Robert Kirkman breaks the season 3 enhanceable, because Mark’s future should be frightened, and the lessons learned from The Walking Dead

Robert Kirkman knows how to destroy a superhero emotionally and physically, e Invincible Season 3 is a showcase of that ability. While the second half of the season wrapped in the video prime, the fans were left to mental toll on Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), his brutal battle with the conquest and growing realization that Mark could go along a darker path than he expected.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Kirkman offered a sincere rupture of Mark’s psychological spiral, his complicated relationship with his half -brother Oliver and as the experience from Deaths walking This time he contributed to modeling a more structurally healthy adaptation.

Mark’s Crossroads

Season 3 concerns the type of man – and the hero – Mark is becoming. One of the most significant dynamics of this year is the fraternal bond (or fracture) between Mark and Oliver, the brother of Middle Viltrumite who barely knows but is now responsible for the tutoring. The tension between their moral codes becomes a mirror from which Mark cannot look away.

“I think it’s nice to score as many external influences as possible,” said Kirkman. “… One of the results of the interaction with his father was that he brought Oliver at home. Oliver has the same dad but comes from an alien world … For Mark, his feelings can sometimes be frightening when apparently agrees with some of the crazy things that Oliver is saying.”

That inner conflict is no small thing. As Kirkman explains, Oliver begins to say “difficult things that make you worry”, but at the end of the season, Mark finds himself more aligned with his brother as before. “So, at the end of this season, you should be worried about where Mark is directed in season 4 and beyond.”

A relentless descent

Mark’s descendant arch is not only philosophical, it is paved in the blood. From Powerplex to the invincible war and finally to his fight demolished and dragged with the conquest, Kirkman clarifies that the exhaustion and trauma have stratified themselves on Mark’s consciousness in ways that are not leaving.

“He is not sure of himself and of the fear that could be on the road that is getting closer to what Omni-Man was … without having time to elaborate it or working through it … the conquest comes and makes more damage that Mark feels responsible,” said Kirkman.

It is that spiral of pain, fault, doubt, therefore anger that lays the foundations for the most dangerous version of Mark’s season 4. As Kirkman said, “we are trying to deal with what the responsibility of having so much power would be like … and we are excited about how the show goes in some really dark places”.

The teenage factor

But this is still a story of maturity and Mark’s contradictions are intentional.

“He is a slightly irregular character based on the design,” Kirkman observed. “We constantly push this character to make bold statements and then go against those statements … it is a kind of life that we all lived as a teenager … and it is fun to see a character crossing the same process while he is able to crush the planets.”

Walking Dead Wisdom

If invincible feels more structurally healthy than Deaths walking It has never been. Kirkman says that the experience of adapting a comic that had not yet finished has taught him some difficult lessons.

“There were moments [on The Walking Dead] When it was like “yes, we make it different. It will be fun. But then you arrive at season 6 – Season 9 and you have entire textures from the comic that no longer work …”

Now, with Invincible, Kirkman says he has done the opposite. “There are many decisions that have been made in the Invincible season 1 – Season 3 … so that when we go season 5 – Season 6 … we know that the track has been placed.”

The challenge of conquest

Of course, making Invincible is not only emotionally demanding, it is a logistics beast. The struggle between Mark and Conquest in the final was one of the most difficult scenes to animate. Kirkman revealed:

“We had to let the extra -edge artists enter … usually, you have four or five council artists … I think we had six or seven who were making pieces from two to four minutes … it was a type of effort to all hands.”

That battle was a key point of escalation and that escalation is something that Kirkman is intentionally building the season after the season. “We are trying to make the show a growing show … so that when you look at the show, you have a sense of growth … and intensifying the stakes.”

The role of violence

As for the blood show and show gut? Kirkman says violence only works if it means something.

“I don’t really think of violence as we are going too far … I’m thinking, this violence is resulting in the correct emotions that we are trying to arouse …?” he said. “We are trying to press the emotional buttons … in order to have that feeling.”

And while streaming gives them space to push the boundaries, Kirkman indicates the boys as the pioneer who suggests invincible under the radar. “I can look at that show and go,” we can do anything. “”

Where everything is going

Mark Grayson may have decided to be the protector of the earth, but season 3 leaves us with a much more complicated reality: he is not just fighting the bad guys: he is fighting who could become. And this, according to Kirkman, is exactly the point.

“By the end of this season, you should be worried about where Mark is directed in season 4 and beyond.”

If this is not a warning shot, nothing is.