The second season of Invincible is eight episodes long. It is a superhero animated show based upon the comic book series. Between the first and second season, there was a special titled “Invincible: Atom Eve”, which tells the origin story of Eve. It isn’t necessary to have watched that to understand this season, but it is a nice extra side story that gives you better insight to that character.
Otherwise, the season starts off confusingly at first, because last season had Mark, also known by his superhero title Invincible, fight off his father, Omni-Man, from taking over Earth. Rather, the season opens with Mark siding with Omni-Man, and the aftereffects that come from it. Once that is cleared up, the plot moves forward to the aftermath of his battle with Omni-Man, from the physical damage of Chicago city to the psychological effects left behind in Mark. You have to consider that Mark is only a teenager, about to graduate high school and head off to college.
The animation is as brightly colored and crisp as ever, which helps it contrast when things get bloody. And it does get bloody, people are killed in gory ways, with blood and guts splattering everywhere. The episodes can feel slightly episodic, especially when a villain appears, and it is more likely than not an episodic villain with little depth. Even when the big bad first shows up, it doesn’t explain too much on their powers and motivations, so it can be difficult to follow.
Often, the show can feel like a deconstruction of the superhero genre, something that The Boys also did, but less violent (though still plenty violent). Mark must deal with the consequences of being a superhero, and his mum has to deal with losing her husband… who wanted to murder millions and enslave the rest of the planet. The PTSD that they both suffer from is investigated more deeply. Then on the flipside, Mark then must worry about normal problems a teenager turning into an adult would.
Things get thrown out the window by the middle of the season when Mark finds out more about his father. Given Omni-Man left at the end of the previous season, angry, no one, not even Mark and his mother, knows what is going on in Omni-Man’s mind. Mark finds out, must deal with it, and then deal with even more issues that crop from there. We learn more about the Viltrumites, and even does battle with them. Despite all their power, the battles aren’t that spectacular, and they die in the same way a normal person would, so it can be underwhelming.
There are constant threats to Earth, not only from supervillains, but aliens and monsters. It’s commonplace and doesn’t raise an eyebrow anymore. This makes being a super even tougher and more time consuming, as Mark finds out. Its take on the superhero life severely affecting their personal relationships and personal goals is nothing new, it’s been done before, and better. The major hook really are the Viltrumites, especially when Mark is getting close to finding out their weaknesses so that they might not be as impossibly invincible as they once were.
There are plenty of shocking moments as the season goes on. It seems to go on a “anyone can die” type of mantra. Obviously, the main characters like Mark, Eve and Omni-Man cannot die, but everyone else is fair game. Even seemingly important characters that are part of Earth’s greatest superhero team can be destroyed in a fight against someone who didn’t even seem that threatening. In a way, sometimes it feels cathartic and that’s probably not the emotion that the writers were aiming for.
There are a lot of plot points introduced this season, and with some of the distractions that were present, the season of eight episodes is not enough to cover it all. Most of the major ones are sorted, but there’s still plenty to keep it going onto the third season. The arc of Mark understanding himself and what he wants to do for the future is cleared up. He still needs to find himself and have conviction, but he’s made some big steps.
Overall, the second season of Invincible is good, but there can still be a lot that can be done to help elevate it to be better. There are some amusing references to other pop culture, and it can be so obvious that you wonder if it even should be allowed. There are some times where characters are too violent or gory for little reason, or when their actions are not understandable, but there is a strong character arc that helps give the season an objective to focus on.
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