Warning: the following features spoilers for Invincible season 3 episode 7...
It's all led to this. After three seasons of battling everyone from his father to the most brutal villains imaginable, Invincible is finally taking on his biggest fight yet: with himself. But it's not just himself. 18 more versions of Mark Grayson are swooping in on his world with the aim of destroying it entirely, all under the command of the multiverse-hopping supervillain Angstrom Levy. Other heroes step in and try their best, but only Invincible can defeat Invincible.
This hugely anticipated storyline has been a long time coming for fans of the comics who have been waiting to see The Invincible War play out on screen ever since it was first published in 2009. And while Prime Video's version doesn't include other Image Comics heroes like Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Witchblade, as the original crossover did, the episode in question is still a huge standout that delivers on every other front.
Right for the jugular
A heroic sacrifice, gruesomely choreographed battles, and a game-changing realization are all crammed into just one balls-to-the-wall episode that will undoubtedly be remembered as a season 3 highlight. Plus, it's just fun to see all the different versions of Invincible and how they evolved in very different ways to the Mark we know and love. But for some, The Invincible War might feel rushed. There is a lot going on, after all, and some moments speed by faster than Mark himself in the midst of saving others.
That desire to see more of The Invincible War is an understandable one, but to complain about the pace of it misses the point entirely.
Despite how wild the show gets each week, Invincible is far more realistic than the majority of its peers because it actually deals with the consequences of heroism in very honest, often brutal ways. Just look at how Mark struggles with the morality of killing to save others in this episode alone. So it's only natural that an attack on the scale of this war would take Invincible — and us — by surprise so quickly.
Other superhero shows might have been tempted to expand this key storyline for at least one or two more episodes. Some might have even made it the crux of an entire season, and that could have worked well in its own way. There's more than enough going on to pad the story out. But Invincible isn't like other shows. Instead, the series decides to go for the jugular with this brutal breakneck episode which devastates Mark just as quickly as it starts.
Extreme measures
It's worth noting that this didn't come entirely out of nowhere though. Angstrom Levy, the genius who kickstarted this war, appeared all the way back in the first episode of season 2. And like in the comics, his storyline, the build-up to The Invincible War, actually developed over a long period of time.
After Levy was deformed in an accident that granted him the knowledge of all his alternate selves, he became obsessed with revenge, blaming Invincible for his horrific disfigurement. The pair eventually went on to battle throughout the multiverse where Levy toyed with Mark, driving him to extreme measures that would risk betraying his sense of self.
Eventually, Mark lost control, beating Levy to death. Or so he thought. After he was rescued from the desolate dimension he found himself trapped in, Mark carried on as normal with no idea that Levy actually survived. This revelation has been teased throughout season 3 with his drones lurking in the background, but it wasn't until episode 7 that Invincible confirmed Levy was actually behind them, just like he was in the comics.
In fact, the show is also very comic book accurate with the speed in which The Invincible War plays out too. What viewers might not realize is that the original storyline unfolded entirely in just one issue rather than a multi-book arc (#60 for completists), so the series actually mirrors that fast pacing very well.
Both the show and source material alike are devastating precisely because The Invincible War isn't drawn out, hitting us and Mark where it hurts without giving us any time to recover.
With just one episode left to go, there isn't much time to delve into the aftermath this season, especially now that a new Viltrumite named Conquest has shown up just as cleanup began. But as Levy's ongoing storyline has already proved, Invincible isn't about to just forget or gloss over what's happened anytime soon.
I won't spoil how that plays out for those who haven't read the comics, but just know that Mark is going to see the world very differently after this, leaning further into the impulses that eventually consumed other versions of him entirely.
New episodes of Invincible season 3 release weekly on Prime Video. Check out our Invincible season 3 release schedule to make sure you never miss a beat.
Looking for a show to watch after? Check out our picks of the other best shows on Amazon Prime Video.
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