Invincible is back on Prime Video, but it will be short-lived as the second season has been split into two parts. Part 1 contains four episodes and is released week-by-week now, while the second part will be released in 2024. The split isn’t frustrating by itself, but I will expect some complaints that this first part is too slow, as it is a much slower burn than that of the first, or the first half, of the first season. But it’s all for good reason.
The first part of Season 2 picks up a couple of weeks after the bloody events of the first season. Mark (Steven Yeun) is dealing with the aftermath of nearly being killed by his Dad, Omni-Man (J.K Simmons). He’s attempting to get back to school life, pass his grades and keep a healthy relationship with his girlfriend Amber (Zazie Beetz). On the outside, he can joke and talk with friends, but on the inside, he’s dealing with the rocky revelation that he’d wanted to be nothing more than his Dad, and now it’s his biggest fear.
At home, Mark’s mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh), is attempting to be there for Mark, but she’s struggling with her own emotions. The man she had spent 20+ years with was a monster, has now murdered thousands and said she is nothing more than a pet for him. Attempts to deal with her emotions only show a dark underside to Debbie, and as her hatred for Omni-Man grows, Debbie only gets further from getting the help she needs.
If these first four episodes sound more serious than the general tone of the first season, it’s because they are. There’s no way to dip in and out of the comedy and serious drama that the first season managed, given what the characters have been through, so I’m thankful that the jokes are barely here. Even Atom Girl/Eve (Gillian Jacob’s) deals with her own issues as she learns that her powers can’t always be a crux fix for anything and everything without a thought process.
The only character who gets little-to-no time in these first four episodes is the Teen Team. They’re thrown a few scenes as we see Robot, Monster Girl, Rex Splode and Dupli-Kate attempt to come together as a comparable team in a world post-Omni-Man and with Invincible out of action. But there’s little here for fans of any of these particular characters.
There are some surprises this season, which include the inclusion of some multi-verse. I was at first sighing at this as multi-verses have to be in anything superhero-related now. Still, it’s paced out well across the four episodes to tease stuff that’s sure to come in the second half of the season or maybe Invincible Season 3, which has already been confirmed.
Though not as much as the first half of the first season, there’s still plenty of blood and violence in a couple of the fights if that’s what you’re after in your episodes of Invincible. The mid-season finale, in particular, features more than enough bone-crunching and blood splatter to appease fans through to next year when the show will return.
(Invincible: Season 2 – Part 1 screeners provided for review)
