Between the release of my Invinciblereview for season three and this piece, I have gotten back into reading superhero comics and watching my old childhood favorite superhero shows. They not only reminded me why I fell in love with this genre in the first place and how much it meant to me when I was younger, but also helped me realize that it’s not superheroes I’m fatigued by, but the bland, mediocre films and TV shows about them.
Invincible creator himself, Robert Kirkman, stated as much when asked about superhero fatigue, saying, “You can’t just be a superhero show and not have anything special about you anymore because I think the novelty has worn off. But that’s really exciting to me, because now it means that everyone is so familiar with superheroes that you can push things in interesting directions.”
This quote best sums up why I am so heavily invested in this show, because every time I finish a new season, I am left salivating for more as I impatiently wait for the next one to release. Invincible always leaves me wondering what exciting direction the story will take next, what major arcs these characters will undergo, and most importantly, what plot points set up years ago will be paid off, such as the Sequid invasion and the Viltrumite War in this latest season. It manages to pull all of this off without looking down on its genre or indulging in gritty, gratuitous, nauseating cynicism (*cough* The Boys *cough*), because at the end of the day, this show embraces the history and cultural impact of superhero comics, indulging in the tropes that make this genre exciting while also playfully subverting them.
Invincible is one of my favorite ongoing shows because it has the same nostalgic feel and tone of the animated superhero series I grew up watching, like The Spectacular Spider-Man and Justice League: Unlimited, while also symbolizing that the genre is growing up alongside me.
However, as much as I love this show, I would not be doing my job as a critic if I didn’t point out its noticeable flaws. Some of these issues have been present since the series’ inception, with the most obvious being the animation. I am by no means the first person to tell you that the animation and visual presentation of Invincible can look rough and janky, especially in non-action scenes, nor will I be the last. Everyone on the planet has already made fun of the iconic “zoomed-in JPEG of the dragon” scene, so I wouldn’t be adding anything substantive to something that is already obvious.
As easy as it is to critique and mock the animation for being nowhere near the same quality as something like Jujutsu Kaisen or Frieren, I’m personally more frustrated when the show does occasionally look visually stunning during the dramatic climaxes of the season, because it is a harsh reminder that the show could look consistently amazing, but just chooses not to. For example, the rematch between Mark and Conquest, especially during the last 10 minutes of the episode, is so excellently well-animated that I was legitimately sitting on the edge of my seat, stressed about how intense this fight is, and anxious to see how Mark will somehow walk away from this. Similarly, the impact frame that appears as Mark punches Thragg, creating this intense flash of red, black, and white, absolutely floored me. Both of these are by far the most visually memorable moments of the show, which is a shame that moments like these are sprinkled throughout a show that, for the most part, can look flat, especially when comparing the art style to that of the comic.
The animation is what it is at this point, and it clearly isn’t going to change anytime soon, especially considering new seasons of Invincible will come out yearly. That being said, I’m more than happy to accept the fact that this is how this show will always look, because where it lacks in visuals, it more than makes up for it in its writing and story, which has consistently been, by far, the best aspect of the series. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that, narrative-wise, this season has arguably been near-perfect, boasting some of the best episodes in the entire show. I already alluded to how phenomenal this entire Viltrumite War arc is, and I think a big reason this season emotionally resonated with me so much, especially the latter half, is seeing all these major plot points established as far back as season one get paid off in such a satisfying way.
We’ve known from the beginning just how much of a threat the Viltrumes have posed to the protagonists. Therefore, by the time the war between the Coalition of Planets and the Empire breaks out and we see this one invincible (cue title theme) body get consistently thrashed and pushed back throughout much of the conflict, it showcases just how much stronger the heroes have become since the start of the series. This particularly applies to Mark, who, at the beginning of the show, was memed online for losing most, if not all, of the major fights he was involved in. Yet by the time we get to the end of season four, he’s not only capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the strongest Viltrumites, but he also successfully kills Conquest by himself, a character who in the previous season almost died fighting and only managed to succeed thanks to Atom Eve.
However, it’s not just Mark’s strength that has widened, but also his perspective and morality. This is a character who starts as a pure-hearted superhero who wants nothing more than to do good and make the world a better place, but then progressively becomes more traumatized, jaded, and heartbroken as he realizes that his goal is nowhere near as easy or as binary as he expected. After struggling with the consequences of facing maniacal threats like Angstrom Levy and Conquest, Mark has to reckon with whether he needs to embrace his Viltrumite side and start killing people to save billions of people. It’s an interesting arc for the character to go through, and while it can get repetitive to see the same scene of Mark trauma-dumping on Eve while she supportively listens to him throughout the first half of the season, I appreciate that this turmoil is recognized as being so significant that it never goes away and is something Mark will always have to deal with.
The fact that Mark has these emotional and mental struggles and can nonetheless firmly maintain his morality, never relenting to the dark side as other evil Superman-type characters such as Homelander or his own father do, highlights what makes him such a fantastic protagonist. He endures everything that’s thrown at him because he sees the good in people and other heroes like himself, and that goodness seems to have rubbed off on Nolan, because his transformation is by far the most fascinating and fleshed-out arc in the show. What makes Nolan’s shift from antagonist to protagonist so well-written is that it’s something that he not only has to earn but also is incredibly difficult to achieve.
Even though we, the audience, saw Nolan take substantial steps toward this pivot to the light side in previous seasons, such as protecting the Thraxans in season two and allying with Allen in season three, these aren’t actions the characters on Earth witness. The last time Debbie, Cecil, Art, and many other characters on Earth saw Nolan was when he killed millions of people and beat his own son to a bloody pulp. Even if they had seen Nolan do these morally good acts, it’s highly unlikely they would have forgiven him, at least not right away. The show even acknowledges this in the last episode, when Nolan tells Cecil that he almost died fighting the Viltrumites. He responds with sarcastic disdain, pointing out that it doesn’t even scratch the surface of regaining his trust. The show does not make Nolan’s road to redemption easy, as exemplified by the many moments in which Nolan struts or stands around with a sad look on his face. However, the fact that he perseveres, like his son, despite everything against him, is what makes him such a well-rounded character.
This entire season is chock-full of great character moments that aren’t exclusive to Mark and Nolan, and the fact that the writing has maintained this high level of consistent quality for so long goes to show just how effective long-form storytelling can be when it’s done right. That’s not to say that every episode in this season is perfect, as there are a few moments where the show can lull or dip in quality. The most obvious example of this is with episode four, in which Mark is sent to Hell to team up with Damien Darkblood.
While I personally had fun with this episode and did not think it was nearly as bad as others made it out to be, I can understand why it received the reaction that it did. Not only is it, by far, the most comedic-heavy episode of the series (which can be especially divisive depending on your mileage), but it also grinds the story to a halt to focus on a side objective that has very little connection to the main plot, which can be especially frustrating to an audience member who is only watching the show for that reason. While I enjoyed it for what it was and for how it expands this universe, I can also recognize that it is the weakest episode of both the season and the series as a whole.
Thankfully, these minor issues are overshadowed by a plethora of amazing writing, storytelling, worldbuilding, character development, and action that have dominated this season, reminding me of why I fell in love with Invincible in the first place. In fact, I loved season four so much that I recently decided to purchase the three Invincible compendium comics because, frankly, this show isn’t being released fast enough, and I’m tired of waiting a year to see what happens next. That is when you know you’re watching something great; you love it so much that you decide to buy the source material it’s based on.
Rating: 8/10