Season Review: Invincible Season One (First Three Episodes)

Overview:

Mark Grayson, a typical teenager, finds his life irrevocably changed after his latent superpowers kick in and he finds himself following in the footsteps of his father, the world’s most powerful superhero. Mark’s new powers unite him and his father in a way that he’s always longed for and Mark’s life becomes full of new superpowered presences. Mark couldn’t be more excited about this new path in life, but he quickly learns that it won’t be easy and is full of dangers, some of which are even closer than Mark realizes. 

Our Take:

Superheroes have turned into the new normal and they’ve completely taken over every form of entertainment with a level of fatigue appropriately setting in. Amazon Prime has already explored this territory in subversive ways with The Tick and The Boys, but there are also nearly two dozen superhero shows that are currently airing on television. One would think that all of these programs conceivably cover every possible narrative from out of the genre, yet there’s still no end in sight with the 2021-2022 television season set to introduce even more new superheroes to the world. At this point, superhero stories aren’t just incredibly overdone, but even the more unconventional and ambitious angles towards these narratives have been explored for nearly a decade now. 

The audience is incredibly savvy towards this brand of content, just like comic-reading audiences were back when Robert Kirkman initially penned the Invincible comic series back in 2003. Invincible is big, bold, and bloody, but the question that people will naturally ask themselves before committing to this new superhero show is if it’s actually doing anything original and if it’s worth the investment, especially from people who feel like they’re done with superheroes. Invincible immediately stands out from the rest of the superhero fodder because of the fact that it’s an hour-long animated drama (the only example of this that I can think of), but also because it genuinely attempts to deconstruct the egos, entitlement, and vulnerability of superheroes during a time when they’ve never held more power.

At times Mark Grayson’s (Steven Yeun) growth as a superhero feels very familiar, but Invincible leans into these archetypes and expectations so it can then do something new with it. Moments like when Mark flies for the first time, when he acquires a costume, or when he begins to experiment with his powers could be pulled from any other superhero origin story. These scenes are important, but what really resonates in Invincible is Mark’s unhealthy obsession to please his father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). This is a superhero show, but its interests lie in father and sons and the damage that can be done between the unhealthy expectations and boundaries that exist in this dynamic. A separate father-son narrative runs through the background of these episodes that depicts a healthy relationship between a “normal” father and son. It’s meant for comedic relief, but it also highlights the truly warped nature of how Mark and his father function.

The real tension in the series comes from the idea that Omni-Man might not be completely forthright with his son and that Mark’s journey to emulate his father is actually turning him into more of a villain than a hero. There’s something genuinely frightening about a reckless teenager that doesn’t just have superpowers, but also an enabling God complex. It’s this layered material that’s the most rewarding aspect to the start of Invincible, even though the action sequences and demonstrations of superpowers are still hyperbolized doses of chaos.

On that note, the animation works and actually conjures a kind of “Saturday morning cartoon” aesthetic from the early 2000s that feels nostalgic and appropriate for Invincible. It certainly doesn’t push any boundaries when it comes to its visuals, but it’s a consistent style that audiences have already internalized to be associated with this kind of content to some degree. The fact that it’s an hour-long program also makes it easier to justify this look, whereas something with higher production values might struggle to remain consistent in a show of this length. There are still some brief moments that resort to CG for busier battles that do look a little clunkier and thankfully aren’t that prevalent.

Invincible’s unassuming animation style may come across as tame in some respects, but this look only makes the series’ radical injection of ultra-violence hit even harder. This is an extremely violent depiction of superhero powers at their most gruesome. Audiences have heralded Amazon’s The Boys for its exaggerated carnage (and there will be inevitable comparisons between Omni-Man and Homelander), but Invincible takes advantage of its animated medium and lets the viscera fly in a manner that’s actually disturbing. Iconic superhero surrogates are executed in the grisliest manners imaginable. In something less eloquent this violence would feel manipulative or unearned, but Invincible understands how it turns up the mayhem for dramatic effect or to punctuate a moment of sincerity. Invincible can be both patient and rushed in different ways, but it seeds Omni-Man’s aggression at the perfect point so that everything that follows is steeped in an uneasy dread.

Invincible’s first three installments get a lot accomplished in the sense that they build Mark’s origin story as well as already have him a part of a prestigious superhero team. There’s enough that’s juggled between this large cast and the many different relationships that these episodes feel like more than just a prelude to the story, which is important since they cover just over a third of this first season. It’s impressive that in this short span of time it’s already easy to care about Mark and be invested in the relationships that he’s formed with Amber (Zazie Beetz) and fellow teenage superhero Samantha “Atom Eve” Wilkins (Gillian Jacobs). He quickly moves from an outcast to someone with a special community of support and understanding and this transition feels natural. The hour-long length for episodes also doesn’t feel awkward and these aren’t just two stories that are stitched together. Invincible figures out how to properly pace these longer episodes without them feeling indulgent. 

Part of the reason that Mark’s juggling of mundane responsibilities with a litany of new superhero woes is so entertaining is because of the strong work that Steven Yeun and the rest of the A-list cast brings to these characters. Yeun and Simmons do a lot of the heavy lifting, but other phenomenal performers like Jason Mantzoukas, Zachary Quinto, Walton Goggins, and Seth Rogen are all clearly having such fun in their roles. Everyone feels very appropriately cast and this isn’t a case where big names are just shamelessly pulled together for something that they’re ultimately ambivalent towards. It’s also a small detail, but the sound design in the series is really fantastic. It helps amplify the battles and makes them truly feel grander. 

The first three episodes of Invincible are an excellent start to the series that establishes its universe, characters, and begins to peel back the layers on the larger mystery that surrounds the first season. There’s a lot to digest in Invincible, yet these early episodes offer a taste of the many sensibilities that make up this series and provide a strong indication of the type of series that this is and where future storylines might be headed. It’s a smart decision to release these three episodes all at once so the audience can acclimate to this world before the stakes escalate to even crazier places. Invincible builds a strong foundation with these introductory installments that really get the series rolling and should have audiences hooked and eager for more mayhem as the rest of this season drops on a weekly basis. Invincible is proof that there is in fact still more to say in the superhero genre and more ways to use its archetypes to do something different.