Will 'Invincible's' Calm Finale Lead to an Explosive Season 5?
Invincible just produced its bloodiest battle ever in the penultimate episode of season 4. Mark, Nolan, and the rest of the resistance team took out the Viltrumites' home planet, but all that did was induce future chaos in the galaxy.
Thragg isn't going to let them get away with destroying Viltrum that easily, right? This type of question is ringing in Mark's head with incessant trauma after he returns home to Earth. The entire finale episode teases both Mark and the fans watching at home with the possibility that Thragg's group will arrive at any moment to kill everyone on the planet.
As it turns out, the twist is that they had already arrived when Mark least expected it. While he thought Thragg would annihilate the ones he loves with massive bloodshed, instead, the Grand Regent comes with an offering that Mark has no choice but to accept.
A deal is made for the remaining Viltrumites to repopulate using the human race as a breeding partner. It's the least violent resolution possible, but also the one that spits in the eye of Mark and Nolan's mission to erase their species from the universe.
The whole storyline is a brilliantly calm and introspective finish to a season that didn't need any more fireworks. We have already seen enough of Invincible and Omni-Man failing to punch a hole in Thragg's face. We've already seen Oliver get beaten to death enough for one season.
While some fans may have been expecting another climactic encounter, the series fantastically set up for next season and beyond with a storyline that makes season 5 about a cold war between these oppositional forces to juxtapose the brazen and bloody encounters of season 4.
Invincible was starting to feel a little too close to the finish line, considering the show is going to go several more seasons. When something peaks too soon, you get a wimpering second half of a series that fans lose interest in. The show is also made by the man whose previous series was infamous for this (Robert Kirkman/The Walking Dead).
Instead, we get a much-needed reset. Mark's battle to maintain humanity by helping the Viltrumites survive is contradictory, but the only one that just might save the ones he loves. Invincible has always been about family and what makes someone a true hero. Mark will get to fight for that principle in a whole new way next season and in all the rest of the seasons to come.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 2:17 PM.