Invincible Season 3 Just Introduced One Of The Comic's Strongest Villains

Spoilers for "Invincible" to follow.

"Invincible" has wrapped up its third and best season yet. The season 3 finale, "I Thought You'd Never Shut Up," was a high note to bow out on, adapting a story every fan of the original "Invincible" comic has been waiting for.

Back in season 2, the Viltrumite Anissa (Shantel VanSanten) warned Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) if he didn't start conquering Earth, then someone much worse would come to test Invincible's name. Episode 7, "What Have I Done?" concludes with that someone else arriving — Conquest, the oldest of the Viltrumites and their second strongest warrior. That may not sound that impressive when there's less than 50 Viltrumites left, but Conquest lives up to Cecil's nickname for him: "Mr. 10 Times Worse."

Conquest debuted in "Invincible" issues #61-64; he's got the signature Viltrumite mustache, but he shows his age with a scar, a bad eye, crooked teeth, and a golden cybernetic arm.

Image Comics

Conquest's design takes obvious inspiration from Marvel Comics' Thanos; for example, his artificial arm resembles the Infinity Gauntlet, minus the glowing rainbow gems. (For what it's worth, "Invincible" writer Robert Kirkman was 13 years old when Thanos' signature story, 1991's "The Infinity Gauntlet," was published — he definitely wasn't the only young comic fan the story impacted.)

The show's simple art style doesn't capture how puggish and wrinkled Ryan Ottley drew Conquest, but the rest of the episode does the comic justice.

Based on pacing alone, I'd been expecting Conquest to appear in the "Invincible" season 3 finale. This was all but confirmed back during episode 6's set up for the "Invincible War," when Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) lets loose several evil versions of Mark on Earth. As in the comic, Conquest shows up at exactly the worst time; when the Earth is already recovering from a previous Viltrumite invasion.

But it's not just a matter of pacing the show based on the comic. Conquest's arrival ties the season together well. "Invincible" season 3 kicked off with Mark and Cecil (Walton Goggins) falling out, the latter revealing just how scared he is that Mark can't be contained. The season has now wrapped up first with literally evil versions of Mark, and then another unrestrained Viltrumite. "Conquest" is a name that has a similar ring as "Invincible," yet represents its opposite: one is about grinding others under heel, while the other is about withstanding any attack. Hence, the season 3 finale tests whether Invincible can withstand the might of Conquest.

Even since "Invincible" season 1, fans have been speculating about who might play Conquest. His casting wasn't announced ahead of time, so fans are in for a pleasant surprise.

Jonathan Banks (most famous for playing Mike on "Breaking Bad") was announced to be joining "Invincible" before the third season premiere. Many assumed that Banks would be playing Conquest; he hadn't appeared on most fancasting lists, but his raspy old man voice would fit the character.

Then, "What Have I Done?" revealed Banks' character: not Conquest, but the super-strong secret agent Brit. Who the heck could be Conquest, then?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

Kirkman once said he had the "perfect actor" in mind for Conquest. I think it's safe to say now that he was talking about Morgan, an actor who he knows well. Morgan has also played Negan, a key villain on "The Walking Dead" (which is based on Kirkman's long-running zombie comic).

Now, fans had been expecting Morgan would join "Invincible" eventually. Aside from being a "Walking Dead" alum, Morgan shared back in 2023 that he was reading "Invincible."

However, most had been expecting that Morgan would play a different villain: the Viltrumite emperor Thragg (who is now on track to debut in season 4). Morgan's casting as Conquest is thus a left swerve, yet it also makes total sense.

The "Walking Dead" metatext of Morgan as Conquest goes even further. Yeun's breakout role was playing Glenn Rhee on "The Walking Dead," and Kirkman knew Yeun was right for Mark because he'd worked with him before. ("I think that I'll always be wanting to work with Steven Yeun," as Kirkman once told DiscussingFilm.)

On "The Walking Dead" (the comic and TV show alike), Glenn dies when Negan bashes his head in with a baseball bat. Now, on "Invincible," the two actors have faced off again, and Glenn has — spiritually — repaid Negan the favor.

Part of what makes "Invincible" stand out is it combines a colorful world of superheroes running around in eccentric costumes with gore worthy of, well, "The Walking Dead." The story never lets up until the very end, but the Conquest arc is the most memorable bloodletting in the comic. It's essentially an extended, multi-issue action sequence that follows Invincible and Conquest as they pummel each other through the air, again and again. There's several false calms and knockout blows in the fight, only for both Invincible and Conquest to get back up for more.

Both Viltrumites are facing a foe they don't need to hold back against, nor do either of them want to. The fight ends with Mark finally laying Conquest low, headbutting him over and over until his head is mashed into a bloody pancake.

Image Comics

Image Comics

The show can't quite match how relentless the comic feels, but that's a matter of medium. Page-flipping puts you in control of the experience, and when you read the Conquest arc, you swallow a sickening amount of violence all at once because you can't stop reading as fast as you can. Watching a TV series is more passive; the story itself has more control of the pace you consume it. That said, "I Thought You'd Never Shut Up" comes damn close, adapting the comic as well as could be expected.

The episode respects the rhythm and length of the fight; it also uses brief freeze frames for the most striking parts, like when Invincible punches through Conquest's metal arm or when Conquest disembowels Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs). The freeze frames are slow enough to let the impact of the hits sink in, but not enough to feel like a pause from the carnage.

Moment of truth: how's Jeffrey Dean Morgan's performance as Conquest? It's not exactly the loud, raspy growl that I was expecting, but it works! Morgan's Conquest isn't so much a raging brute but something creepier. He rarely raises his voice and his quiet drawl underlines Conquest's sadism; he's not out of control during battle, he's savoring every second. The show also adds a new moment to the fight, one that specifically plays to Morgan's strengths.

While strangling Mark, Conquest admits he's "so lonely" — the other Viltrumites loathe and fear him. He's not a person, he's a singular purpose: "I don't even get a real name." Morgan's voice sounds pained, exactly the right tone to make you wonder if Conquest is being vulnerable or taunting Mark. Then, he answers that suspicion with five words, delivered as cold as ice: "Take it to your grave."

"Invincible" is streaming on Prime Video.