Invincible Season 4

Invincible season 4 is a continuation of the animated series based on the graphic novels written by Robert Kirkman. The series is published by Image Comics. It follows Mark Grayson who develops superpowers thanks to being the son of an alien from a warrior race who had come to Earth to reproduce before taking it over for his alien race. If you're familiar with comics and/or Japanese manga, I'm sure you will recognize some inspiration. I won't be diving into the first three seasons in this review. I figure if you're looking for a season four review, you are familiar with the first three seasons. The show itself is produced by Amazon and airs on Amazon Prime.

Season 4 naturally follows in the wake of season 3. Mark is dealing the more death and destruction that he shoulders responsibility for. As he works to make amends, he starts to stretch himself a bit thin and eventually gets roped into going after the biggest threat to the Earth yet, the remaining Viltrumites. What follows is a series of brutal fights ending in a Mark's dad Nolan deciding for the nuclear option. The Viltrumites aren't finished and their leader Thragg decides to end the fighting as opposed to getting revenge as his people are down to fewer than forty left and killing even someone who is only half-Viltrumite is too much.

Mark and the gang make their way back to Earth worried that the Viltrumites had gone there for revenge which causes Mark to hallucinate as he keeps waiting for their ends at the hands of the Viltrumites to come. That doesn't happen, but there is one final meeting between Thragg and Mark which completely changes the status quo. The season ends with Mark contemplating the decision he makes. That is where season five due out early 2027 will pick up.

I do want to touch on a plot point of when Mark returned to Earth before Thragg came in. Mark meets up with his girlfriend Eve who eventually provides him with heartbreaking news that she had an abortion while he was gone after not even telling him she was pregnant. It was honestly one of the best ways I have seen this story beat get told in media. The sheer terror she has of letting Mark know this all while she knows Mark is having troubles readjusting due to his hallucinations is well done.

She explains that she didn't tell him she was pregnant because she had found out just before he left and she didn't want him worried about her when he needed to be focused purely on surviving himself. He was then gone for months and she had no clue if he had won or lost. The latter which would mean surely the Earth was doomed. Not wanting to bring a child into that uncertain world is what led her to that decision. The show painstakingly shows she is torn up about it before Mark and Eve comfort each other in a beautiful example of why they work well together.

Before wrapping this up, I would be remiss if I didn't cover the fantastic voice work this entire series has. Steven Yeun voices Mark Grayson, J.K. Simmons voices Nolan, and Sandra Oh voices Mark's mom Debbie. Those three continue to give the same standout performances in season four that they have the entire series. The same goes for Gillian Jacobs who voices Eve. Those four are joined by some big names which include Walter Goggins as Cecil Stedman and Seth Rogan as Allen the Alien. The entire cast is stacked and they're all pretty easy to recognize.