Note: the following only covers episodes 1-4 of season two of Invincible. Spoilers for season one are below, but the review is spoiler-free for the second season. Special thank you to Amazon and Braden for allowing me the chance to review this early.
Before the show was even announced, a best friend of mine (who was also the best man at my wedding a couple weeks ago) was raving to me all about Invincible. He figured out pretty quickly what kind of movies/shows/comics I was into and was confident that I would absolutely love it. I snoozed on reading it but the announcement of the show caught my eye, and then I was absolutely hooked by the end of episode one. The first season of Invincible was one of the better season premieres I've seen in recent memory. Playing at first like an old familiar Saturday morning cartoon with familiar superhero tropes but with some more mature and violent turns, Invincible was a fun, dark, and emotional show that instantly made me buy and read the rest of the comics as soon as the first season ended.
If you're someone who's still debating on even starting the show still, I recommend watching the first episode in its entirety (episodes almost always have after credits scenes). You'll know right after that if this is your thing or not. And while the animation is fun and colorful, it is absolutely not for children. But the thing about Invincible is while the shocking violence and surprises are interesting, the show doesn't rely on that to keep you going. Rather it is more about the characters and world. This is a superhero show that, while sometimes will be winking at the audience, isn't embarassed about being a superhero show through and through. It embraces its large world, the serious and the wacky parts of it.
I'm happy to say that the show continues its excellence so far in season 2. I know it's been a long time since we went back to the world of Invincible but rest assured, it has been worth the wait.
*SPOILER ALERT FOR SEASON ONE*
Invincible season 2 picks up a month after the events of the first season, which ended with Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson (JK Simmons) revealing his true intentions to his son Mark Grayson/Invincible (Steven Yeun), and savagely beating him within an inch of his life while effortlessly decimating Chicago. Mark is still grappling with the traumatizing event while still trying to become a superhero on his own while his mom Debbie (Sandra Oh) also grapples with the discovery and disappearance of Nolan, both of them having an emotionally hard time.
The big strengths of the last season only continue here. The cast is all around terrific. It was already stacked last season, but this time they go even bigger, and each cast member brings their A game. A special shout out goes to Grey Delisle, Clancy Brown, Ross Marquand, and more for lending their voices to multiple characters in the show. The show is getting bigger yet never buckles under the weight of all the expanding (although some characters get a little short sighted). The animation also seems to have gotten a bit of an upgrade here, and it looks excellent, ripped straight out of the pages of the source material. Speaking of which, the show also continues adding its own spins on the source material, which makes it more fun to watch. It makes it feel like even though I know the entire story, I don't fully know where the show is going, and its spins can stir some debate between fans of the comics and the show, which is always welcome.
But despite all that, and the world building and expanding, it is still largely Mark Grayson's story, and Steven Yeun manages to capture the many emotions Mark is carrying with him. The first season was very much showing him still in the very early stages of becoming a superhero, and that still continues here (yeah, he still gets his ass kicked a lot, but it makes the rare moments when he does win a fight all the more emotionally satisfying). But now there is guilt, pain, fear of becoming his father that he has to deal with now, and Yeun nails all this beautifully. But he also manages to capture the funny awkwardness of a teenage superhero discovering more and more foreign species (seriously when Mark meets a new species for the first time it's some of the best work Yeun does here). Sandra Oh also has more to chew on here, with much of the season covering her complex emotions of taking care of Mark while also dealing with her own anger and guilt towards Nolan. You feel for her every time and just want a win, and that's largely thanks to Oh's performance.
The rest of the season focuses largely on a couple other returning characters, namely Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) and Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen). Eve is going through a different crisis of her own, one that I don't want to spoil but largely continues her identity crisis we glimpsed in season one. Allen the Alien has some more stuff to explore, one I also dare won't spoil here, but it makes for some of the shows biggest surprises (and laughs).
There is also the character of Angstrom Levy, a newcomer with the ability to travel to different dimensions. The early episodes have a pretty decent focus on here, but you feel his story is only just getting started. I really don't want to say much, but I wasn't the biggest fan of his new origin compared to the comics. Either way it's a small gripe, and more importantly I'm excited to see how his story plays out (for those who haven't read the comics...oh man, you're not ready). It doesn't hurt that Sterling K Brown is already awesome in the role before he has even more stuff to chew on.
I'd love to talk more and more about this show, the brutality, the new worlds we're introduced to, the impending doom of the Viltrumites. But like last season, it's better to experience this on your own. My biggest compliment is I cannot wait for fans to see what's in store here, and it is going to be absolutely painful to have to wait for the remainder of Invincible.