One Key Invincible Season 3 Line Teases The Endgame For Mark Grayson

This article contains spoilers for "Invincible."

"We're in the endgame now," declared Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) during "Avengers: Infinity War," signaling the final act of the 21st century's most famous superhero saga. "Invincible" isn't quite there yet; it's about 45% of the way through the original 144-issue Image comic series by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley. However, the ongoing third season of "Invincible" has offered some hints of that endgame.

In the episode "You Were My Hero," Mark/Invincible travels far into the future and discovers his superhero comrade the Immortal (Ross Marquand) rules the planet as a king. The Immortal has gone mad from living too long; he doesn't quite realize that the Mark before him is from the past. Thus, he talks about events that Mark hasn't experienced yet; he mentions Mark getting sick, even though they found a cure for this disease, and claims Mark and his family left him behind on Earth.

Mark is confused, but the Immortal has seen this happen — and if you've read the "Invincible" comics, you have too! This isn't foreshadowing the show added, either. When these events happen in the comic ("Invincible" #54), the Immortal makes the same comments. Kirkman has said that when he began writing "Invincible," he thought it would continue indefinitely — with a rotating door of writers and artists — like every other superhero book. As he stayed with Mark and grew as a writer, he decided he wanted to tell the whole story of "Invincible," including its ending. Either he'd already figured out his ending when he wrote issue #53, or he went back and picked up on the nebulous hints he'd dropped through The Immortal.

So, you show-only "Invincible" fans, rest assured that The Immortal's words about Mark's future will come back into play. But if you don't want to know how the show is (very likely) going to end, stop here. If you don't mind, or if you've already read the comic and just need a refresher, read on.

In the second half of "You Were My Hero," Allen (Seth Rogen) and Mark's dad Nolan/Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) finally escape the Viltrumite prison they've been held in. Nolan reveals a key secret that gives Allen's bosses, the Coalition of Planets, a leg-up against the seemingly unstoppable Viltrum empire: there are less than 50 pure-blooded Viltrumites left.

Even better, two of them are on the heroes' side: Nolan, and the Coalition's leader Thaedus (Peter Cullen, aka Optimus Prime). They may be good guys now, but you can still tell they're Viltrumites by their mustaches. Thaedus' defection and the Viltrumites' meager numbers are related: Thaedus, convinced his people had to be stopped no matter the cost, developed a "Scourge Virus" to wipe them out. The remaining 0.01% of Viltrumites had natural immunity.

In "Invincible" #88, Mark is accidentally exposed to the Scourge Virus, putting him in a coma and then leaving him with no powers. While he's recovering, superhero Bulletproof (played in the show by Jay Pharoah) steps up to fill in as Invincible until Mark returns in #98. (Bulletproof-as-Invincible began in 2012, a year after Miles Morales debuted as Spider-Man, and the arc feels like Kirkman responding to that by introducing a Black successor to his own very Spidey-esque superhero.) 

How does Mark survive? His Viltrumite genes are especially strong because he's secretly part of the royal Viltrum bloodline. When the characters learn this, they realize this also makes Nolan the rightful Viltrumite emperor.

At the end of "Invincible," Mark steps up to take his father's throne, leaving Earth behind with Eve (voiced by Gillian Jacobs in the series) and their daughter, Terra. This functionally immortal family reforms the Viltrumites from an empire into a force for good and justice; Viltrumite uniforms go from white/white-and-red to blue-and-yellow in honor of Mark. The very last page of "Invincible," set far in the future, features a "middle-aged" Mark remembering the question his father asked him long ago: "What will you have after 500 years?!"

At Mark's suggestion, the Immortal steps up to lead the Global Defense Agency (GDA) and keep the peace on Earth. That eventually spirals into him becoming the brutal king and is what he refers to when he says Mark abandoned him. "Invincible" has changed some details from the comics, but the big picture is still the same. So heed the Immortal's words, because they are almost certainly a sign of how this animated retelling will go.

"Invincible" is streaming on Prime Video.