After making a splash in the superhero genre in 2021, “Invincible” is back for its biggest and most ambitious outing yet in a third season that, unlike its characters, isn’t bulletproof. 

Released  on Amazon Prime and based on the comics of the same name by Robert Kirkman, “Invincible” is an animated series following Mark Grayson, a half-alien teenager and the titular hero, as he defends the planet, tries to balance his personal and costumed lives and fights his extraterrestrial heritage. 

The first two seasons covered Mark’s start as a superhero, fight with his evil alien father and struggle to keep a steady relationship with his girlfriend.

In the third season, the show adapts the start of his journey away from the idyllic world of heroics and toward a darker, grittier time in his life.

This transition is done smoothly in the eight-episode season, with Mark being good-hearted and against killing at the start but willing to do whatever it takes to protect his loved ones and the planet by the end.

His struggle with morality and the dilemma he faces about what is necessary to save the world serves well as the crux of the season, laying the foundation for Mark’s arc for the rest of the series.

The season doesn’t pose any major philosophical questions with its theme, but its raw, authentic exploration of morality through the lens of superheroes does give the viewer something to think about. 

Along with the fantastic writing by Robert Kirkman, Ryan Ottley and their team, Mark’s journey this season is given emotion and weight through another great performance by his voice actor, Steven Yeun.

Yeun showcases immense range throughout the season, acting out moments of soft happiness, grief and rage equally well and I could not imagine this show without his talent.

However, Mark isn’t the only one going through growth. Rex Splode, a hero with abilities as explosive as his personality, finally finishes his series-long transition from an abrasive, loud-mouthed jerk to a mature adult who understands how to connect with others.

Rex’s growth is achieved through the culmination of a slow-burn romance with his teammate Shrinking Rae, a cute and important milestone for the character and a new plotline not seen in the comics.

I was fond of Rex in the first two seasons despite his obnoxiousness, but his development in season three makes him mine and many fans’ favorite character.

While the character development and performances throughout the season are consistently great, some parts of the show had noticeable issues.

The plot in the third season was a mess, with episodes being mostly self-contained stories that don’t build upon each other much, save for the occasional post-credits scene. 

Episodes five and six were especially problematic in this aspect. The fifth episode followed Mark making an uneasy alliance with a superpowered crime boss to stop a worse crime ring, and the sixth was about a grief-driven villain named Powerplex blaming Invincible for his family’s death and going on a rampage. 

Both episodes were great on their own, especially with spectacular and emotional voice acting by Aaron Paul as Powerplex, but they were too disjointed from the rest of the season and played out more like villain-of-the-week stories than a part of a larger story.

The overarching storyline that the first season had was a large part of why it succeeded, but season three lacks that cohesiveness and seems more like Saturday cartoons than the epic story it is.

However, with the show being a fairly direct adaptation of the comics, it was unfortunately limited in what it could do with the story.

Another problem with the season is the animation, an issue plaguing all three seasons.

Although the animation is not bad by any stretch, it’s rather basic and bland, often relying on simple movement and minimal details. That is, until the last two episodes, where the animation is detailed, fluid and fantastic, clearly showing where the budget went.

While giving the more intense and important episodes the majority of the budget makes sense, it would have been better to have consistent animation throughout the season. 

One factor that may have contributed to the budget problem is the series’ overreliance on celebrity voice actors. With a cast including big-time actors like Steven Yeun, Aaron Paul, J.K. Simmons, Jonathan Banks and more, paychecks couldn’t have been cheap.

I think “Invincible” has made such a name for itself that it no longer needs the crutch of famous actors to bring attention, and hiring more celebrities to fill the ever-expanding cast just eats up the budget.

But like the plot issues, the budget problem was mostly out of the animators’ hands and the fault of Amazon, who will hopefully wise up and give one of their best shows the time and money it needs to get through adapting the entire comic series. 

Season three of “Invincible” may have had its flaws, but it’s still a great continuation of one of the best superhero stories out there and definitely worth a watch.