. Driven mad by his variants' memories of their versions of Invincible and Omni-Man, Angstrom vows revenge on Mark and escapes.
11
2
"In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to a Fish"
Ian Abando
Matt Lambert
November10,2023(2023-11-10)
While graduating, Mark defeats Doc Seismic and his Magmanites. Over the summer, tension grows between him and Debbie after she realizes he is only continuing his work as Invincible and working for Cecil to avoid Nolan's legacy. She confronts Cecil, during which she learns Donald is alive and later has a breakdown over continuous reminders of Nolan. After converting a vacant lot into a park, Eve argues with her father, believing he cannot accept that she can help with her powers. However, the park collapses due to being built on unstable ground, though no casualties were sustained. The stowaway Martian, who had taken the place of astronaut Rus Livingston, becomes inspired by original Guardian member Martian Man to become the superhero Shapesmith and join the current Guardians. After encountering and defeating Darkwing II, Mark is assigned by Cecil to appease the Atlanteans for original Guardian member Aquarus' death. Amidst a trial by combat, Mark battles a kaiju, but is injured by its roar. Nonetheless, he saves the Atlanteans from it against Cecil's orders. Angstrom travels to an alternate Earth where Mark was captured by the GDA to gain information on how to defeat his own.
12
3
"This Missive, This Machination!"
Tanner Johnson
Adria Lang
November17,2023(2023-11-17)
In flashbacks, Allen's homeworld of Unopa is attacked by the Viltrumites, leading to his people joining the Coalition to stop them and breeding him to become the strongest Unopan. In the present, Allen discusses his findings from Earth with the Coalition, explaining that Mark is unaffiliated with Viltrum and Nolan left Earth. Despite several members' skepticism, Coalition leader Thaedus supports Allen, believing they possess an advantage, before secretly tasking him with uncovering a Viltrumite mole within their ranks. Later, Allen is attacked by three Viltrumites demanding information on Mark, Earth, and Nolan. While recovering, Thaedus secretly ends his life support. Concurrently, Mark attends college and meets a shapeshifting insectoid alien from the planet Thraxa who claims his people are in danger. Upon arriving on Thraxa, Mark is unexpectedly reunited with Nolan, who has become Thraxa's ruler. Debbie joins a support group for superhero spouses, only to be accosted by original Guardian member Green Ghost's widower, Theo, for being previously married to Omni-Man, and leaves in shame.
13
4
"It's Been a While"
Jason Zurek
Helen Leigh
November24,2023(2023-11-24)
In flashbacks, Nolan flies aimlessly through space after abandoning Earth. While contemplating suicide at a black hole, he instead saves a Thraxan ship from it and is made their ruler. In the present, Mark's lingering anger towards Nolan is worsened when he learns of Nolan's new Thraxan wife, Andressa, and their child. Understanding his son's feelings, Nolan nonetheless asks for his help in protecting Thraxa, but three Viltrumite soldiers arrive. As he takes Andressa and her son to safety, Mark learns from her that Nolan truly regrets his actions and loves him. The Graysons defeat the soldiers but are grievously wounded. Nolan is subsequently captured and taken back to Viltrum to be executed, while Kregg, a high-ranking Viltrumite general, tasks Mark with finishing Nolan's original mission of preparing Earth for their invasion, or else they will destroy it. Meanwhile, Debbie accepts that her relationship with Nolan was a lie, stops accepting his income through Cecil, and throws out his books. Elsewhere, Donald discovers evidence of his own death. Suspicious that he might not be human, he stabs himself in the forearm as a test. Initially relieved to draw red blood, he then notices that he has bent the knife's tip.
