Robert Kirkman Breaks Down INVIBCIBLE Season 3, Why Mark's Future Should Scare You, and Lessons Learned from THE WALKING DEAD

Robert Kirkman knows how to wreck a superhero emotionally and physically, and Invincible Season 3 is a showcase of that skill. As the second half of the season wrapped on Prime Video, fans were left reeling from the mental toll on Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), his brutal battle with Conquest, and the growing realization that Mark may be heading down a darker path than anyone expected.

In a recent interview with Deadline, Kirkman offered a candid breakdown of Mark’s psychological spiral, his complicated relationship with his half-brother Oliver, and how experience from The Walking Dead helped shape a more structurally sound adaptation this time around.

Mark’s Crossroads

Season 3 is all about what kind of man—and hero—Mark is becoming. One of the most telling dynamics this year is the brotherly bond (or fracture) between Mark and Oliver, the half-Viltrumite sibling he barely knows but is now responsible for mentoring. The tension between their moral codes becomes a mirror that Mark can’t look away from.

“I think it’s good to give Mark as many outside influences as possible,” Kirkman said. “...One of the results of interacting with his father was that he brought Oliver home. Oliver has the same dad but is from an alien world... For Mark, his feelings can sometimes be scary when he seemingly agrees with some of the crazy things that Oliver is saying.”

That inner conflict is no small matter. As Kirkman explains, Oliver starts off saying “harsh things that make you worry,” but by the end of the season, Mark finds himself more aligned with his brother than before. “So, by the end of this season, you should be worried for where Mark is headed in Season 4 and beyond.”

A Relentless Descent

Mark's downward arc isn’t just philosophical, it’s paved in blood. From Powerplex to the Invincible War and finally to his knock-down, drag-out fight with Conquest, Kirkman makes clear that the exhaustion and trauma have layered onto Mark’s conscience in ways that aren’t going away.

“He is unsure of himself and fears that he could be on the path getting closer and closer to what Omni-Man was... Without having any time to process that or work through it... Conquest comes and does more damage that Mark feels responsible for,” Kirkman said.

It's that spiral of grief, guilt, self-doubt, then rage that sets the stage for Season 4’s more dangerous version of Mark. As Kirkman put it, “We’re trying to deal with what it would be like to have the burden of the responsibility of having this much power... and we’re excited about how the show goes into some really dark places.”

The Teenage Factor

But this is still a coming-of-age story, and Mark’s contradictions are intentional.

“He’s a somewhat erratic character by design,” Kirkman noted. “We’re constantly pushing this character to make bold statements and then go against those statements... That’s kind of the life that we all experienced as a teenager... and it’s fun to see a character go through that same process while he’s able to crush planets.”

Walking Dead Wisdom

If Invincible feels more structurally sound than The Walking Dead ever was. Kirkman says the experience of adapting a comic he hadn’t finished yet taught him some hard lessons.

“There were times [on The Walking Dead] when it was like, ‘Yeah, let’s make that different. That’ll be fun.’ But then you get to Season 6–Season 9, and you have entire storylines from the comic that don’t work anymore...”

Now, with Invincible, Kirkman says they’ve done the opposite. “There’s a lot of decisions that were made on Invincible Season 1–Season 3... so that when we’re going Season 5–Season 6... we know the track has been laid.”

The Conquest Challenge

Of course, making Invincible isn’t just emotionally demanding, it’s a logistical beast. The fight between Mark and Conquest in the finale was one of the toughest scenes yet to animate. Kirkman revealed:

“We had to get extra board artists to come in... Usually, you have four or five board artists... I think we had six or seven that were doing two to four-minute chunks... It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of effort.”

That battle was a key point of escalation—and that escalation is something Kirkman is intentionally building season after season. “We’re trying to make the show an escalating show... so that when you watch the show, you get a sense of growth... and intensifying stakes.”

The Role of Violence

As for the show’s signature blood-and-guts spectacle? Kirkman says the violence only works if it means something.

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

And while streaming gives them room to push boundaries, Kirkman points to The Boys as the trailblazer that lets Invincible fly under the radar. “I get to watch that show and go, ‘We can do anything.’”

Where It’s All Going

Mark Grayson may have set out to be Earth’s protector, but Season 3 leaves us with a much more complicated reality: he’s not just battling villains anymore—he’s fighting who he might become. And that, according to Kirkman, is exactly the point.

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

If that’s not a warning shot, nothing is.