It’s been a long wait, but Season 2 of Prime Video’s hit superhero series Invincible is nearly upon us. Finally, the story of teen superhero Mark Grayson will continue, as we learn just how Mark plans on moving forward after a terrible betrayal. Seriously, how do you cope with learning your dad has secretly been the world’s greatest villain all along?
With such a big gap between seasons, we don’t blame you if you’re a bit rusty on all things Invincible. Let’s break down all the big plot points in Season 1 and the Atom-Eve special so you’re prepared when the new season debuts on November 3.
Mark Grayson Is Invincible
It may be set in a universe crammed full of colorful superheroes and dastardly villains, but Invincible is ultimately the story of Mark Grayson, an ordinary teenager who dreams of becoming the world’s greatest hero. It’s not that big a stretch, considering his father Nolan already holds that title. On the surface, Nolan is a successful novelist and family man. But secretly, he’s Omni-Man, a Superman-esque hero and quite possibly the strongest being in the solar system.
Nolan may look human, but he’s actually an alien known as a Viltrumite. As he explains to his son, Nolan was sent to live among Earthlings and protect the planet from threats both within and without, all in the goal of helping human civilization advance and prosper. It just so happens that, along the way, Nolan fell in love with a human woman named Debbie and started a family.
There’s just one problem for Mark. He may be half-human, half-Viltrumite, but he’s a bit of a late bloomer. As the series opens, Mark is well into his high school career with no sign of developing the super-strength and flight most Viltrumites take for granted. But before the end of the first episode, Mark’s powers begin to reveal themselves.
Mark is eager to join his father in the family business, but he quickly finds being a superhero is a lot tougher than it looks. Between the difficulty of flying and a father who refuses to pull his punches during training, Mark’s first few days on the job are pretty rough. Even so, it’s not long before he chooses a codename and earns a costume of his own. Invincible is born.
Over the course of Season 1, Mark learns something his father knows all too well - it’s hard balancing the responsibilities of being a hero with maintaining a personal life. Mark struggles just to keep up with his high school classes, much less think about college. He fights an uphill battle to maintain his relationship with his new girlfriend Amber when it seems like every date and study session is interrupted by a new superhero mission. Amber eventually breaks up with Mark, revealing that she already figured out he was a superhero and can’t take being lied to anymore.
All of Mark’s troubles culminate in the ultimate betrayal at the end of Season 1. But before we get to that, let’s take a step back and explore some of the other heroes in the Invincible Universe.
The New Guardians of the Globe
Alongside Omni-Man, the world is protected by a Justice League-esque super-team known as the Guardians of the Globe. Their ranks include The Immortal, War Woman, Darkwing, Green Ghost, Martian Man, Red Rush and Aquarus. Don’t get too attached to these character, though. They’re all brutally killed off in the first episode of Season 1. Their killer is none other than Omni-Man himself, though he does his best to hide that fact.
Why Omni-Man would murder his own friends and colleagues is easily the biggest mystery of Season 1. But as far as most of the world is concerned, Omni-Man is the sole survivor of a sneak attack by an unknown villain. And for Cecil Stedman, director of the Global Defense Agency, the first order of business is creating a new Guardians of the Globe to fill the void left by the old one. Stedman puts Robot in charge of building a new team, which comes to include Rex Splode, Dupli-Kate, Monster Girl, Shrinking Rae and veteran Guardian member Black Samson.
But easily the most important member of the new Guardians of the Globe is Atom-Eve. Eve becomes one of Mark’s first friends as a costumed hero. As a fellow classmate, she understands the pressure of trying to balance two worlds. Eve also struggles to find a way of doing the most good with her incredible energy manipulation powers. After her boyfriend Rex cheats on her with Dupli-Kate, Eve ends up leaving the Guardians and directly helping those in need across the world.
