“Invincible” Season Two Rejuvenates Genre Amongst “Superhero Fatigue”

Jeff Igbokwe

The second season of “Invincible” is the highly anticipated continuation of Amazon Prime’s popular animated superhero show. Based on the long-running comic book series created in 2003 by Robert Kirkman, the show’s second season drives viewers deeper into the convoluted and turbulent life of Mark Grayson, aka Invincible (Steven Yeun), as he learns to cope with the emotional and physical wounds he sustained after his confrontation with his supervillain father, Omni Man (J.K. Simmons) at the end of the first season. 

The first four episodes of the sophomore season were released in November of last year, taking place a month after Mark’s battle with Omni Man. While there is no time wasted drawing viewers back in with the heart-pounding action that defines the series, if I were to pick anything to gripe about, it may be the fact that despite the amazing job the second season does at continuing the story of Mark Grayson (as well as the stories of the various supporting cast members), at times it just feels slightly crowded. As well as the stories of Mark, his mother Debbie (Sandra Oh), and Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs), there were many threats to the world set up at the end of the previous season, arcs we see continue into season 2.  The Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson) were gearing up to escape prison, Doc Seismic (Chris Diamantopoulos) began breeding large, fanged creatures beneath a volcano, a race of pink squid like aliens had taken over mars and were headed to earth, and Omni mad had fled Earth (to name a few events). 

 On top of all the plot points that had been previously established, more issues arrive, as the multiverse crossing Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) is introduced as Invincible’s new arch-enemy, all while Mark is attempting to have some semblance of a social life outside his planet-saving duties, leaving home to start college whilst taking things to the next level with his girlfriend Amber (Zazie Beetz). 

While it is true that when making an adaptation, it is key to stay true to your source material to ensure you please longtime fans, the fact the show stays true to the comics is in fact what creates this issue. Squeezing multiple comic issues into an 8-episode season can prove to be challenging, and there is a lot going on. 

While the first part of the second season may feel slightly stagnant due to a chunk of the screen time being spent introducing characters such as Levy. They didn’t play a huge role, yet were major players in the comics. Towards the end of the last four episodes, these new characters and setups seem to have paid off, resulting in the clash with Levy in the final episode.

Omni Man was undoubtedly the star and focus of the last season, and while the writers of the show do not put the talents of J.K. Simmons to waste as the character reappears in this season, more screen time is given to supporting characters to help develop their story. We see Atom Eve struggling with the responsibilities of being a superhero, Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas) becoming overwhelmed by his insecurities, and Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen), exploring the origins of the character. Of course, it is Mark who perhaps faces the toughest challenge as the offspring of Omni Man. Will he become the man his father is?

Picking up right where it left off, “Invincible” season 2 is just as hectic and entertaining as the first season. At a time where many are suffering from so called ‘superhero fatigue’ thanks to Marvel and DC constantly cramming shows and movies down our throats, “Invincible” offers a satire of the good versus evil stories we’ve had forced upon us, all while providing us with an action packed (slightly graphic) adventure of a teen who feels the weight of the world upon his shoulders.