Part 2
14
5
"This Must Come as a Shock"
Haylee Herrick
Helen Leigh
March14,2024(2024-03-14)
Following the Viltrumites' attack, Mark spends two months helping Thraxa rebuild before returning to Earth with his brother. At the GDA, Donald confronts Cecil about his body. Cecil reveals he successfully recovered Donald's brain and placed it in a robotic endoskeleton. The Guardians discover a Martian ship bound for Earth, prompting Shapesmith to reveal his identity and the impending Sequid invasion. After Eve recommits to heroism with Rex's encouragement, she and Mark are recruited by Cecil to join most of the Guardians in thwarting the invasion, but they are overwhelmed. Concurrently, remaining Guardian members Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, and Shrinking Rae confront the Lizard League after they capture a military base to ransom its nuclear missiles, resulting in Kate's apparent death, Rae getting devoured by Komodo Dragon, and Rex losing a hand and getting shot by King Lizard. Despite Thaedus ending his life support, Allen recovers from his injuries and has become as strong as a Viltrumite. Thaedus reveals he is a rebel Viltrumite and tasks Allen with recruiting Mark to aid the Coalition against the Viltrum Empire.
15
6
"It's Not That Simple"
Sol Choi
Vivian Lee
March21,2024(2024-03-21)
Rex survives being shot and defeats King Lizard before he and Rae are recovered and treated for their injuries. The Guardians narrowly escape the Sequids and rescue the real Rus. Debbie decides to raise Mark's half-brother and names him Oliver. Despite her suspicions of Cecil, she accepts a nanny he hired to help take care of him. Rick recovers from being a Reaniman, but remains traumatized by the ordeal. Mark and Amber's relationship becomes strained when both realize the toll that Mark's work as Invincible has taken on their lives. Eve's feelings for Mark begin to resurface. While Amber speaks to Eve, Mark talks to Rosenbaum, who reveals that Nolan previously wrote several unsuccessful sci-fi novels, which Mark learns potentially reveal Viltrumites' weaknesses. He relays the information to Allen, who tells him about Thaedus and the Coalition's stand against the Viltrum Empire. Rus returns home, but is attacked and re-possessed by a Sequid hidden inside him. A healed and imprisoned Nolan is interrogated by Kregg for his loyalty to Earth. Angstrom returns to his native Earth.
16
7
"I'm Not Going Anywhere"
Ian Abando
Simon Racioppa
March28,2024(2024-03-28)
Mark and Amber attend a comic convention, but he leaves to help Rex. After Cecil puts the Immortal on temporary leave, Rudy returns as the Guardians' leader. Donald discovers that he has died numerous times and that the original ordered the memories to be erased. Nonetheless, he later overcomes the trauma while dissuading Rick from committing suicide. While on a date, Mark is confronted by a Viltrumite named Anissa, who tries to remind him of his mission. When Mark abruptly leaves to save a cruise ship from a kaiju, Anissa joins him and effortlessly kills it, saving the passengers. Despite proving Earth's weakness, Anissa fails to convince Mark and severely beats him before ultimately sparing him and leaving to report back to Kregg. Amidst this, the Viltrumites confront a passing Allen, who feigns defeat and allows himself to be captured. After breaking up with Amber, Mark is called by Angstrom, who has taken Debbie and Oliver hostage.
Mark returns home to confront Angstrom, who sends Mark across the multiverse to weaken him. Debbie tries to convince Angstrom to let Mark go, but he refuses. She attacks Angstrom, who breaks her arm and beats her. Mark returns and, enraged by his mother's injuries, battles Angstrom across multiple dimensions before furiously pummeling him, accidentally stranding himself in a desolate dimension. Distraught by his actions, Mark is eventually found and sent home by a future incarnation of the Guardians from his own dimension. Before Mark leaves, the future Eve confesses her feelings to him. The Immortal discovers that the original Kate is alive and in hiding and reunites with her while two archaeologists uncover the tomb of Ka-Hor. At the urging of Eve's future self, Mark meets with Eve, but is unable to admit his feelings for her. Allen is sent to a Viltrumite prison where Nolan is being held, and proposes that he join the fight against them. Nolan admits guilt for his actions and that he misses his wife, Debbie.
