It’s been a long wait for the second season of Prime Video’s animated superhero series Invincible, but that wait is almost over. Season 2 continues the story of Mark Grayson, a teen hero still learning the ropes of the superhero game. This time around, Mark is coming to terms with his father’s heartbreaking betrayal and the rise of new villains like the dimension-hopping Angstrom Levy.
IGN was able to speak with Invincible creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman about what to expect from the new season. Read on to learn much more about the fallout of Invincible’s battle with Omni-Man and the rise of Angstrom Levy. We’ve also got a pair of new images that reveal how the series is adapting Levy’s distinctive comic book appearance.
Meet Angstrom Levy, Invincible’s Arch-Nemesis
Season 2 will introduce a number of new characters to this already sprawling superhero universe, but perhaps none more important than Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown). In the comic, Levy is essentially Invincible’s arch-nemesis, a dimension-hopper hellbent on harnessing the knowledge of his other selves and obsessed with destroying Mark Grayson. As Kirkman explains, that rivalry is going to be a huge focus in Season 2, supplanting even the simmering conflict between Mark and his absentee father.
“I think that a lot of people who haven't read the comic are probably expecting Season 2 to have another advancement of the core story between Mark and Nolan,” Kirkman says. “I think that the opportunity is there to show them, no, Invincible is a big story, and it covers a lot of ground, and it's not just Mark and Nolan over, and over, and over again. There's certainly aspects of that. If you're a big Nolan fan, be excited for season two, but there are so many other stories in Mark's world and Angstrom Levy is a big signifier of that.”
Kirkman adds, “This is a character that kind of comes in at a time when Nolan is gone and really becomes a Mark-centric villain, and is one of the first villains that really put Mark through his paces and showed him as a capable superhero. Another thing that I see people talking about with season one is, ‘When is Mark going to start winning fights?’ He starts winning fights in Season 2. He still does lose fights, though. Angstrom Levy is another big part of that, just showing Mark as a capable superhero who can stand on his own and to really give people a sense of what this show really is about.”
Based on the images, Levy isn’t diverging much from the source material when it comes to the look of this villain. His pursuit of absolute power leaves him scarred and malformed, fueling his hatred of Invincible. But Kirkman hints that the series will veer from the comics when it comes to Levy’s portrayal.
"Angstrom as brought to life by Sterling K. Brown is a more lively, more vibrant version of what we know from the comics,” Kirkman says. “What Sterling has been able to wring out of our scripts is something real and vibrant and genuine. A true villain, with a solid core of understanding that makes him as sympathetic and relatable as he is dangerous and terrifying."
Kirkman adds, “There's a sympathy for his character that I don't think is present in the comic. It's possibly something that I intended, and maybe if I was a better writer, I would've been able to achieve on the page, but when you have an actor actually delivering the lines and living through that character and giving him this well-rounded, realistic emotion, there's just a sympathy for Angstrom Levy that comes through much more than I expected, and that's all Sterling.”
When asked what made Brown the right actor to play such a key role in the series, Kirkman praised the actor’s “amazing range.” The series introduces many versions of Angstrom Levy from across the multiverse, and that range was critical in bringing so many sides of Angstrom Levy to life.
“If you look at his body of work, Sterling is able to play larger-than-life characters,” Kirkman says. “He can be humble, thoughtful, caring, maniacal, flamboyant, just insanely gripping. When you have a character like Angstrom Levy that goes through some transformations personality-wise and also exists in a multiverse, you want somebody that can be all-encompassing in the way that you would expect.”
Kirkman also points out that while the multiverse concept does come into play regarding Levy’s powers and alternate selves, the series won’t be preoccupied with the multiverse in the same way the MCU has been in recent years. In this case, the multiverse is more a means to an end than a prime mover of the plot.
“I think if Angstrom Levy's the backbone villain, I think that that's his core story,” Kirkman says. “I don't think that we lean on it too heavily, and I also want to stress that we're exploring the multiverse in a much different way. I think that there's no end of movies and TV shows that are exploring that right now. We have a slightly different angle on it that I think makes it fresh and new, but yeah, it's a big part of who his character is. His natural superpower is that he can access other dimensions, and so we're following him on his journey as he tries to utilize that power in certain ways that over time possibly get corrupted. So yeah, we're following him on this journey and seeing where things lead, and that puts him on a collision course with Invincible in the worst possible way.”
