Quick Links
The recent trend of splitting seasons into more than one part has understandably angered fans. When it was announced that Invincible Season 2 would be split up into two parts, fans were similarly upset, given how long the season took to reach them in the first place. It’s been announced that Invincible Season 3 won’t be given the same treatment, which suggests that valuable lessons have been learned, although the fact that they had to learn them at all is more than concerning.
Splitting up the season not only caused backlash but pointed to a desire to keep people subscribed to Prime Video over any creative decision. The TV format simply doesn’t suit this straight down-the-middle split (despite what Netflix thinks), in the same way that the binging style is also beginning to crumble under its weight. The sense of excitement going from week to week gave TV a sense of community away from the ‘prestige’ of movies.
The binge model was novel at the beginning because it felt like lightning was being captured, like releasing mad shoppers on Black Friday. However, the model of splitting a season into two parts points to a worrying trend in the industry of prioritizing subscriber retention and manufacturing buzz instead of naturally creating it.
- Release Date
- March 26, 2021
- Seasons
- 2
Why Splitting Up Invincible Season 2 Into Two Parts Was a Mistake
Wherever the idea came from — if you split up a season into two parts, you could force audiences to hold on to their subscriptions for longer — it’s actively hurting the industry. Invincible is no different. For an animated superhero show so clearly tied to its comic book source material, cutting the momentum of a season in two ruined the sense of narrative pacing and progression built into the comic book format that the show manages to condense into an eight-episode season instead of several comic book issues.
Invincible’s narrative arcs succeed in subverting specific superhero staples, like the traditional growth of a superhero identity. Invincible takes on a lot of narrative pressure early on, and the scale increases every season. Splitting up Invincible Season 2 made it much harder to retain the show’s tonal shape, especially as Mark Grayson shifted towards a darker version of himself.
Related
Outer Banks Season 4’s Mid-Season Twist, Explained
Everything we know about JJ could be about to change.
Invincible’s unique tone of violence and familial threat relies on a progression of stakes, like most seasons of TV. Splitting up a season not only makes it harder to keep audiences invested, but it also punctures the show’s world, which is being intensified either week-to-week or all at once with a binge. When someone watches a season, they know in their heads how long they have to stay locked in the world of it. Breaking it up into two parts, like Invincible, would only make it harder to maintain the necessary pressure on the characters.
You Cannot Create Hype for the Same Season Twice
There’s so much that goes into building hype around a new season of TV. The extensive press runs and the marketing push all mean that an audience’s focus is pushed toward one release date. To demand an audience split their attention on your show, with the sea of however many they are watching at any one time, is not a reliable gamble unless your show is the biggest thing on TV. Invincible has its devoted audience for sure, but not like Stranger Things, a show that entirely occupies the conversation when it releases new seasons.
Related
Invincible Season 2 Review: There Is No Such Thing as Superhero Fatigue
The hit animated R-rated superhero show returns with another epic season which proves that superhero fatigue can’t apply to great art.
You cannot build hype in the same way twice. Invincible Season 2 is like any other show, desperate to keep attention. But, attention is limited, and splitting up a season into chunks makes it feel like forced homework, something that the MCU has learned in the past. To split up a show into two parts is to assert itself and its value; instead of trying to earn viewers, it assumes it already has them. Thankfully, Invincible Season 3 will not have this problem, meaning Mark will be able to fly through the sky freely without having to stop mid-flight because the channel has been changed. Invincible Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Prime Video now. Invincible Season 3 is streaming on Feb. 6, 2025.