Sterling K. Brown voices Angstrom Levy, a superhuman who possesses the ability to traverse alternate dimensions
The season introduces new characters, notably Sterling K. Brown voicing Angstrom Levy, a villain with the ability to traverse dimensions.[4]Jay Pharoah joins as Bulletproof, a superhero with invulnerability and flight capabilities, while Ben Schwartz voices Shapesmith, a Martian shapeshifter. Additional cast members include Clancy Brown as General Kregg, a high-ranking Viltrumite, and Shantel VanSanten as Anissa, a Viltrumite warrior. Seth Rogen returns as Allen the Alien, and Michael Dorn reprises his role as Battle Beast.[5]
Writing
The concept for the second season's was scripted with more focus on the emotional and psychological growth of its characters and less on the conventional superhero formula. The writers were attempting to provide the characters with real motivations and flaws so that the more fantastical elements of the show could be made realistic and believable.[6]
The series was initially developed to trace the life of Mark Grayson as he attempted to balance his dual life as a student and Earth's new superhero as his father, Omni-Man, had left. Identity, legacy, and responsibility were themes touched by the writers, particularly the fear of Mark turning out like his father and wishing to become like him. This internal conflict persisted for the duration of the season and ended in a season finale confrontation with Angstrom Levy, a villain whose warped sense of morality and tragic past led him to feel that his actions were for some greater purpose. Due to an order change, Racioppa, Lambert, Lang, and Leigh wrote the first half of the opening episode's script, with Lee, Kirkman, and Racioppa contributing significantly to the subsequent episodes.[6][7]
Angstrom Levy's introduction and the multiverse influenced the second season's plot. Racioppa explained that the multiverse was never used as a storytelling device but as a means of discovering Levy's reasons and the consequences of what he had done. He described the direction of the season as "character-driven" rather than "concept-driven," which made the science fiction keep personal and emotional stakes for the characters. Comparing parts of Mark’s journey to Peter Parker’s struggles in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films,[8] both characters wrestle with guilt, duty, and the impossibility of living normal lives while burdened with extraordinary responsibility.[9][7] The series also introduces new plot twists and fills out lesser characters, such as more emphasis on Debbie Grayson, voiced by Sandra Oh. The series keeps the overall plot and themes of the original novel but adds extra points to deepen characterization and expand its dramatic range.[10]
Filming
The production faced challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused delays and required the team to rebuild and restart the "factory" of the show.[11]
Although Invincible is computer-generated, production adheres to the protocols of practices in live-action television, including meticulous storyboarding, voice recording, and scene setting. The production team organized the adaptation to meet a balance of fidelity to Robert Kirkman's original comic book as well as changes suitable for serialized television storytelling.[10]
Character development
The season's R-rating, received some criticism from viewers, which showrunner Simon Racioppa addressed in a November 2023 interview with The Direct.[12]
We're always like, 'What are the real reactions?' or 'What really would happen in the scenario if you had these super-powered characters ... fighting someone who's not superpowered?' Like, they would explode, if [they] got hit. If Superman punched you, you would explode. That's just kind of like what would happen. So we try to proceed from there.
—Racioppa on R-rating scene.
Racioppa explained that the increased violence and gore compared to Season 1 were intentional but not gratuitous, emphasizing that character development and narrative conflict remained the primary focus. He noted that this approach allowed the action scenes to escalate naturally, with emotional stakes driving the intensity of the violence.[13]
Animation style and techniques
In the second season, the production team reduced the use of CGI, opting for more traditional hand-drawn animation methods. This shift aimed to enhance the series' visual authenticity and align it more closely with animation aesthetics. Marge Dean, Head of Animation at Skybound Entertainment, noted, "Quite a lot [of CG animation] was used in Season 1... We still use an element of CG... but, ultimately, the background is drawn into the animation."[14]
Production of Invincible uses traditional 2D animation to design characters and shoot the cinematography, building a cinematic, dramatic atmosphere throughout its superhero universe. The production team doubled the size of the first season for the second season as an attempt to include more visuals and tiered sequences.[14][15]
Audio
Sound design
The audio design of season two was handled by the Boom Box Post team under supervising sound editor Brad Meyer and re-recording mixers Jeff Shiffman and Jacob Cook and was assisted by several sound editors and foley artists. The Season 2 focused on dense immersion audio, with dense, powerful hits for action scenes and close, up-close sound for calmer scenes. To make superhero combat more substantial, the team laid down 808 kick drum and cannon-style explosions over the hits and added subtle touches like Omni-Man's cape flowing in time with his combatchoreography. Foley effects were also performed for the series, such as cloth noise, footsteps, and wet sounds to add realism to action and gore-ridden scenes.[16]
