On the surface Invincible is just the latest show to enter the super hero content machine. Set in a DC comics type world we follow Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) the son of Omniman (JK Simmons) who is more or less the Superman of this show. Half human, his mother (Sandra Oh), he is a 17 year old waiting on the powers he inherited from his dad to kick in. Yes, that is a pretty standard set up, but this is not your run of the mill show.
For one thing the series is animated, which for a TV release this big is uncommon. Tonally this show sits somewhere between the optimistic wisecracking of the MCU and the sardonic pessimism of The Boys (also an Amazon show). You get all of the heartwarming speeches and moments about heroism and helping people, but you also have visceral action sequences with blood and guts everywhere. There’s also a scene where a character is found cheating in a foursome involving two characters. You read that right, it’s a foursome, but there are only two people.
This show will really be effective for fans of Teen Titans as there’s a great mix of the big overarching superhero stakes, with the more focused human ones. Be prepared for a love triangle with Mark and two girls from his high school. Of course that’s not all the show has we also deal with the behind the scenes of the superhero world, but I can’t go too far into that without spoilers. I will say be prepared to enjoy Clancy Brown and Walton Goggins going back and forth as a demon detective and a jaded, grizzled government agent respectively. There’s also an agent who looks like Hank’s son from King of the Hill.
The voice cast of this show is stacked, with the likes of Walton Goggins, Zazie Beetz, Gillian Jacobs, and voice gods Clancy Brown and Mark Hamill among many others. The animation isn’t going to touch the highs you’ll get from the likes of My Hero Academia, but the animation ironically adds a level of realism you don’t get from live action superhero stories.
While the show mainly focuses on the heroes you do get occasional looks at the lives of people with no connection to the hero world. These scenes help to make see what the heroes are protecting and gets you on their side.
Only the first three episodes are up on Amazon right now, but I feel confident in saying that amongst the myriad of superhero offerings out there right now, this is one you should definitely check out.