Invincible: Here’s the Big Problem With Season 3

Invincible’s third season is one of the best television seasons to arrive in 2025 but this doesn’t make it flawless. Mark Grayson’s fight against the villainous Conquest, his own dark doppelgangers from other dimensions, and even Cecil Stedman were some of the best animated battles of the year. Throughout the many traversals of the Earth-bound hero, there was one major element that took something of a backseat to what was taking place. Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, is still dealing with the weight of what he did in season one for the Viltrumite empire and we wish we had seen more of Nolan’s struggle.

Invincible’s second season featured Omni-Man’s surprise return, as Nolan was featured in multiple episodes with not just his reunion with Mark but also thanks to the new life he made for himself on an alien world. Once captured by the Viltrumite Empire, Nolan finds himself trapped in their grasp alongside the likes of Allen the Alien and Battle Beast. While the trio are able to give viewers quite the adventure as they fought against their captors, it didn’t give us as much time exploring Nolan’s present state of mind as we would have liked. The road to redemption is a long one and Nolan’s character arc is sure to be an interesting one.

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Gone But Not Forgotten

While Nolan might not have been featured in as many episodes as the first two Invincible seasons, season three did find ingenious ways to have his shadow touch on Mark’s life. Specifically, the villain known as Powerplex, played by Aaron Paul, made his debut, wanting revenge on Invincible for losing family members in Mark’s fight with his father in season one. It was in this episode specifically where Powerplex makes his debut that we are able to see the differences between Mark and Olliver as the brothers look at what their father did very differently.

Since Olliver wasn’t there to see the carnage firsthand, the half-Viltrumite younger brother to Mark wonders why everyone can’t forgive Omni-Man. On the flip side, Mark finds himself still unable to truly forgive his father for the deaths of so many people when he was a loyal subject of the Viltrumites. While never physically returning to Earth, Nolan’s presence is still felt even when the planet is swarmed with evil Mark Graysons.

Just Like The Comics

To be fair, Nolan’s general absence here plays true to the source material, as Omni-Man was able to escape the clutches of his people thanks to an assist from Allen and Battle Beast. Without diving into spoiler territory, Invincible fans should prepare to see a lot more of Nolan in the future, as well as having some big reunions that no one will be prepared for. With creator Robert Kirkman already confirming that the upcoming fourth season will have a brand new storyline that wasn’t a part of the comics, it will be interesting to see if this underworld tale might give Nolan a chance to return that we hadn’t seen in the Image run.

Luckily, fans won’t have to wait as long for Invincible season four as they had in the past with previous seasons. At present, Kirkman is hoping for the animated series to have around eight seasons to follow all the events that took place in the comics, meaning we should expect a lot more Omni-Man and J.K. Simmons’ portrayal of him in the future.

Want to see when Omni-Man will make a comeback? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on Invincible and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.