Prime Video’s Invincible put adult-oriented superhero insanity into a tight, highly entertaining package with a long-awaited start to a second season this month, so the shock of stopping at the 2023 output’s abrupt midpoint is as much a gut-punch as the show itself. With a more gruesome, heartrending grip on adult superhero fans than Logan, The Boys, and The Umbrella Academy, Invincible is too good to stop, so the streamer’s extended rollout has alternately antagonized those who need instant gratification and left the content of the series to linger in our minds for even longer than a regular show.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
‘Invincible’ Up-to-Date Plot Summary
Invincible follows a world similar to the DC universe, with a Justice League-parodying superhero force and numerous other powered people fighting against supervillains, alien invasions, and threats of international proportions. In this world lives Mark, whose father, Omni-Man, is a Superman-like hero and the most powerful of all superheroes. Mark’s powers show up later than expected, and suddenly, Omni-Man reveals himself not as a friend of Earth but part of a species bent on conquering the galaxy.
Following the events of Season 1, Mark’s battle with his father leaves him and the world shattered; he tries to continue his routine but feels too responsible for the deaths of thousands at the hands of Omni-Man. Despite his betrayal and seeming commitment to the mission of his home planet, Omni-Man feels something for what he has done as well. The series leaves off in 2023 with Invincible and Omni-Man fighting a losing battle against the Viltrumites, ending with a threat from the terrifying oppressors to conquer Earth soon or face heavy death tolls.
Constant Changes of ‘Invincible’ Season 2
While the first season of Invincible was an exciting rollout of coming-of-age for Mark while brooding over the knowledge of what Omni-Man had done, the near-constant exhilarating action and drama in the four new episodes make the most of the limited runtime. Nearly every thread of the 2021 episodes gets picked up, including deepening Mark and Amber’s relationship, more expansion into the other heroes like Atom Eve and the Guardians of the Globe, and finally seeing more development of Omni-Man. Only Titan has yet to appear after a unique focus on him in Season 1, Episode 5, but an Allen the Alien episode emotionally gripped viewers similarly in this new batch.
One of the most anticipated aspects introduced in Season 2 is the character arc of the dimension-jumping Angstrom Levy, who allows for capitalizing on a multiverse of other Invincibles with different outcomes to their lives. As such, Mark has a destiny of turning evil that he can now struggle against as Season 2 progresses, along with a complex villain with the wisdom of infinite dimensions at his fingertips. The wait for more Invincible is now more excruciating than ever.
Still from ‘Invincible’
More on the Cliffhanger Ending of Season 2’s Midpoint
As shockingly graphic and brilliant as it was, the 2021 finale episode relied more on the straightforward aspect of Omni-Man’s conquering evils and the rest of the world’s futile resistance against him. With the end of Season 2, Episode 4, that all has gone out the window, leaving an intricate stance for every main character surrounding Mark. He must save Earth while dealing with how to feel about his father’s actions, while his mother continues to feel broken by his betrayal, and Omni-Man deals with potential exile from his people.
The show has, at last, moved into a universal struggle instead of just focusing on Earth, widening the scope with the two most recent episodes while never losing sight of heartbreaking character-building. Though we know that more of Season 2 (and later, Season 3) is coming very shortly, Prime Video’s delayed second-half release gives us even more to chew on before Invincible returns.
Invincible is streaming now on Prime Video.