After eight episodes, Invincible season three is finally in the books. Following the Prime Video show’s explosive season finale, fans are left wondering if it will continue to meet the lofty expectations of Robert Kirkman‘s comic book, should the series continue adapting it in its entirety for another five or six seasons. While we’re still a ways away from having to brace ourselves alongside Mark Grayson for the Viltrumite war looming over the horizon, let’s dive into what we liked and didn’t like about season three of Invincible.
Liked: The un-asshole-ification of Rex Splode
It took a lot of talent on the part of the Invincible writers and actor Jason Mantzoukas to transform Rex Splode from the show’s quintessential braggadocious superhero douchebag to one of its most lovable characters. And somehow, the show succeeded in making him a chill guy. Consider this: Rex went from being a dude who cheated on Atom Eve and openly insulted everyone on his team like a frat boy, to a considerate individual who enjoys reading interior design magazines and helping his friends without expecting anything in return. All this remarkable character development took was a near-death experience with the Lizard League.
Naturally, the show weaponized the emancipation of Rex from his asshole beginnings, his captaining of Mark and Samantha’s relationship, and his budding relationship with Shrinking Rae as leverage to violently wave his death flag. While we hated to see him go, he went out like a badass.
Liked: How the story wrestled with the past
When a cataclysmic event happens in most comic-book media, the typical move is to mention it in passing as a loose through line for a new villain’s motivation to do evil. Invincible‘s greatest strength lies in its ability to focus on how its leading and supporting characters cope with the aftermath of past events, and season three is no different. Whether it is Omni-Man’s destruction of Chicago, the moral dilemmas of reformed villains, the implications of a failed multiverse, or the festering feelings of mistrust and inadequacy among superheroes, the show dedicates much of its runtime to having its characters meditate these issues and how they can make the world a better place. Their butting heads over how to fix the world—be it Powerplex’s revenge tour against Mark, Cecil allying with villains, or Mark’s moral grandstanding—are the dramatic qualities that make Invincible stand out as a captivating superhero show.
Liked: Leaving comic book stuff on the cutting room floor
Another of Invincible‘s best qualities is its writers’ room’s discretion regarding what gets adapted into the show from the comics, what gets left behind, and what gets expanded upon to make the series less mean-spirited and rough to experience like its progenitor. Last season saw Debby Grayson and Samantha Eve get more shine as characters with more going on, rather than having their agency tied to whatever was orbiting around Mark’s litany of issues. This season sees the guardian of the globe’s no-nonsense authoritarian, Celil, get more texture to his character beyond his rough demeanor. The show also did a superb job adapting Oliver’s angst. Instead of being an argumentative, almost antagonistic brat whose emotional range swings from a bundle of joy to an apathetic, egomaniacal murderer, Oliver’s character is enhanced by exploring the nuance between those extremes. No narrative stone was left unturned, making Invincible‘s cast full of dynamic, fallible, and well-rounded characters.
Liked: Conquest’s arrival
If one were to rank the best fights in Invincible before the release of season three, the top three choices would undoubtedly be Omni-Man vs. the Guardians of the Globe, Omni-Man vs. Invincible, and Atom Eve’s battle against her siblings in her special episode. With those fights in the hopper, Invincible had a high bar to meet with Mark’s first real clash with the warmongering Viltrumite, Conquest. Mark and Conquest’s episode-long fight in the season finale cleared said bar. Their fight coalesced beautifully with the show’s flourishing anime techniques, like impact frames to elevate the gravitas of its animation quality and raise the stakes for Invincible‘s impending Viltrumite war. Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s vocal performance as Conquest is picture-perfect. Although Morgan leads with a powerful embodiment of Conquest’s intimidating presence, his chilling delivery of the Viltrumite’s inner turmoil to Mark, knowing he won’t live to tell the tale, is easily the best moment of the entire season. As a cherry on top, their fight spun the block for Walking Dead fans, providing them with a cathartic rematch between Yeun and Morgan.
Didn’t like: The violence losing a bit of its oomph
From the start, Invincible made a strong impact with its brutal superpowered violence. Season one focused its ultraviolence on villains and Viltrumites at key moments in the story, but the following seasons have ramped up the ultraviolence at every turn. Season three sees Invincible at an impasse, with every episode so oversaturated with gruesome imagery that it’s lost its emotional impact. Every combative encounter in Invincible feels like everyone is made out of paper mache. The slightest impact leaves their bodies looking like spent firecrackers. Watching Invincible‘s violence from heroes and villains, often back-to-back in a single episode, can get pretty tiresome. The series is in a bit of a bind because raising the stakes of its story facilitates an escalation in the brutality of its action. Hopefully, Skybound Animation will develop an even hand with how it dishes out Invincible‘s violence in the coming seasons.
Didn’t like: Atom Eve becoming the Hal Jordan of Invincible
Watching Atom Eve throw down in Invincible season three is liable to make any fan look back at her special and sigh. Of the entire cast, Atom Eve’s power to manipulate matter makes her one of the show’s most overpowered heroes. We saw that put to the test when she faced off against her siblings on the highway at the tender age of 12. She was weaving through oncoming traffic, creating and dismantling on-ramps, flailing maces and lasers, and assembling her power armor. In short, she was doing everything outside of putting Avatar The Last Airbender‘s Toph Beifong on notice with her brand of earth bending. Mind you, this was before she broke her mental block, which prevented her from using her powers to the fullest extent. While Eve got a power boost at the tail end of the season, her combat prowess regressed to her throwing out perfunctory pink walls and orbs at her enemies. Atom Eve’s powerset hinges on the imagination of the folks animating her, and Invincible season three let her down big time.
All eight episodes of Invincible season three are streaming on Prime Video.
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