Wednesday 28 July 2021

Invincible season 2: plot, likely cast and everything we know

Invincible season 2: Key info

- Renewed for both seasons 2 and 3 by Amazon
- Release date unknown but likely 2022
- Most cast members expected to return
- Might feature Angstrom Levy, Mark's nemesis from the comics
- Mark will be heading into space
- Creator Robert Kirkman could see it running for five, seven or maybe ten years

Invincible season 2 has been confirmed by Amazon Prime Video, following the first season's launch to rave reviews and fan acclaim earlier this year. The R-rated animated superhero show is based on the popular comic books by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker, and has managed to please both newbies and devotees of the source material. It's even picked up a few award nominations for the HCA TV and GALECA LGBTQ Critics' Dorian TV ceremonies.

The fact that we're getting more seasons is no surprise, then. Amazon Studios has taken the bold step of renewing Invincible for both season 2 and 3 – a sign of its faith in the series, which packs a big-name cast. Following a brutal finale that offers a lot of possibilities for where the story could go next, this show could delight fans for years to come, based on Kirkman's hopes for the series. 

You'll find everything we know about Invincible season 2 so far on this page, though note that spoilers follow for the events of season 1. 

Release date: There's no set return date on Invincible season 2 yet, and animation tends to have a long production turnaround, but we expect to see it next year at some point.

Cast: We fully expect the existing all-star cast to return, including Steven Yeun as Mark Grayson, but no official announcements have been made on that front yet.

Plot: Robert Kirkman has confirmed that Invincible season 2 will take us into space, and that we might meet Angstrom Levy, Mark's nemesis from the comics. 

Future seasons: Invincible has been renewed for seasons 2 and 3 already – and Kirkman has teased it could run for 10 years. With 144 issues of the comic to adapt, that seems plausible to us.

Invincible season 2 release date

Mark Grayson prepares to do battle in Invincible season 1's finale

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

There’s no confirmed release date for Invincible season 2. However, we suspect that Amazon will want to exploit its popularity and get to work on it as soon as possible.

Invincible season 2 was announced on April 29, so it’s unlikely that any major work will have begun just yet. Kirkman and the series’ executive team may have had discussions on what plot points to build the next season around (more on this later) but, from animation, art, script and voice actor perspectives we don’t think much will have been done. 

That said, sometimes animated shows get an early renewal behind-the-scenes because of the long turnaround it takes to make further episodes. It's plausible, then, that it's further along than we think, even if we aren't aware of that possibility.

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With all that in mind, don’t expect to see Invincible season 2 take flight before the second half of 2022. Unless the creative team crunches on season 2 and gets it out early next year, we would be surprised to see it any earlier. A show like this needs as much care and attention to detail as possible, so that’s what we’re hedging our bets on.

Speaking during a Skybound Xpo virtual panel for Invincible season 1 on July 18, which you can view on YouTube, Kirkman kept schtum on when we might see season 2, so it sounds like it'll be a while yet.

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Invincible season 2 cast

Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) and Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) flying in Invincible

(Image credit: Amazon Studio)

No casting confirmations have been made for Invincible season 2, but we’d expect season 1’s main players to return:

  • Steven Yeun as Mark Grayson/Invincible
  • J.K. Simmons as Nolan Grayson/Omni-Man
  • Sandra Oh as Debbie Grayson
  • Zazie Beetz as Amber Bennett
  • Gillian Jacobs as Samantha Eve Wilkins/Atom Eve
  • Andrew Rannells as William Clockwell
  • Walton Goggins as Cecil Stedman
  • Jason Mantzoukas as Rex Sloan/Rex Splode
  • Ross Marquand as Rudy Conners, Kursk and Bi-Plane
  • Mark Hamill as Art Rosenbaum
  • Khary Payton as Markus Grimshaw/Black Samson
  • Malese Jow as Kate Cha/Dupli-Kate
  • Grey Griffin as Shrinking Rae and Amanda (Monster Girl's human form)
  • Kevin Michael Richardson as Monster Girl/the Mauler Twins
  • Seth Rogen as Allen the Alien
  • Mahershala Ali as Titan

It’s possible that we may see other voice actors reprise their roles outside of the above cast, too. 

Zachary Quinto had voiced Robot, but it’s unclear if his voice talents will be needed for future seasons. As we see in season 1, Robot is the artificial host body of Rudy Conners, an individual whose genetic defects mean he’s unable to live outside of his saline tank. With Rudy’s consciousness being transferred into his new clone body in season 1 episode 7, Ross Marquand has taken over vocal duties for Rudy. 

As such, we don't know if Quinto is needed to reprise his role in season 2. Robot has a big role to play in the comics, but we're unsure if those events will be part of season 2, season 3 or beyond.

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Other voice actors who may return include Chris Diamantopoulos (Doc Seismic), Fred Tatasciore (Kill Cannon), Clancy Brown (Damien Darkblood), Jeffrey Donovan (Machine Head), Ezra Miller (D.A. Sinclair) and Michael Dorn (Battle Beast and Thokk). Kirkman has hinted at some of their returns (more on this below) so it’ll be interesting to see who is back for season 2.

