Season 2 of Invincible began by planting the seeds of the enmity between Mark Grayson and Angstrom Levy. With the help of the Mauler twins, Angstrom managed to harness the powers of the multiverse. But when he saw the Maulers from all over the multiverse beating the living hell out of Mark, he decided to stop the machine that was allowing him to assimilate the memories of all his variants. That caused a massive explosion, and Angstrom became this hybrid monster filled with the memories of all the versions of himself from the multiverse. Since the one thing that was common between all of them was Mark turning into a villain, Angstrom made it his ultimate goal to destroy every Mark Grayson in the multiverse. He was absent throughout the rest of the season, only showing up in the mid-credits scenes of a few episodes. However, in the penultimate episode of the show, he finally arrived at Mark’s house and threatened to kill Oliver and Debbie. The finale is centered around Mark and Angstrom’s confrontation. So, let’s talk about it.
Spoiler Alert
Is Angstrom Levy dead?
Episode 8 of Invincible Season 2 opens with Nolan Grayson decimating a bunch of guards in the prison where he has been kept before being greeted by Kregg, who tells Nolan that he is about to be executed. The scene shifts to Earth, where Mark confronts Angstrom, who is holding Oliver and Debbie hostage. As Angstrom starts to hurt Oliver and Debbie, Mark tries to attack him. But every time he charges at Angstrom, he sends him through a portal and throws him into various corners of the multiverse. There’s one that has talking dinosaurs. The one that’ll probably get folks excited is where Mark meets Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (to be honest, they are knock-off versions of the characters because the producers don’t have the IP rights to the Marvel characters). Then there’s one with zombies in it, which is probably a nod to Robert Kirkman’s insanely popular The Walking Dead. Now, every time Mark returns from one of these dimensions, he tries to calm Angstrom, but he refuses to listen to him because his mind is filled with the horrors inflicted upon the various mankinds by the various Marks and Nolans. Angstrom says that in one of the multiverses, even Debbie sided with Mark and Nolan, and that’s why he refuses to let the somewhat non-violent versions of them live.
Angstrom snaps Debbie’s hand and proceeds to torture Oliver. Meanwhile, Mark is seen going through various realms in the multiverse. He sits with a group of campers to talk about his predicament. He fights with cavemen. He battles a version of Omnipotus. He talks to Batman. And he fights with the War Boys from the Mad Max franchise. That’s when Angstrom decides to bring him back. One look at his mother and half-brother causes Mark to unleash his dark side and beat the life out of Angstrom. Since Angstrom keeps saying that he is invincible, too, Mark doesn’t hold back. Surprisingly enough, Mark ends up killing Angstrom Levy. It’s probably the most gruesome moment since the ending of the first episode of Invincible or the scene where Nolan taught Mark a lesson and ended up killing a bunch of people. The way this whole sequence is directed, edited, animated, scored, and voice-acted is nothing short of gut-wrenching. It’s good to know that I’m not desensitized to fake violence yet because this was hard to watch.
Mark Is Rescued By An Alternate Version Of The Guardians Of The Globe
Mark knows he has crossed a line by killing Angstrom Levy, and he keeps telling himself that he did what he did because Angstrom assured him that he was strong enough to take his hits. This whole sequence where Mark reckons with his actions while also wondering how he is going to get out of the wasteland is probably one of the most realistic and anxiety-inducing moments in the superhero subgenre. And it’s only elevated by Steven Yeun’s stellar voice-acting. Cecil takes Debbie and Oliver to the infirmary. Kregg beats Nolan to a pulp before his execution. While being transferred to his holding chamber, Nolan crosses paths with Allen, and they promise to help each other get out of the Viltrumite prison. As Mark continues to spiral out, he is visited by older versions of Atom Eve, Robot (but it’s actually Rex Splode inside the suit), Bulletproof, Monster Girl, Knockout, and Kid Thor (yes, I think we’re seeing those last two names for the first time on-screen).
Apparently, this version of the Guardians of the Globe is from the same world where Mark has been missing for around 20 years. Mark’s absence has caused it to fall apart, thereby emphasizing Invincible’s importance. Robot stops Atom Eve from revealing any further information because it’ll disrupt the “time stream.” However, Atom Eve fails to do so and she tells Mark to talk to the version of Atom Eve that he’ll go back to and give her some closure. She tells him that her younger self is clearly in love with him, and she has been greatly impacted by his disappearance. The old Atom Eve tells Mark that he can reciprocate her love or choose to break her heart; that’s up to him. But he needs to give her something concrete, or else her future will be ruined. Rex Splode tells her that she has broken the rules. When it comes to love, I guess rules don’t really matter that much.
