If you haven't seen the first season of Invincible yet, you absolutely need to block your calendar for the next eight hours. What starts as a pretty standard young superhero getting his powers pitch quickly turns into something much more interesting. Imagine if, on your 17th birthday, you get to fly, your dad is the greatest superhero the world has ever seen, but you still have to pass high school for some reason. Mark can punch a meteor to smithereens, but he's in big trouble if he doesn't learn his Pythagorean theorem. Season 2 is coming, with a trailer out now and it's sure to be a bonkers season.
Bear in mind there will of course be Season 1 spoilers to follow with some comic book arc discussion tucked down at the bottom. With that in mind though, what might the second season hold that would make for a great follow-up?
More Intense Moments
Mark's biggest problem is that his dad is also a psychopathic murderer who goes on a killing spree in the last episode. For most folks, it was that final episode that really sealed the deal. Watching Mark inadvertently kill a whole subway train of people was a sight to behold. The animation team really outdid themselves in their work for the scene.
So now the animation team has a lofty task ahead of them: outdo themselves again. Somehow the show is going to have to be even more graphic than what's come before. Given they already tore a man in half and nearly gouged out some eyeballs, you have to wonder what they could do next.
It may be interesting if Mark has to get his hands dirty this time around intentionally. Making him directly responsible for that scene this next season. Him wrestling with the bloodstained legacy of his father would prove to be an interesting subject to tackle. However they do it, hopefully, they have The Evil Dead playing in the background for some inspiration.
More Screen Time for Omni-Man
Omni-Man was a fascinating mix of kind, supportive, and horrifying all at the same time. He's the kind of guy that may punch your head off, but he'll still be home for dinner at five on the dot. Some of the more interesting parts of the show come near the end when he chooses to shunt his job of destroying the entire planet and his own defiant kid.
The fact that this guy, who will cause genocide against a race of people, has hesitation when it comes to his kid is something that humanizes him in a way that most god-like characters never get. There is no real redemption for this guy. He's a monster and that's exactly what makes him interesting. He's like Kratos with road rage who will also randomly brake the car for a bunny rabbit. A deranged general who will tear a man in half but then say "This isn't what it looks like" to his kid. An episode focusing on what he's doing would be a welcome break from the mainline story on earth.
The Immortal Coming Back
So the Immortal isn't dead. Shocker, right? GDA recovered his remains after he got torn in half by Omni-Man as Invincible looked on in horror. He's one of the few characters in the show tenacious enough to fight Omni-Man so his coming back to life would have pretty big implications for any fights that may take place. It's a pretty good bet that some Viltrumites are going to show up. Invincible will need all the help he can get if he wants to beat them and who better to help him than Abraham Lincoln?
Developments From the Comics
So if the show decides to continue following the comic book storyline, the following will be spoiler-ish territory, but there's no guarantee the show will do things exactly the same way. The movie sure isn't going to. If they do, however, a big plot development would be bringing in Mark's half-brother from another mother.
Another possible storyline they might do this season would be Invincible having to fight the Immortal 1 on 1. The comics have The Immortal go a wee bit homicidal in an alternate future and rule over the earth with an iron fist. While in the comics Invincible prevents this by giving him part of Robot's brain to help tame his bloodlust a bit, the show may choose to have a full-blown fight where Immortal snaps and Invincible has to pin him down before he can give him Robot's brain. This would make for a really great season finale as Immortal give Omni-Man a challenge. Mark could beat him, just barely, and this would show just how much he's grown over the last two seasons as a hero.
The show may also see a lot of villains who were previously afraid to go anywhere near Earth while it was under Omni-Man's protection. Angstrom Levy has been teased about whose threat is more mental than physical. A sort of Dr. Doom to his Invincible's absolute brawn. The writers might even decide to flip what worked about the first season on its head and go for something more thoughtful like One Punch Man Season 2 did. All will become clear though in late fall.