Invincible Season 1 Review: A Superhero Story with a Twist

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Invincible may look like a generic superhero show. But don’t be fooled because under this generic look there is a mature, well-written and damn interesting show.

Before one watches Invincible, do know that this show is not meant for kids. It is an adult animated show based on the Image Comics series written by Robert Kirkman of “The Walking Dead” fame. So bear this in mind before you start watching the show.

I personally have never read the original comics and watched the show completely blind and I would recommend going through it without being spoiled.

The Plot

Invincible takes place in a world of superheroes with many analogues to many famous superheroes. We start with meeting the “Guardians of the Globe” who are clearly this universe’s version of the Justice League. After which we catch up with our protagonist, Mark Grayson. He seems like a normal teenager who is just getting through high school.

This is except for the fact that his father Nolan is Omni-man, the most powerful superhero on Earth. Omni-man is more or less like Superman and is a Viltrumite who comes from an alien planet. But unlike Superman, he arrives on Earth when he is an adult. Mark aspires to be like his dad.

The show mainly follows Mark after he gets his superpowers after his seventeenth birthday. And he becomes the titular superhero Invincible. His dad takes him in to train him. Through all this Mark realises that being a superhero is not as easy as it seems to be.

The show has very strong supporting characters. With Debbie Mark’s mom as we see her essentially handling having an invulnerable husband and son among other things. Cecil, the director of the Global Defence Agency who is part of the Government and is the person who handles all these superheroes. Atom Eve, who is a kinda co-working superhero to Mark. This is just to state a few.

This is all I can state about the plot without spoiling the show. As mentioned, I would recommend watching the show blind and for people who don’t care let’s get into the show.

Animation and Voice acting

Before I get into spoilers I want to talk about the animation. It starts off a bit generic but as the episode progresses it develops into something of its own style and I enjoyed that.

And this show and its animation is supported by a stellar cast of voice actors. Here is just the main cast:

These are just mentioning a few as there are many guest roles with Mahershala Ali, Ezra Miller, Seth Rogen among many more. As mentioned, the voice acting is almost pitch-perfect in any given scene and it helps elevate an already good show.

Spoiler Alert for the most part

If I still have not convinced you to watch the show, I am going to spoil most things about the main plot but not the resolutions as I think the show deserves to be seen.

In the first episode, we find out that Nolan is not all good as he seems to be. As he brutally murders the “Guardians of the Globe”. This leaves Cecil trying to figure out who did it. In the further episodes, it is revealed that Nolan is ruthless in fights. Debbie also gets her own doubts about Nolan and his involvement with the Guardians.

While all of this going on Mark is ever so clueless as he desperately struggles to be a superhero. Mark often loses and gets beat up as he is unable to handle the fighting. Mark is also trying hard to have a balanced love life with Amber, a schoolmate, but is often unable to due to him being a superhero.

The Finale

These stories collide in the final two episodes where Mark and Nolan clash as Nolan reveals that he was sent to infiltrate Earth under the guise of being a superhero. At first, he says to Mark that Viltrumites are sent to planets to help and develop them but here it is revealed that it’s all a guise to invade them.

The finale is Mark desperately trying to convince Nolan not to fight. While Nolan tries to show Mark how weak and pathetic humans are as he kills thousands of them and on how they are a superior race.

All this is not even discussing the other plots of the new “Guardians of the Globe” headed by a Robotic superhero named Robot. Atom Eve struggling with being a superhero and many other plotlines which are too many to cover at once.

As stated, the show has many plot lines which handle all these moving plot points really well and it perfectly transitions into each one of them.

My Thoughts

Invincible is a really good show. And it is even deconstructing all the superhero tropes, it is not beating down on them like another Amazon prime superhero show, The Boys, or the upcoming Deadpool 3. I love The Boys and Deadpool as they poke fun at the superhero tropes a lot. But it is refreshing to see the deconstruction of the genre from a different perspective where it is sincere rather than anarchic like the mentioned media. The show actually does follow these tropes while commenting on them and managing to pull off those tropes perfectly.

Also, it clearly feels like season 1 of a long story. The season manages to tell a compelling story on its own but this season is mainly setting up the world of Invincible for the future. And I am happy and excited that Amazon renewed the series for a second and third season.

Invincible is a good and earnest show bordering on Greatness. It is bloody and extreme and not for the fainthearted. But if you love superhero shows and movies and want to see something familiar yet unique then do give Invincible a try.

Srinivas
Latest posts by Srinivas (see all)
9/10

Summary

Invincible may look like a generic superhero show, but don’t be fooled by that facade because it’s truly mature, well-written, and damn interesting.

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