Mark and Debbie Deal With The New Status Quo
Mark reunites with a recuperating Debbie. By the way, it’s kind of funny, in a sad way, that Mark, Debbie, and Nolan all have the same kind of black eye. Cecil notices Mark having yet another bout of existential crisis and assures him that he isn’t another version of Nolan Grayson because he has killed Angstrom Levy. Earlier, Mark used to say that he won’t be the next Omni-Man, while Cecil would point out how Mark was acting exactly like Nolan. Now, things have turned upside down because Mark has killed someone. We briefly see Rudy sharing a sweet moment with Monster Girl, with the latter accepting the fact that she needs the former’s help, while Rudy accepts the fact that he needs to talk about stuff that doesn’t involve “work.” Then, it’s randomly revealed that Dupli-Kate is actually alive. Apparently, she had a version of herself stowed away somewhere, and now that everyone has accepted that she is dead, she wanted to disappear from the public eye. But when she saw Immortal mourning and hurting so much, she couldn’t stop herself from reuniting with him.
After that, we get a throwaway scene where another archaeologist and her superhero friend try to get access to the spirit of a mummy and get trapped alongside the corpse of the archaeologist’s dead dad because of Mark. Earlier in Invincible, a guy summoned the spirit of the mummy for some reason. However, he got trapped in there because Mark went supersonic and caused the exit route to collapse, and now his daughter is trapped in there, too. This can either be a recurring joke (the line about the mummy being sexist because he isn’t possessing a woman’s body is hilarious) or the origin story of a villain. We’ll have to wait to find out.
Anyway, we see Mark flying all over the world, nearly breaking the time barrier. He thinks about meeting Amber, but then walks back (or flies back) on that decision. Debbie, Oliver, and Mark, along with April, move back into their house, and it looks like nothing has ever happened there. It’s kind of hilarious that the house that was exploded by Donald to kill Nolan still hasn’t been fixed. Later on, Debbie and Mark have a very emotional conversation, and Mark decides that he is going to dedicate every second of his life to being a superhero. That means he is not only going to save lives but also learn how to de-escalate a situation so that it doesn’t lead to deaths. Debbie understands what Mark is saying, and she doesn’t pressurize him to continue college.
At the end of Invincible Season 2, Mark goes to Atom Eve, and it seems like he is going to say something about his feelings for her. However, he doesn’t because things like this aren’t easy, even though someone from the future has told you that it’s important to speak about your sentiments as plainly as possible. This awkwardness is quelled by Atom Eve telling Mark that he doesn’t deserve this. Initially, I didn’t understand what she was trying to say. Then, as I sat with it, I realized that she was saying that Mark is a good person and he doesn’t deserve to be in a situation where he has to prove to himself that he isn’t his father’s son. He doesn’t deserve to be surrounded by aggressive-as-hell villains. He deserves a normal, peaceful life.
What To Expect from Season 3?
During a long mid-credits sequence, we see Allen and Nolan having a conversation about doing a jailbreak and then bringing down the entire Viltrumite empire. Nolan apparently doesn’t want to do all that. He doesn’t want Mark to be involved in some kind of intergalactic warfare. He just wants to die because he is currently feeling the weight of his murderous actions. However, his love for his wife somehow motivates him to stop thinking about what he deserves and start thinking about what he needs to do to give Debbie, Mark, and Oliver a livable future. So, I am guessing that in the yet-to-be-announced Season 3 of Invincible, we’ll see Nolan uniting with Allen to destroy the Viltrumite empire. If Allen takes Nolan to the Coalition of Planets instead of Mark, I don’t know how happy Thaedus and his friends will be about that because they wanted Mark, not his genocidal father. Well, hopefully, Allen and Nolan will be able to convince them that he has changed and that he wants to eradicate all violent Viltrumites.
I think the next season will focus on Mark’s attempts at being a good superhero and his complicated relationship with Atom Eve. Debbie has spent a lot of time trying to live with the reality that she was the wife of a genocidal maniac. Now, she has to recover from the trauma of nearly being killed by Angstrom Levy while taking care of Oliver and ensuring that he becomes nothing like Nolan. If Nolan decides to drop by during this whole process, it’s going to be messy. I think that King Mauler and his clones are going to make an appearance. Mark’s journey through the multiverse is definitely going to have some repercussions, no matter how small or big they are. Anissa is probably going to haunt Mark. That said, I am afraid it’s going to lead to the most scandalous moment in the history of superhero shows.
Either Rudy or Monster Girl is going to die because that’s what happens in romantic relationships in an ultraviolet superhero show. I don’t think Immortal and Dupli-Kate are going to return to the Guardians of the Globe. They are done. And, yes, I am sure we are going to get some more information on the mummy spirit. However, all this is speculation. It’s completely up to Kirkman and his team how they are going to adapt his comics. I feel that Season 2 was good. The finale was strong. I don’t know if this part-1-part-2 nonsense has tanked its viewership or not and if that’s going to hamper the chances of a third season of the show. I hope that that’s not the case because the world needs more seasons of Invincible, but only if the animators get the time and the money they need and deserve.
