Invincible: Season 4 First Reviews: As Thrilling, Funny, and Thought-Provoking As Ever
Critics say it remains arguably the best superhero show on TV, effectively combining explosive action with intimate storytelling and compelling characters.
The mighty Mark Grayson returns this week with the premiere of Invincible: Season 4 on Prime Video, and the first reviews promise fans won’t be disappointed. Robert Kirkman’s animated superhero adaptation continues to amaze with complex storytelling and brutal action aimed at adults only. However, the debate on its animation quality also remains.
Here’s what critics are saying about Invincible: Season 4:
Is this still one of the best superhero shows on TV right now?
This season cements the show’s status as the most vital superhero story currently on screen.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
[It’s] yet another intense, hyper-violent, and deeply emotional season, proving that the Prime Video series has not lost any of its superpowered magic.
— Nate Richard, Collider
Invincible has once again found a new level to soar above the very superhero stories it parodies so effectively.
— Craig Elvy, Screen Rant
The MCU and DCU have a lot of catching up to do if they want to keep pace with Mark Grayson and company.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
Invincible Season 4 continues to be fantastic and a must-watch for fans of the show.
— Archi Sengupta, LeisureByte.com
Invincible still packs a punch, but in Season 4, the series appears to be going through growing pains.
— Jake Kleinman, Polygon
Does it still feel fresh?
Invincible Season 4 continues to keep things fresh… The show always finds ways to make things exciting.
— Nate Richard, Collider
Invincible picks out a compellingly fresh angle from between the lack of clear-cut answers.
— Craig Elvy, Screen Rant
This season plants its flag as not only the show’s most ambitious chapter, but one of the most emotionally sophisticated entries in superhero storytelling, animated or otherwise.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
[The series] sometimes feels like it’s treading water when it should be swimming forward at superhuman speed.
— Jake Kleinman, Polygon
The show’s self-aware pop-culture quips have started to feel a bit too cute and distracting.
— Isaiah Colbert, io9.com
Has it actually gotten better?
I think it is the best season yet.
— Zach Pope, Zach Pope Reviews
The latest season of Invincible reaches an undeniable series high.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
Invincible really is (still) getting better and better with each season.
— Craig Elvy, Screen Rant
Season 4 earns its keep as both the show’s biggest entry to date and its most intimate.
— Siddhant Adlakha, IGN Movies
Is this season heavy?
Just as you thought things couldn’t get more messed up for Mark and his friends, Invincible Season 4 comes along like a Viltrumic punch in the gut.
— Nate Richard, Collider
Season 4 marks a definitive shift into a more somber, psychological landscape.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
Things might technically be on the upswing from last season, but everyone’s walking on eggshells, bracing themselves for things to inevitably get much, much worse.
— Isaiah Colbert, io9.com
Season 4 finally brings the war to Viltrum, pitching superhero pastiche into something much more cosmic, urgent, and devastating.
— Lyvie Scott, Inverse
But it’s still funny, right?
Moments of levity are sprinkled throughout… A hapless Star Trek-esque crew that is a few protons short of a torpedo [is] among the season’s more zany highlights.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
It does feature a delightful send-up of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
— Siddhant Adlakha, IGN Movies
The season’s funniest moments [include] a running bit about Mark refusing to bow down to Satan, voiced by horror legend Bruce Campbell, who brings out his iconic comedic chops for the role.
— Nate Richard, Collider
How is the plot?
Season 4 dives even deeper than before with what may be Mark’s most compelling storyline to date.
— Nate Richard, Collider
What the script lacks in subtlety, it more than makes up for with its focused approach to Mark’s foes this season.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
Thankfully, Season 4 does eventually sharpen into a more coherent point…still, it takes so long to get there that co-showrunners Robert Kirkman and Simon Racioppa may be forced to sprint through the most interesting part of their own story in the season’s final episodes.
— Jake Kleinman, Polygon
Not to say Invincible season 4 doesn’t get dragged into the odd side quest, but at least it’s a hell of a good one.
— Craig Elvy, Screen Rant
Early episodes are overstuffed with plot threads, and most may be genuinely engrossing, but that doesn’t stop them from muddying the thesis of the season.
— Lyvie Scott, Inverse
What about the animation?
The animation is fantastic as always.
— Archi Sengupta, LeisureByte.com
This season’s animation is the sharpest the show has ever looked. Not perfect, but far from bad.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
The animation has incrementally improved – even if some flying animations are still weak and devoid of life.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
It’s becoming a bit of a shame to see the show’s continued dedication to a near-annual release take a toll, almost completely losing the luster of the animation that was once a series highlight.
— Isaiah Colbert, io9.com
And the action?
The action once again takes centre stage in Invincible. There remains a supreme joy in witnessing Invincible’s knockdown brawls.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
The Viltrumite War sequences are staggering in scope, intergalactic in scale yet startlingly intimate in execution. Every fight carries genuine consequences.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
The space battles are epic, the Viltrumite-on-Viltrumite clashes live up to their billing, and parts of Season 4 feel more like Star Wars and Star Trek than Marvel and DC.
— Craig Elvy, Screen Rant
Episodes 5 and 6’s action sequences, in particular, are some of the most chaotic of the series.
— Nate Richard, Collider
With its fourth season, Invincible dials the action back… Not to say the show lacks its pulsating and often jarring violence; rather, it chooses to engage with what that violence means, rather than simply displaying it.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
Although the show’s action is far from being unwatchable, it’s becoming increasingly distracting to watch otherwise earth-shattering battles loaded with narrative momentum lose steam to obvious animation shortcuts.
— Isaiah Colbert, io9.com
One battle had my jaw hanging on the f—ing floor.
— Zach Pope, Zach Pope Reviews
Are there any standout performances in the voice cast this season?
Sandra Oh continues to deliver fantastic voice work.
— Bradley Russell, GamesRadar+
It’s just nice to get more from [J.K. Simmons], whose work as Omni-Man has always been a major highlight of Invincible.
— Lyvie Scott, Inverse
Then there is Thragg — voiced by Lee Pace with chilling, authoritative menace — who doesn’t need volume to be terrifying. His presence alone recalibrates the threat level of the entire series.
— Michael Sowell, Nerdspin
Are there any major problems?
Some minor pitfalls in its pacing.
— Kaiya Shunyata, RogerEbert.com
I can’t help but wonder if Kirkman and Racioppa are rushing through what should be Invincible’s most important plotline.
— Jake Kleinman, Polygon
Its dithering focus still kept the season from reaching greatness… Invincible is so close to leveling up, if only it’d pick a heading and stick to it.
— Lyvie Scott, Inverse
Invincible: Season 4 premieres on Prime Video on March 18, 2026.