The crew also created distinctive sound effects for telepathic sequences, including a mental conversation between Omni-Man and Allen the Alien, and experimented with layered sounds for the techno-organic Viltrumite warriors by adding metal fragments with human-like characteristics to reflect their half-human origin.[16]
The second season of Invincible was released in two parts on Amazon Prime Video. The first part premiered on November 3, 2023, with subsequent episodes released weekly until November 24, 2023. The second part began on March 14, 2024, and concluded on April 4, 2024.[20]
The show experienced a mid-season hiatus,[21] a move that was not part of the original production plan. Co-showrunner Simon Racioppa confirmed that this pause was necessitated by release setbacks.[22]
Because the show was airing weekly, a strategy used to promote subscriptions to Amazon Prime Video, a delay in its initial starting date would have pushed the final four episodes into the Christmas period. Amazon sought to avoid this overlap so they could instead focus on promoting their slate of original Christmas films and shows.[23][24]
Adding a creative layer to the decision, creator Robert Kirkman revealed that the mid-season break was also deliberately planned around the holiday season. This allowed viewers time to reflect on the main plot developments and ensured the show would maintain visibility during a period saturated with many other major new releases.[25][26][27]
At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, Invincible creator Robert Kirkman announced that Amazon Prime has officially renewed series for a fourth season.[28] This announcement came shortly after the conclusion of the two-part second season in April 2024.[29] Kirkman also unveiled a new blue-and-black costume for Invincible, which is set to debut in Season 3, symbolizing a darker phase in the character's journey.[30]
Reception
Audience viewership
Viewership data for the second season increased substantially compared to its first season, with reports indicating that the season premiere attracted approximately three times the opening weekend audience of the first season.[31]
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated that 100% approval rating based on 42 reviews were positive and the average rating for the season was 8.4 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Still as bracing as a punch to the face and invigorating with its vivid worldbuilding, Invincible is practically impervious to disappointing audiences in this sterling sophomore season."[32]
Invincible season 2's second season received generally positive responses. Logan Moore of ComicBook.com notes, "Invincible continues to be one of the best and most unique superhero shows around."[33]Screen Rant's Cooper Hood described Invincible Season 2 as "worth the wait" However, he criticized the split release for creating uneven pacing and found the use of Angstrom Levy as the main antagonist in Part 1 somewhat disappointing.[34]
Leila Latif of The Guardian gave the season five out of five stars, describing it as “the best superhero show on television.” She praised its character development, writing, and animation, calling it “a triumph” for its performances, humor, and action.[35] Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. Club wrote that Season 2, Part 2 features strong action and key plot developments appealing to both new viewers and comic fans. She commended the animation and its balance between violence and character-driven storytelling, noting Mark Grayson’s continued moral struggles.[36] Charles Pulliam-Moore, of The Verge, reviewed the second season of Invincible as a thoughtful step toward a bigger universe. In his review, Pulliam-Moore discusses how the season aligns with Hollywood's current interest in multiverse narratives, while staying true to its comic book origins. He notes that the series expands its universe thoughtfully, introducing new characters and plotlines that enrich the overarching story. Pulliam-Moore also comments on the show's animation quality and its approach to balancing action with character development. Overall, he views the second season as a significant progression that sets the stage for future developments in the series.[37]
Sam Stone of Comic Book Resources gave season 9 a grade of out of 10, appreciating more emphasis on emotional character development, especially the trauma and guilt of Mark Grayson following the first season. He also mentioned its responsibility and heroism cost themes compared to Spider-Man's storyline. Stone also stated that he appreciated the animation, the voice acting, and the fuller character development, and felt that the season achieves the action and emotion in proportion.[38]
IGN's reviewed Siddhant Adlakha noted its depth of emotion and character development in the season, praising how its combination of action and introspection delivered something different. He listed dynamics among Nolan, Debbie, and Mark as one of the season's strongest points and felt that despite some unbalanced moments in the story, it worked best when trying to balance the family dynamics.[39]
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