'Invincible' Just Recreated the Most Shocking Scene From Season 1

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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 3 Episode 3 of Invincible.Invincible Season 3 is off to a great start so far, delivering long-overdue developments both to Mark's (Steven Yeun) power levels and personal relationship with Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs), and both plot points naturally provide audiences with plenty of memorable moments in this season's three-episode premiere. Between the latter's attempts at romance and the resurgence of Doc Seismic (Chris Diamontopoulos), the start of the latest installment in the hit animated series is filled with all the awkwardness and action that make Invincible so enjoyable, but that doesn't mean Mark's journey has gotten any less brutal. The Invincible Season 3 premiere has no shortage of bloodshed, and the goriest moment of the season so far doubles as a recreation of the most shocking moment from Invincible Season 1.

The gorefest unfolds about halfway through Season 3, Episode 2, "A Deal With The Devil." After Mark confronts Cecil (Walton Goggins) about working with D.A. Sinclair (Eric Bauza) and Season 2's Darkwing II (Cleveland Berto) in order to rescue Earth's heroes from Doc Seismic, Cecil becomes anxious around Mark's rising hostility and instigates a confrontation. Due to Mark's speed and Cecil's teleportation, their showdown concludes at the Guardians of the Globe's headquarters, where Mark's final rampage against Cecil's Reanimen directly mirrors Omni-Man's (J.K. Simmons) massacre of the previous Guardians of the Globe at the end of Invincible's first episode. Aside from acting as a callback to one of the series' most iconic — and horrifying — moments, this connection also carries deeper implications for Mark's character development and the future of Invincible's story.

Even now, it's hard to think of any one event throughout Invincible's story that solidified the series' dark, subversive tone as effectively as Omni-Man's original rampage. For those unfamiliar with the source material, the slaughter of the original Guardians of the Globe was the moment when the series' resident Superman revealed his true nature, baffling audiences accustomed to superhero team-up stories and completely altering the trajectory of Mark's otherwise predictable coming of age. And while Omni-Man's character is currently growing past his Viltrumite callousness with Seth Rogen's Allen the Alien, Mark's recreation of his father's massacre represents the latest example of their growing resemblance, with the similarities between both scenes too glaring to ignore.

On a surface level, the physical staging and circumstances of each fight are largely the same, with Mark surrounded by assets belonging to Cecil's Global Defense Agency in the gathering area of the Guardians of the Globe's main headquarters. Similarly, after Rudy (Zachary Quinto) nullifies the sonic device Cecil planted in Mark's brain to incapacitate him, Mark's channels his recent training from Season 3 into a vengeful rampage against the Reanimen that mirrors his father's attacks against the former guardians almost on a blow-by-blow basis. The most noticeable visual connection is when Mark crushes one of the Reanimen's heads between his bare hands in the exact same way as Omni-Man murders Red Rush (Michael Cudlitz) in the series premiere, and the scene ends with Mark standing over a similar body count next to a similarly blood-spattered ground. These details make it impossible not to view Mark through a nearly identical lens as we view his father, subsequently making Cecil's viewpoint more understandable.

Mark’s Battle Against the Reanimen Offers Balance to ‘Invincible’ Season 3’s Moral Argument

Given that Mark's attack is in reaction to Cecil's betrayal and Omni-Man slaughters the guardians during Invincible's premiere without provocation, Mark clearly is nowhere nearly as bad as his father, but this callback does serve a deeper purpose in the context of Invincible's overarching narrative. Despite Mark killing Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) at the end of Season 2 in a scene that also parallels his father's final attack on him in Season 1, Mark's moral compass still hasn't slipped so far into Omni-Man's apathy that he is considered a public enemy like his multiversal variants. As a result, the invasive precautions Cecil takes against Mark immediately come off as paranoid and a breach of the trust the pair have slowly built throughout the last two seasons. That is, until Mark slaughters Cecil's entire squad of Reanimen.

While Mark is justified in his enraged display of power, Mark's resemblance to his father's unbridled power during this moment also demonstrates why Cecil is justified in being afraid. The callback highlights Mark's potential for causing just as much damage as his father in the most public exhibition of his strength yet, a potential which is written all over the startled faces of the current Guardians of the Globe as they watch Mark's attack in terrified awe. Therefore, this scene serves an important function in the ongoing thematic argument that has been playing out in the background of the series so far. While it's easy to see Cecil as a jaded bureaucrat whose cynicism prevents him from distinguishing Mark from Omni-Man, Mark's attack balances that perspective with a terrifying reality check, a demonstration of Mark's wrath that reiterates how he is now also capable of the same breathtaking violence.

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The consequences of this scene promise to reverberate throughout the future of Invincible on both a global scale and a deeply personal level for Mark. Not only do Cecil's actions split the current Guardians of the Globe and lead to the recreation of Invincible's old Teen Team, but Mark's attack on Cecil shortly after dispatching his Reanimen also drastically escalates the tension between the two. With Oliver (Christian Convery) likewise acting loosely with his powers when he murders the Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson) in Season 3, Episode 3, Cecil now has more reason than ever to be wary of Earth's two remaining Viltrumites, and Mark has similarly proven that he is more willing to embody his father's rage than ever.

Given that the series cuts out a line from the Invincible comics that ties directly into Mark's changing perspective, it's possible the series won't see Mark fully evolving into the next generation version of his father, but nevertheless, this Season 1 callback doesn't bode well for Mark's immediate future. Despite Eve adding some much-needed balance to his life, Mark's unresolved conflict with Cecil, lackluster attempts to control his brother, and rapidly increasing strength all raise the possibility that the character will be pushed beyond his own limits in the near future. By reminding us that Mark is more like his father than even he might admit, this moment therefore raises serious questions about how Mark may continue to change throughout Season 3 and even Invincible Season 4, bringing both the superhero and Earth closer and closer to crossing dangerous lines.

Invincible is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.