The first season of the American adult animated superhero series Invincible, based on the comic book series of the same name, was created for television by comic book writer Robert Kirkman, who also serves as the comics writer. The story focuses on Mark Grayson, an ordinary teenager who develops his powers at 17 years old and learns how to wield them to become the superhero Invincible with the help of his father, the most powerful superhero on the planet under the alias Omni-Man. However, Mark is forced to face the harsh realities of being a superhero and the responsibilities that come from it, while his father Nolan is revealed to not be the heroic figure his family believe he is after he brutally murders the Guardians of the Globe.
Steven Yeun stars as Mark Grayson / Invincible, while Sandra Oh and J. K. Simmons play his parents Debbie Grayson and Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man, respectively. The recurring cast is composed of Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Walton Goggins, Chris Diamantopoulos, Zachary Quinto, Ross Marquand, Jason Mantzoukas, Malese Jow, Grey Griffin, Kevin Michael Richardson, Khary Payton, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, Clancy Brown, and Zazie Beetz.
The season premiered on March 25, 2021, with its first three episodes, and the remaining five were released weekly until April 29, 2021. It received universal acclaim from critics, with praise towards the animation, action sequences, voice perfomances (particularly Yeun, Oh, and Simmons), the story, worldbuilding, mature themes, emotional weight, and faithfulness to the source material. The series was renewed for a second and third season on April 29, 2021.
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On August 11, 2017, Kirkman, with his company Skybound Entertainment, signed a deal with Amazon to develop various series for Amazon Prime Video. However, it was revealed that series that were already in production or development with other studios, would not be developed for Amazon. Kirkman revealed that he was interested on developing a series of the Invincible comic series, but that would not be possible at the moment because Universal was developing a film based on the comic series.
However, on June 19, 2018, it was announced that Amazon had given a series order to the project for a first season consisting of eight episodes. It was also revealed that the series would be animated and its episodes would be hour-long.
On January 31, 2019, the cast of the series was revealed, with Steven Yeun to portray Mark Grayson / Invincible, J. K. Simmons portraying Nolan Grayson / Omni-Man; Sandra Oh, Mark Hamill, Seth Rogen, Gillian Jacobs, Andrew Rannells, Zazie Beetz, Walton Goggins, Jason Mantzoukas, Mae Whitman, Chris Diamantopoulos, Malese Jow, Kevin Michael Richardson, Grey Griffin and Max Burkholder also joining the cast of the series. On July 18, 2020, Kirkman confirmed the casting in a live video on Twitter.
Due to Yeun and Oh both being of Korean descent, Oh's character Debbie Grayson was made to be Korean American in the animated adaptation, with her son Mark Grayson being half-Korean. Their Korean identity is not directly mentioned in the show, but a painting featuring Hangul text that reads is shown in the Grayson home. The decision came from a desire to increase diverse representations in the series. Similarly, Amber Bennett, Mark's ex-girlfriend, was made an African American teenager in the adaptation. Originally closeted before coming out midway through the series comic run, the character of William Clockwell, Mark's best friend, is instead made openly gay from the start of the series.
When the show was confirmed to be animated, it was confirmed that Wind Sun Sky Entertainment and its partner company, Skybound North, would be animating and co-producing the series.
The series title sequence is recognized by appearing right where a character would have said "Invincible", typically the first instance in each episode. Throughout the first season, the title sequence also becomes bloodier with each episode. Kirkman revealed that he wanted to represent the dark days that lay ahead by using the increasingly bloody title cards. Racioppa revealed that he wanted each episode to be different from the previous ones to convince the audience to not skip it. The animation style borrows from the look of Saturday morning cartoons from the early 2000s, and has also been noted for its anime-like visuals and aesthetics.
On January 22, 2021, during a livestream celebrating the 18th anniversary of the first issue of Invincible, Kirkman revealed that the series would debut on March 25, 2021 (midnight EST), with the first 3 episodes. The remaining episodes would release weekly thereafter.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of Invincible has a 98% approval rating, based on 88 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The site's consensus reads: "With bold animation, bloody action, and an all-star cast led by the charming Steven Yeun, Invincible smartly adapts its source material without sacrificing its nuanced perspective on the price of superpowers." Metacritic reported a score of 73 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews" for the first season.
Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the show a B rating, stating that "Kirkman's adaptation is provocative, surprising, and sometimes challenging, as it constantly tries to disrupt the accepted ideas of its genre, whether that's the superhero genre, the teen drama genre, or the misguided notion that animation is a genre unto itself." Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture stated that "the series has a palpable 'more of an eight-hour movie' thing going on, and the potential of that model is that it will all coalesce in the end into this glorious, big, transfixing story" but also adds that "the pitfall is that it makes these opening episodes a little weaker; there are so many characters happening here, so many story threads to put in place, that it's hard to know what to invest in as a viewer." Caroline Framke from Variety commented: "Now, of course, Kirkman is the wildly successful co-creator and executive producer of 'The Walking Dead,' so even those who might not have picked up an 'Invincible' comic might be interested in this spry, hourlong animated series that somehow manages to be both snarky and earnest within the same breath." William Hughes from The A.V. Club praised the series for its animation and stated: "Funny, exciting, and emotionally smartâÂÂseriously, Sandra Oh is killing it hereâÂÂInvincible isn't bulletproof. But, like its increasingly burdened hero, it's trying. And sometimes, in the superhero game, that's all you can really do." Bob Strauss from Datebook praised the show, commenting: "While you can't describe 'Invincible' as gritty, it does feel like the right kind of animated super-show for an era marked by Zack Snyder's dark-hued 'Justice League' reconstruction and Amazon's own, ultra-pathological take on the genre, 'The Boys.' It's as clean-looking as any program we grew up with, but it has the dirtier stuff we secretly wanted."
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN gave the first season an 8 out of 10, stating the season "is great, thanks to its unique action and strong character-centric gravitas" and that the show "combines familiar superhero tropes with unexpected gore and moving character dynamics, resulting in the year's most surprising superhero series." Alan Sepinwall from Rolling Stone stated: "As the series moves along, Kirkman and company begin introducing twists to what we think is the formula â perhaps too many. Even within three episodes, the number of reversals and secrets pile so high that it can be hard to invest in certain characters and scenes, rather than trying to guess what will come next." Roxana Hadadi from RogerEbert.com praised the series for its story and animation, commenting: "'Invincible' sets up those questions quickly and engagingly in these first three installments, wraps them in a mystery, and then splatters them with blood. It's not an entirely new approach for this genre, but the familiarity of 'Invincible' is forgivable in light of the confidence that both Kirkman and Yeun bring to the material. They're the reason to watch." Niv M. Sultan from Slant Magazine gave the first season 3.5 stars of 4, and commented, "Invincible recaptures what our current glut of superhero fiction largely loses sight of: the pleasure that superheroes must feel when wielding their powers. Not the sacred satisfaction of helping the downtrodden, but the id-centered thrills of soaring through the sky and inflicting hurt on those deemed deserving." Louis Chilton from The Independent gave the series 3 stars of 5 and stated, "Invincible often seems derivative; perhaps its ideas were more groundbreaking in the original early-2000s comics. Some of its characters are unapologetic parodies (the Batman facsimile "Darkwing", for example), and you could easily go through picking out elements or story ideas that have cropped up in Watchmen, or The Incredibles, or Sky High, or Misfits. But there are still some good bones to its premise, and just enough subversiveness to let you ignore the fact this is a story you've seen a hundred times before."
Invincible was nominated for Best Animated Series or Animated Television Movie at the Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards, and for Best Animated Show at the Dorian TV Awards.