Spoiler warning: This review contains spoilers for ‘Invincible’ Season 4
After nearly a year of waiting, on March 18 Prime Video finally premiered the fourth installment of its beloved comic book adaptation, “Invincible,” reaching its eight-episode conclusion on April 22. Fans were left edge with multiple Season 3 cliffhangers and Season 4 rewards their patience with plenty of answers — and, of course, introduces more questions for Season 5.
This season is as fast-paced as always, with mounting interpersonal tensions wedged between bloodthirsty battles. Viewers are treated to an emerging rebel force determined to end the Viltrumite regime, a civil war festering in the depths of hell —yes, that hell — and plenty of alien invasions. Meanwhile, Mark (Steven Yeun) and Eve (Gillian Jacobs) navigate their relationship amidst this intergalactic war, Oliver (Christian Convery) continues to grow at record pace and Debbie (Sandra Oh) resumes her emotional recovery following the wake of Nolan’s (J.K. Simmons) actions in Chicago.
In the midst of these various subplots, however, the heart of the season turns its focus toward the Viltrumite regime and the coalition planning to topple their reign. The true scope of Viltrumite terror is revealed to both Mark and the audience when we learn that there are only 50 surviving Viltrumites in the universe. Despite being so few in number, they are desperate to cling to their nation’s power, supremacy and bloodline.
What makes Season 4 stand out from the rest of the series isn’t just the major revelations sprinkled throughout the eight episodes or all the impressive action sequences — it’s also the emotional beats that linger between each battle. Even when the stakes have never been higher, the social and emotional dilemmas that plague the larger cast feel equally, if not more, important than the multi-planetary war taking place millions of miles away.
Oliver’s growth (both physical and emotional) is certainly a highlight for the season as viewers watch the young boy from Season 3 grow into an angsty yet charming preteen. As a budding superhero desperate to prove himself, his role as a naive soldier builds immense tension between him and his father, Nolan, who never wanted Oliver to join the coalition in the first place. The consequential messy evolution of their father-son relationship was a deeply heartwarming — albeit brief — element of the series that I can’t wait to see more of.
Additionally, Nolan’s path to redemption comes to a head in Season 4 when viewers are treated to something they’ve never seen before: an apology. For the first time in the series, Nolan is forced to reckon with the consequences of his actions head-on, and must accept that apologies aren’t going to cut it — no words, and potentially no action, can fix what he’s done. Nolan’s genuine remorse and the effect it has on others (namely, Debbie) intensifies every scene he spends on Earth.
In terms of characters, story and intrigue, Season 4 feels like the strongest the series has been in a while. Of course, nothing could ever beat Season 1’s suffocatingly dense tension (and I mean this in a good way — boy, could I not breathe after finishing Episode 1), but Season 4 comes pretty damn close to capturing the lightning-in-a-bottle that was the show’s initial season. Now all that’s left to do is wait another year until we inevitably see Mark get his ass kicked again and learn what’s next for the Viltrumite empire. Or, you know, we could always just read the comics.
Daily Arts Writer Ana Torresarpi can be reached at atorresa@umich.edu
