by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Unlike Jan’s dinner in The Office’s iconic episode, “Dinner Party,” I am willing to keep waiting for the slow cooking that is Invincible. Yes, we had to wait two and a half years for Season Two to come out. Yes, there was a four-month cliffhanger after Mark finally saw his dad. Yes, now we have no idea when Season Three will release. But this show is always well-made, interesting, funny, and full of themes that keep me coming back, and Season Two is more proof that it’s the best superhero show on television.
After finding his father, Nolan (J.K. Simmons), on a faraway planet and watching him get hauled away by other Viltrumites, Mark (Steven Yeun) has a lot on his plate. His half-brother, Oliver (Lincoln Bodin), is being raised by Mark’s mom, Debbie (Sandra Oh). Mark’s girlfriend, Amber (Zazie Beetz), feels like she is growing apart from him. Enemies like Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) loom large as they plan suffering for Mark. But even farther down the line are Viltrumites like Anissa (Shantel VanSanten), who Mark stands no chance against in a fight. But can he live up to his name again and be invincible?
Let me clearly reiterate something: This the best superhero show on television. It clears everything that Marvel or DC has put out, or other programs like The Boys, for a very simple reason: It’s relatable. Mark feels like he could be anyone who you meet on the street. He has a million things going on, and responsibilities that pull him in a million directions. Those responsibilities matter, and if he shirks them to take time to himself, he’s putting lives on the line. For being such a young character, in that he’s only been in the public conversation for three years, he’s already ingrained himself into the minds of viewers and superhero fans. It’s very impressive.
A lot of that praise is due to Yeun. He’s all at once endearing, strong, funny, and honest in his portrayal of the titular character. With all of this, one of the most impressive things is hearing the exhaustion in Yeun’s performance, as he demonstrates all of the burden’s on Invincible’s shoulders.
There are plenty of others who get shine, though. Particularly, I was impressed by Oh. She has a much deeper performance than in Season One, and she does it well. Beetz does well with more screen time, too. There’s honestly such an insane amount of talent to support Yeun that it would be hard to comprehensively talk about all of them here.
Sometimes it feels like the show has too many mouths to feed with all the amazing voice actors on the mic. Even with the big names I’ve already mentioned, I haven’t even scratched the surface of how much talent is on display. Jason Mantzoukas, Gillian Jacobs, Grey Griffin, Walton Goggins, Chris Diamantopoulos, Zachary Quinto, Clancy Brown, Ben Schwartz, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, Josh Keaton, Cliff Curtis, Calista Flockhart, Scoot McNairy, Peter Cullen — it’s an insane roster, no doubt. But it can get a little disheartening to see so many great names on an advertisement for a show, and then only have so much screen time for a lot of them. By no means is anyone bad, but it’s an expectation overload, and then a letdown of sorts when we don’t get to hear all of them as much as we’d like.
But knowing what I know about where the show is going, it is going to need that many people. The source material is so vast and detailed, that you need a million people to make it happen. This doesn’t even scratch the surface, because there are the brilliant animators, musicians, and producers who are tirelessly pulling this whole thing together. They are the ones making the show look and sound as perfect.
Is it going to take a while for us to get Season Three? I don’t know. Probably, considering the product that we’ve gotten so far, but I am willing to sit and wait patiently.
Rating: Loved It
Invincible is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video
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