Mark Grayson’s Journey In Season 2
As far as coming-of-age stories go, Invincible: Season 1 wasn’t exactly an uplifting experience. Steven Yeun’s Mark Grayson tried and often failed to live up to the example of his father, the world-renowned hero Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons). Mark has struggled to balance his newfound superhero career with the day-to-day pressures of high school and dating. That’s to say nothing of the tragic Season 1 finale, where Mark learns the horrible truth about his father and is beaten nearly to death by the man he once revered.
Naturally, all of that pain and hardship is fueling the conflict in Season 2. As Kirkman explains, Mark is a little older and a little wiser, and he’s trying to come to terms with the fact that Invincible now has to fill the void left by Omni-Man.
“I think we kind of hit the ground running with a lot of chaos,” Kirkman tells IGN. “Mark and Debbie are dealing with a huge betrayal of Nolan and his absence on the planet is something that's affecting them deeply. Mark is in this place where he was on this trajectory to become this superhero, and everything seemed to be going really well. Now, he's been shaken to his core. Aside from the betrayal, he's also left with being the new last line of defense on Earth. He's the guy that's the only one strong enough to actually replace Nolan, so he's kind of thrust further into this superhero world that he may not quite be prepared for, and there's no end of conflict that's boiling on the planet that is coming at him nonstop.”
Invincible is a science fiction series as much as it is a superhero one, dealing with concepts like cloning, alternate dimensions and the existence of multiple interstellar empires. Earth is just a small drop in the bucket of this much larger universe, and that’s something Mark will also come to terms with in Season 2.
“We start to dip our toe more into the cosmic aspects of the show,” Kirkman says. “I think that with Allen the Alien, and with all the talk of the Viltrumites, and with Nolan leaving the planet, there was definitely a sense that there was a larger story going on in Season 1. We're going to finally start to see more of that in Season 2. The Coalition of Planets are going to slowly become a core aspect of the show, and that begins in Season 2, and there's an expanding of the scope that will happen from season to season, and that kind of kicks off with Season 2 in a big way.”
How Omni-Man and Atom Eve Fit In
With so much emphasis on Angstrom Levy in Season 2, fans may be wondering where Omni-Man fits in. Those who have read the comic will know that the fallout of Mark and Nolan’s big fight is something that plays out over a very wide span of time. Viewers shouldn’t necessarily expect a big rematch between father and son right away, but nor does Nolan’s current absence mean he’s going to be MIA this season.
“The less said about Nolan, I think the better at this point,” Kirkman teases. “I'll just say that I wouldn't wager that we'll go the entire season without seeing him. He'll probably crop up when you least expect it, and he may be popping up in ways that you wouldn't necessarily expect. So, I think I've said as much as I can say.”
Fans can also expect plenty more from Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) in Season 2. Eve recently starred in her own standalone special that revealed her tragic back-story, and that special plays directly into Eve’s role in Season 2 and beyond.
“I think Atom Eve is an essential character in the life of Invincible, and over the course of what we hope will be a many-season show, you'll see just how important she is. Her importance to this universe is really firmly established in that special,” Kirkman says. “That special is absolutely essential viewing. It's definitely a primer for a lot of the things that happen in Season 2 and 3, and it'll give you a better understanding of this character that is so integral to what we're doing in Invincible. So, yeah, I think it's a great glimpse into her backstory and I think puts her on par with Invincible as far as how much we know about the character and how invested in them we are.”
Will we see more spinoffs of the main series a la “Invincible: Atom Eve?” Kirkman is certainly hopeful, especially with the wealth of Invincible spinoffs and offshoots in the comics.
“I love that [Prime Video] gave us the latitude to do this one,” Kirkman says. “I think that it's kind of an unusual thing to be able to just do a fun one-off episode. So, it's something I'm very fortunate that we were able to do, and I think it adds a lot to the overall structure of the show. It's nice to be able to have this side episode that spotlights a cool character, so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to do more, and I'm very thankful that we got to do this one.”
Invincible Season 2 premieres on Prime Video on November 3, 2023.
source https://www.ign.com/articles/exclusive-first-look-at-invincibles-angstrom-levy-robert-kirkman-discusses-season-2s-new-villain