To me, a new season of “Invincible” feels like a birthday from my younger years. The characters grow and age — in this season we see some new faces and some old ones leave — but the level of excitement is the same. There’s a feeling of not knowing what’s beneath the wrapping of each present, but that it can only hope to live up to your imagination. Season 3 of “Invincible” is live on Amazon Prime, and upon unwrapping, turned out to be the best birthday gift I could’ve ever asked for.
Before we move forward, let’s take a brief moment to reflect and recap where this story has taken us. Mark Grayson is Invincible; The half-human, half-Viltrumite superhero tasked with defending the world. He isn’t the only one with powers, however, as people from all over the world, and beyond, have supernatural abilities.
His dad, Omni-Man, is an alien from the planet Viltrum who was tasked with conquering Earth. Mark had to fight off his own father to get him to leave the planet alone, at least for now. Season 2 gives us our first look into the multiverse-infinite alternate realities where anything and everything is possible. The multiverse introduces us to a multitude of interesting new characters and problems — most importantly Angstrom Levy. He can teleport between realities and becomes a long-running antagonist in the series. The season ends with a battle against a new Viltrumite, one who promises that Earth will never be safe until Viltrum wins.
Season 3 opens with a three-month time jump from where we left off with our characters. We learn that this time was well-spent, as Mark “Invincible” Grayson has been training under Cecil and the Global Defense Agency. This is all in an effort to prevent the inevitable: the Viltrum Empire’s return to Earth.
This idea drives a lot of the character motivation in the show, and it feels real. Major decisions have weight and impact, and there are a lot of decisions in this season. Character moments, external conflicts and more are all taken very seriously, with real consequences. Every issue is given time and space, with the ramifications having a legitimate impact on the story.
Another important theme in this season is family. Not just the family you’re born into, but the ones you choose. Relationships. Teams. Partnerships. All of these rise to the forefront of the show, and I’m all for it. The best parts of this universe are its characters, and they are front and center for the 6+ hours of content this season had to offer. Many of the new characters introduced in this run are genuinely fantastic, and some of my favorites yet. Powerplex is beautifully written, Oliver is fittingly naive and Conquest brings us some of the best scenes of the entire franchise.
This leads us into the best parts of this season. As we have previous episodes to go off of, this is more of a comparison than an original review. The biggest leap in quality here is the animation. “Invincible” had issues with animation in the past, but this season both raised the floor and shattered the proverbial ceiling. Additionally, this season introduced us to a new style of emotional scenes featuring otherwise forgettable characters. By giving these side characters real development and emotion, it makes it easier for the viewer to buy into and care about the universe outside of the Grayson family. These combine to make this run of episodes a genuine treat to watch. This season of “Invincible” gets an easy 5/5 stars, and I’d highly recommend it to any fan of superheroes, animation, or anyone looking for a new TV obsession.
