Invincible (2021) is back for Season 4 and still going strong. The mature superhero series tracks the journey of Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), who, upon learning he is half human and half Viltrumite, struggles to become a hero in his own right, outside the dark legacy of his father, Omni-Man (J. K. Simmons). His struggle to forge a path separate from his father has never been so challenging as in Season 4, as he’s coming off of major trauma and prepared to accept a by-any-means-necessary approach to stopping evil.
Despite being poised to inflict significant damage on his enemies, viewers have noticed something is off with Mark in Invincible Season 4. He has had time to hone his powers, let go of some of his inhibitions, and faced off with another Viltriumite. Based on his trajectory, he should be on a power level we’ve never seen before. Instead, viewers have noticed he seems surprisingly weak. While Mark has certainly taken some hard hits this season, it’s debatable whether he is truly weaker or whether certain factors are creating the illusion of weakness.
Is Trauma Taking A Toll On Mark In ‘Invincible’ Season 4?
One of the easiest explanations for why Mark has struggled with his enemies in Invincible Season 4, from Dinosaurus (Matthew Rhys) to Universa (Danai Gurira), is due to his mental state. Season 3 saw him experience some of his most significant trauma yet after Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) targeted his family, and Conquest (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) nearly killed him and Eve (Gillian Jacobs). Not only were those he loved threatened, but countless people died as a result of Angstrom and Conquest’s attacks. To top it off, Mark’s reputation took a hit when Angstrom utilized Invincible variants to wreak havoc on Earth.
By the start of Season 4, he’s still wearing copper braces as his body heals from the multiple fractures he sustained in his fight with Conquest. Mark is also in a dark state mentally, struggling with guilt, regret, and fear as he weighs whether he needs to become a killer to stop his enemies from causing such carnage in the future. His apparent weakness could be as simple as the fact that he’s plain exhausted. His body needs time to heal, his heart isn’t in the fight, and he hasn’t taken a day off to aid in the recovery process.
While we like to think superheroes are “invincible,” it’s often more realistic for shows to acknowledge that even superheroes need time to recover. Superman & Lois (2021) Season 4 sees a weakened Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) forced to recover after a near-lethal battle with Doomsday, while Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) frequently needed rest and recovery from severe injuries in Daredevil (2015). Although they were temporarily weakened, they came back stronger than before, and the same could be true for Mark as he navigates a realistic setback in Invincible Season 4.
Is The Powerscaling Off In ‘Invincible’ Season 4?
Another factor that influences Mark’s perceived strength or weakness in Invincible Season 4 is powerscaling. Powerscaling is essentially how powerful we perceive a character to be compared to other characters. For example, Mark is stronger than the members of the Guardians, so logically, he should be stronger than any of the villains that the Guardians can defeat or go toe-to-toe with. A lot of times, powerscaling can even transcend franchises. Fandoms love to use projects like Superman (2025) and Dragon Ball Z (1996) as benchmarks for powerscaling, with discussions like “Who would win in a battle between Goku and Superman?”
However, lazy powerscaling can sometimes defy logic when a character defeats a Superman-level enemy but shortly after can’t fight a street-level villain. Invincible’s powerscaling is hard to gauge. It could just be that he’s fighting villains who are more powerful than we realize, such as the robots designed specifically to fight Omni-Man. At the same time, though, now that the show hinted he can best Conquest, he should be making quick work of most of the villains in the universe. Subtle powerscaling or broken powerscaling could explain Mark’s apparent weakness in Invincible Season 4.
The Evolution Of Mark Grayson In ‘Invincible'
Perhaps the most logical explanation for Mark’s confusing power level in Invincible is his evolution. Mark isn’t the same person in Invincible Season 4 that he was in prior seasons. The show has seen him evolve significantly, from a confused, reckless new superhero to a very serious, mature hero. One of Mark’s greatest strengths in Season 4 is his awareness of his powers. He knows that, if necessary, he can end a battle with a single blow, and has already done so. Hence, we presume he’s consciously holding back in other battles because he understands his power but isn’t willing to use it unless necessary.
It’s a trajectory that other heroes have taken. Viewers may complain that Professor X (Patrick Stewart) appeared weak in the X-Men movies, when, in reality, he is one of the strongest mutants who simply chooses to show restraint. Sometimes, the most powerful heroes aren’t the ones who show you the devastating upper limit of their power, but those who have the poise and maturity to hold back the true extent of their strength.