As for new cast members, Kirkman revealed that he’d love for some of The Walking Dead TV series’ cast to show up in future seasons. Yeun, Marquand, Laurie Cohan, Michael Cudlitz, Sonequa Martin-Green and Lennie James have appeared in various roles already, but Kirkman wants more Walking Dead actors to lend their talents to the animated show.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Kirkman said: "I can't think of an actor on The Walking Dead I wouldn't want to work with again. It's an amazing group of actors. Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan...there's not really anyone I wouldn't want to bring in." 

Invincible season 2 plot

The new Guardians of the Globe line-up led by Robot and Rex Splode in Invincible

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

The comic series is a fun but at-times confusing one. There are many directions that season 2 could go in, but we already have an idea of what the next instalment could entail. This is based on the season 1 finale and some hints that the official Invincible Twitter account has already dropped.

First, let’s look at Invincible episode 8. Mark, aka Invincible, and the Guardians of the Globe are all that stands between Viltrum’s invasion of Earth. Omni-Man was supposed to conquer the planet for the Viltrumite Empire but, after realizing that he couldn’t kill Mark and, by proxy, enslave humanity for his people, he tearfully heads out into space for an unknown destination.

Season 2 is certain to pick up this plot thread. Mark will be tasked with keeping Earth safe from the Viltrumites and, in turn, help the Coalition of Planets halt the Viltrum Empire from carrying out its universe-wide expansion. Mark already knows that a Viltrumite fleet is on its way thanks to Allen the Alien’s warning. The latter has a big part to play in the comics from this point on, so if they’re anything to go by, Mark and Allen’s friendship will only grow stronger from here on out.

As an extension of that, we should find out where Omni-Man/Nolan has gone. In the comics, Nolan flies off to invade another planet, which he hopes will act as recompense – with the Viltrum Empire – for deserting his posting on Earth. There’s a lot more for the TV series to cover regarding Mark and Nolan’s relationship, which is also covered extensively in the comics. We’ll be here forever if we dive too deep into this father-son bond so, for now, we’ll say we hope to see some of J.K. Simmons’ Nolan next season.

The show should be entering cosmic territory in season 2 as well, so expect stranger worlds, weirder characters and a universe-spanning plot to translate from page to screen.

The season 1 finale also teased other potential story beats for its successor. We should get a continuation of the Sequids storyline, which didn’t get a proper ending in season 1. Here, we know that a Martian has infiltrated Earth after he traded places with one of the human astronauts. In tandem to that, the astronaut who was left behind on Mars is now being controlled by the Sequids, which could spell bad news for Earth if this parasitic race charts a course for the blue planet.

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We may see Titan and Battle Beast’s stories fleshed out in more detail, too. The last time we saw the duo, they had taken over Machine Head’s criminal organization and teleported away from Earth respectively. Their tales continue in the comics, and Kirkman has already alluded to fan favorite Battle Beast getting more screen time in Amazon’s adaptation. The Flaxans also look like they'll return, despite Omni-Man's rampage across their home planet in episode 2.

One interesting tidbit is new story elements that didn’t make it into Invincible’s comic run. In a chat with Beyond the Trailer, Kirkman revealed that he hoped to include storylines in the TV show that he couldn’t fit into the graphic novels when he was writing them. One example that Kirkman gives concerns Damien Darkblood, who was banished back to Hell by Cecil Stedman in episode 4, but it’s unclear if this will form part of season 2.

Finally, Kirkman himself has revealed more of where season 2’s plot could go and it could include arguably Mark’s biggest nemesis from the comics – Angstrom Levy.

Check out Kirkman's confirmation that Levy will be part of season 2 below:

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Following on from that announcement, Kirkman reiterated that Levy will be part of season 2's story in some aspect.

Speaking during the virtual Skybound Xpo Invincible panel, Kirkman said: "Levy will be part of the second season. He really shakes things up and, if you're familiar with the comics and you've watched the TV show, you'll get a sense of where we're going with the second season, especially if you think really hard about how we adapted the story in the first season."

For fans of the TV show only, Kirkman also teased that there would be some "crazy stuff coming", while Jason Mantzoukas revealed that he can't wait for season 2 to "introduce more villains... like Thragg" and more of the comic series' intergalactic elements.

Invincible season 2: how many seasons will there be?

Omni-Man gives Mark Grayson some hard hitting advice in Invincible season 1

(Image credit: Amazon Studios)

We don’t know. In total, there are 144 Invincible comics, which spanned 15 years of Kirkman and Walker’s careers. While the TV adaptation altered the order of certain plot points for season 1, the first eight episodes only covered the first 23 issues. If a similar trajectory is maintained for future seasons, Amazon Prime’s Invincible series would finish up at around the season 7 or 8 mark.

According to Kirkman, though, there could be more or less than that. Speaking to ScreenRant after season 1 ended, he said that the series’ creative team has a “rough roadmap for where things from the comics will fall”. Additionally, Kirkman told Inverse that he “could see it going for five… seven… even 10 years. Maybe we run out of comic books and… we do 100 seasons.”

Of course, that last number is Kirkman being excited about his own property, but we could certainly see Invincible running for at least five seasons. If audiences want to see more, Amazon would be silly not to continue renewing the animated series. After all, it’s had huge success with its live-action adaptation of The Boys, so Invincible could follow a similar path and make Amazon Prime Video the go-to streamer for R-rated comic book content.

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