After a two-and-a-half year wait for Invincible Season 2, which much to the annoyance of many, was split into two parts, Season 3 has arrived, a little less than a year after the sophomore season’s bloody yet satisfying finale. It’s nice, especially as the shorter gap helps keep the show’s emotional stakes steady and ready to go. However, Season 3 feels like a much different installment than the previous two. For instance, there isn’t a concrete “big bad” on par with Omni-Man in Season 1 and Angstrom Levy in Season 2. Instead, this third season feels a lot closer to Invincible’s version of Captain America: Civil War, a comparison you’ll likely agree with very early on.
What Is ‘Invincible’ Season 3 About?

Season 3 begins three months after the Season 2 finale, which saw Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) kill Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) in an act of sheer rage. GDA Director Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins) has been observing Mark, noticing his strength has been increasing to even greater levels than before. Yet Mark, still wracked with guilt over killing Levy and dealing with his break-up from Amber (Zazie Beetz), just wants to take a moment to breathe and to tell Eve (Gillian Jacobs) how he really feels about her. Especially when it comes to helping his mother Debbie (Sandra Oh) raise his Thraxan half-brother Oliver (Christian Convery), who, due to his race’s rapid aging, already looks and acts like a 10-year-old boy.
Oliver is incredibly eager to join his brother in being a superhero, but Mark and Debbie aren’t so sure, wanting to give him as normal of a childhood — or as close to normal — as a purple-skinned boy who ages this fast can possibly have. Tensions begin to rise to an even greater extreme, as Debbie and Mark begin to lose even more trust in Cecil, especially since he’s monitoring their family as Oliver continues to grow up. Meanwhile, in the Viltrumite prison, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) and Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen) have finally come to a sort of truce, as the latter attempts to convince the former to join him in the war against the Viltrumites. The Guardians of the Globe also have some drama of their own, as Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas) and Shrinking Rae (Grey DeLisle) are still coming to terms with their near-death experiences while facing off against the Lizard League. Rex, in particular, is working to improve himself and grow past his immature and boisterous personality.
‘Invincible’ Season 3 Is Even More Dramatic and Grounded

The first six episodes of Invincible Season 3 provided for review give the series even more of a dramatic feel than ever before. Gone are the installments where Mark is sent on goofy one-off missions; instead, nearly every single subplot has dramatic weight. While Omni-Man and Allen’s arcs aren’t as prevalent in these episodes, almost everything down on Earth directly connects to the events of Season 1. There are echoes of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in how Mark further deals with his guilt, attempting to explain to Oliver that while their father is trying to redeem himself, the damage he’s done is beyond repair. (Although, unlike the aforementioned DC Comics film, which felt rushed in navigating many of its themes involving superheroes destroying cities, Invincible gives its characters ample time to reflect on past actions.)

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New ‘Invincible’ Season 3 Teaser Gives a Whole New Meaning To “Sneak Peek”

Season 3 is just one week away.

Invincible has always embraced its roots as a superhero show, but that doesn’t stop it from making its mighty characters feel emotionally vulnerable and relatable to the audience. Season 3 cements that even further, digging into the backstories of characters such as Cecil and Rex, turning them both into some of the series’ most compelling presences. Mark and Eve’s romance is explored even further and, without giving anything away, becomes one of the series’ sweetest dynamics. Oliver’s presence also injects a new flavor into the story, especially since he was still an infant when we last saw him. Now that he’s a preteen, it allows Mark to become more of a mentor figure. Much of Mark’s emotional journey in Season 3 deals with the fact that he’s now an adult, far from the naive and inexperienced teen we met in Season 1. This Mark is much more jaded, represented through his new dark super suit — which, unfortunately, doesn’t look as visually appealing as his classic yellow-and-blue one.
‘Invincible’ Season 3 Lacks a Major Villain

Image via Prime Video

The past two seasons of Invincible were stacked with plenty of villains, from the Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson) to the Lizard League, the Sequids, and Anissa (Shantel VanSanten), and that’s only naming a few. Yet those seasons always made sure to remind audiences who the real over-arching big bad was. Even if Angstrom Levy wasn’t always at the forefront of Season 2, you still felt that the danger he presented was building. However, the first six episodes of Season 3 don’t really boast a big bad who poses a looming threat.
As you can likely tell from the season’s marketing, Cecil does serve as an opposing force to Mark in the latest chapter, and it results in a compelling new back-and-forth between the two, but we know he’s not truly a “bad” guy. Cecil’s methods are morally questionable, but he still wants to protect humanity. The closest thing that Invincible Season 3 has to a true main villain is Powerplex (Aaron Paul), whose arrival doesn’t even come until the sixth episode. He’s a fascinating antagonist in his own right, but Powerplex’s presence could have been felt even more if he had been introduced earlier in the season.
Regardless, Invincible Season 3 proves to be another super-strong installment of Prime Video’s stellar animated series. Co-showrunners Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa are consistently able to find new ways to shock the audience while keeping them drawn into Mark’s story. Season 3 could have easily just felt like filler in the lead-up to the looming war against the Viltrumites, yet it never does; instead, it remains one of the greatest superhero sagas ever to hit the small screen.
The first three episodes of Invincible Season 3 premiere on Prime Video on Thursday, February 6.

Invincible

With effective emotional beats and a more grounded approach, Invincible Season 3 is another rock-solid chapter in Prime Video’s animated superhero series.

Release Date

March 26, 2021

Network

Amazon Prime Video

Showrunner

Simon Racioppa

Franchise(s)

Invincible

Pros & Cons

The series continues to surprise in terms of fleshing out supporting characters, such as Rex and Cecil.
Oliver is a fantastic new addition to the series and allows Mark to become a mentor figure.
The series still manages to make its super-powered characters deeply human and relatable.

The lack of an overarching villain is definitiely felt.