For as long as a figure like Superman has existed, people have wondered how a man with that much power could be defeated. The Man of Steel is, of course, a benevolent force for good, but what if he indulged in a few fascistic tendencies? Modern-day projects like The Boys have explored that dark hypothetical in a way that feels like prophetic text, but Invincible upped the ante.
Rather than just one alien aggressor terrorizing Earth, Amazon’s animated series introduced a whole planet of near-immortal, omnipotent colonizers. Viltrum’s imminent assault on our world has been a looming threat for Invincible’s past two seasons, forcing our hero — who happens to be half-Viltrumite himself — to become Earth’s first line of defense.
Invincible Season 3 will reintroduce us to Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) after a grueling training regimen. With the hero stronger than he’s ever been, his brutal dad Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) reconsidering his allegiance to Viltrum, and his younger brother Oliver now strong enough to join the fight, Earth may actually stand a chance against the coming invasion... but that’s not the only threat Mark will face moving forward. The latest trailer for Invincible Season 3 teases a new antagonist in the form of Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins), Mark’s on-and-off mentor, and he’s giving Omni-Man a run for his money.
Invincible Season 3 kicks off 90 days after its predecessor. Since Mark agreed to train with Cecil at the Global Defense Agency, his strength and prowess have increased tenfold. He may finally be ready to defend the planet against the Viltrumites, though with his brother dipping his toe into the crime-fighting world, he’ll definitely have his hands full.
Things get even more complicated with the arrival of a new robot army. The series’ official trailer doesn’t leave much to the imagination, revealing that these cyborgs are actually working for Cecil. They’re a part of his contingency plan against Mark, of all people, designed to keep him in line should he ever act outside of Cecil’s interest. The GDA director doesn’t care much about collateral damage, either: so long as he can protect the needs of the many, it doesn’t matter who gets in the way. That obviously grates against Mark’s own empathy, so he chooses to go rogue.
As so much of this season’s story has been revealed already, there’s a sense that Invincible has some major surprises up its sleeve. Will Omni-Man choose to stand against Viltrum? Can Mark teach Oliver to be a more empathetic hero? And can he reconcile the good he’s done with his mistakes, like the murder of Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) in Season 2? Invincible is set to tackle all that and more, casting its questions of power and responsibility in a fresh light. It seemed impossible to make Invincible even bleaker, but Season 3 could be its most intense outing yet.