The Guardians struggle to live up to the example of their predecessors, but with a little help from Invincible, the new team begins to make a difference in the world. However, Omni-Man isn’t the only hero with dark secrets. Robot secretly colludes with a pair of villains known as the Mauler Twins to grow himself a new clone body. Mark is also tricked into forming an alliance with Titan against the crime lord Machine Head, only for Titan to take over Machine Head’s underground empire for himself.
All the while, Cecil grows closer to unraveling the truth about Omni-Man’s actions, with a little help from the unholy detective known as Damien Darkblood. By the end of Season 1, Cecil knows the truth - Omni-Man killed the Guardians of the Globe, But that leaves two important questions. Why did he do it? And how can the GDA hope to stop the world’s most powerful superhuman?
Omni-Man’s Terrible Secret
The truth finally comes out in the climax of Season 1. Nolan’s friends and family learn that he was responsible for killing the Guardians of the Globe. Invincible has no choice but to help the GDA take down Omni-Man, even if it means fighting his own father to the death.
It’s here that Mark is finally told the truth about the Viltrumites. They aren’t a peaceful, benevolent race, but rather an empire of bloodthirsty conquerors who believe in survival of the fittest. Nolan was sent to Earth not to guide humanity along to a brighter future, but to soften up the planet and prepare them to be assimilated into the Viltrumite Empire. Killing the Guardians was the first step in weakening the planet’s defenses.
For all that Mark has grown in strength and ability, he proves to be no match for his father. Instead, Omni-Man delivers a savage beating that spans the entire globe. Thousands are killed in Chicago alone when Nolan uses the city as an example of how frail and meaningless human lives truly are.
But for all his cruelty, Nolan can’t ignore the love he still holds for his wife and son. He’s unable to convince Mark to join him, but nor can he bring himself to kill his only son. Instead, Omni-Man flees the planet and disappears into space.
As the world slowly begins to recover from Omni-Man’s attack, Mark himself comes to terms with the physical and psychological scars of his battle. How can he go back to being a superhero knowing that his own father is the greatest threat to world peace? Unfortunately for him, Invincible learns he may have even bigger problems on the horizon. His friend Allen the Alien warns that with Omni-Man abdicating his responsibilities on Earth, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the Viltrumite Empire comes calling.
Still, there’s some reason for hope. Allen represents the Coalition of Planets. He thinks the Coalition still has a chance to stop the Viltrimuites from further expanding their territory. Meanwhile, Cecil makes his own Faustian bargain with mad scientist D.A. Sinclair. If the Coalition can’t stop the Viltrumites, maybe an army of cyborg super-zombies can.
The Saga of Atom-Eve
Prime Video gave Invincible fans a small taste of new content with the release of the Invincible: Atom Eve special in July 2023. This standalone episode reveals the origin story of Samantha Eve Wilkins. If you thought Mark had it rough, that’s nothing compared to Eve’s troubled past.
The Atom Eve special reveals that Eve is the result of a top-secret government program that experimented on pregnant women to produce superhuman children. The program’s lead researcher, Dr. Elias Brandyworth, helps smuggle Eve out of the program and secretly places her with a foster family. Eve grows up not understanding her strange energy manipulation powers or why she understands so much about the nature of matter and particles. It’s a lonely childhood, especially after she scares away her one and only friend.
Eve only comes to terms with her true nature after Brandywine resurfaces and warns her to keep a low profile. Eve meets the other surviving test subjects of the government program and is eventually recaptured. After seeing Brandywine and her birth mother Polly killed in front of her, Eve pushes past her mental barriers and uses her powers to rewrite the memories of the program’s leader, allowing her to return to anonymity. It’s this tragic backstory that motivates Eve to do more to help the world at large.
That’s what you need to know about Invincible before diving into Season 2. The series has stuck pretty close to the original comics so far, but there’s no guarantee that won’t change in the new season. Let us know where you think Mark Grayson’s story is headed in Season 2.
For more on Invincible's new season, check out IGN's review of Invincible: Season 2, Part 1 and find out how to stream the series.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
