Invincible- Season 1
Sorry I’m late. Honest to God, a dragon was attacking Hong Kong.
Nolan Grayson
Summary:
Invincible follows the story of Mark Grayson, the son of the all-powerful Omni Man. On a seemingly random day, Mark’s powers awaken. Delighted in being able to follow his father’s footsteps, Mark begins training alongside his father. As Mark grows, his relationships with the world and the people change, as he becomes the hero he wants to be.
Characters:
Mark is an interesting take on a young superhero just discovering his powers. His father, Omni-Man, is the world’s strongest defender and has huge shoes for Mark to fill. The clash between superhero and human teenager creates a split identity and a cause for a lot of inner battles. Eve is another superhero in training, but her family dynamic is drastically different than Mark’s. Her family doesn’t support her, even though her values and morals have pointed her in the right direction. She is more worried about helping people in need than getting noticed.
Nathanyal: 9.5/10
NON-SPOILERS
The first thing I want to mention is some of the assumptions for animated shows. There are some that believe that animation means kid friendly. However, I have seen plenty of animation to know that is not true. Invincible falls into that side. It is gory, super gory, gorier than I expected. So that’s your gore warning.
Anyways, for some non-spoiler thoughts, I really, really enjoyed this show. I’ll explain more specifics in the spoiler section, but overall, the characters are well written and balanced, the plot is fun and engaging, and finally, the twists were amazing to witness.
SPOILERS
Alright, we are now approaching the spoiler section. This is your last warning, because I will be going into some details about the show. Last chance. If you’re still reading, that means you want to be spoiled or have seen the show.
Still here? Alright then. Let’s get into it then.
Alright, the first thing I want to talk about was the end of the first episode that had Omni Man go on that rampage. Sure, some people might have called that, but they couldn’t have expected that gore. I don’t know if many people have experienced having their jaw drop, but mine did. And as an ending for the first episode, I was hooked on the show and spent the rest of the day binging. That is also a testament to how good it was. The story and characters were captivating and having only 8 episodes is something super bingeable.
Now, besides the first episode, I really enjoyed the protagonist and all the side characters. All of them have such interesting backstories and motivations. I especially enjoyed seeing Robot’s development and transformation to his human form. That whole scene was intense and really characterized his character. Speaking of characters, I guess I would also like to mention that I enjoyed how squishy all the heroes are. These people are humans, and they should splat like humans. Some might not be able to handle the gore, but I welcomed it with open arms.
However, I will mention that there are some scenes near the end that have a lot of gore. Although I appreciate the gore, there was a lot in the last two episodes. Especially the subway scene. That was brutal.
The animation and fight scenes are all animated well and are captivating. All the fights carried some weight, and you could feel the power in all the punches. The last fight between Invincible and Omni Man is one that I really liked. There was so much emotion and tension built into that scene.
The last thing I want to mention is how much I enjoyed Mark as a protagonist. He has so much development throughout the season, and as a viewer, you get to see all of his development. I liked how he was in the beginning, as the naïve hero, to his development at the end. Usually, there’s a character that makes or breaks a show. Luckily, Mark is great and doesn’t break the show.
Austin: 9.0/10
NON-SPOILERS
Invincible is full of great characters, a really good plot, and way more gore than I would have ever expected. I really loved the idea of a superhero show with its roots in reality. My worry with this show was that the characters were going to be super one-dimensional and that it was going to be a cliche plot. It’s not and the many directions this show could go next is awesome.
SPOILERS
Let’s jump straight into this gory mess. I had a hard time figuring out why this was rate 18+ through the first 40 minutes of episode 1. Don’t make my mistake. This is absolutely an 18+ TV show. It’s fantastic, and I think the gore adds to the quality of the show. It’s hard to swallow at times, but nothing unreasonable.
From a purely plot-based standpoint, this is a really good show. The mix of action, character interactions, and everything in between makes for an entertaining plot. Every episode builds on the last, and I don’t think the reports of 5-10 seasons are too far-fetched. There is a ton of content covered in this season but more importantly, there are a ton of doors that are opened. We have a couple of storylines that are very minor in the grand scheme that could end up being quite important, and a couple of huge question marks that will bring us back next season. We get two huge fights, as well as a ton of lesser ones, but I loved the high tension in those battles. In the same breath, I loved the fact that the smaller battles are where we see this show doesn’t always take itself seriously. We get a ton of comedy within those lesser battles and it makes for a great pressure value that still grabs your attention.
Our characters are great, but the moral lines are a bit blurred at times. We have some bad guys that I really enjoyed, and we have some good guys that were written for you to despise. I loved the comedic aspects as much as the hardy gore, and that atmosphere was weighted heavily in the characters. Great written crafted a bunch of lovable characters, with some great development. The best part about the characters are the doors left open. We have so many characters with limited development, and others that we know a ton about but can still grow. This leaves so many stories untold and makes the idea of 5+ seasons really exciting.
I watched this in binge mode over the course of 3 sittings, and it’s such an easy watch. The flow between episodes makes it a hard show to turn off, and the characters are super easy to like. The ups and downs, from high tension action to normal high school moments, make for a unique feeling show. It’s a blast to watch and I can’t wait for season 2.
Sebastian: 8.9/10
NON-SPOILERS
This show was really good! I wasn’t expecting too much when I first started watching and even, to be honest, this show didn’t really grab me until about the 4th episode but when it gets good it’s good. The characters are all very compelling with Mark Grayson who is our protagonist being my favourite. The animation style is different from most animated shows I watch but I like it. The action in this show is amazing with some very intense and violent fights that have a huge impact. The story is also very interesting and there is a mystery element that I quite enjoyed. Overall, I would definitely go check this show out but also be aware this show is 18+ for very good reasons in terms of the violence and gore.
SPOILERS
Now I know from previous discussions with my fellow reviewers that the ending of the first episode grabbed their attention and never let go. For me, while I did really like that ending and thought the shock value of Omni Man killing the Guardians of The Globe and the violent and grotesque way he tore through them was disgusting yet you couldn’t look away. It also definitely set up a mystery of why and to me that was more intriguing than the action itself. Like I said in the non-spoiler section the characters are all compelling and I definitely stand by that. Seeing Mark grapple with trying to be a superhero and a teenager may not be a new idea but it is well executed and I felt that the ways in which Mark tried to balance his life were interesting. I thought that Debbie investigated Nolan’s suspicious activity and her role, in general, was well done and I liked that she was a good part of the show. I really like the way the show both humanizes and villainizes Nolan and constantly making you unsure what he is going to do and in the end, it is that little bit of human that saves Mark. Now the gore in this show is talked about a lot and that’s how I would describe it. The gore is a lot, sometimes it’s off-putting and I would say maybe a little too much. It still is well utilized and does serve a purpose in many scenes. One of the best examples would be when Mark saves a pilot and then Nolan squishes his head to show the insignificance of human life in his eyes and there it works. Also in the scene where Mark and the new Guardians of the Globe fight Battle Beast I thought seeing Mark nearly murdered definitely made him seem more vulnerable. The action in general is quite cool and the fights always had me at the edge of my seat. The series definitely sets itself up for a few more seasons and I would love to see what they can do with it.
