Aaron Paul’s Invincible Season 3 Villain Is A Marvelous Riff On A Spider-Man Foe

This article contains spoilers for “Invincible.”

A superhero is only as good as their villains. “Invincible” knows this and has produced some memorable enemies for Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) — from his own father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), an alien invader disguised as a superhero, to dimension-traveler Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown). The sixth and latest episode of “Invincible” season 3 — “All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” — introduces another foe worthy of Invincible, one who poses the questions that Mark needs to be asking himself.

Now, “Invincible” creator Robert Kirkman has so far failed to get Bryan Cranston on the show, but Cranston’s former “Breaking Bad” co-star Aaron Paul is another story. Paul was announced to be joining “Invincible” back in January, shortly before the season premiered, and his character is Scott Duvall/Powerplex. 

“Invincible” pulls a lot from the stories of Spider-Man. Mark doesn’t do whatever a spider can, but like Peter Parker, he’s a young man trying to find his place in the world. His normal stresses, like family and work, are even harder because he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. As of season 3, Mark now has his own redheaded girlfriend in Atom Eve (Gillian Jacobs) too. 

Some of Invincible’s villains also mirror Spider-Man ones; the Elephant (John DiMaggio) is a clear stand-in for the Rhino. Powerplex, who can generate and blast electricity, is Invincible’s very own Electro. One of Spider-Man’s oldest foes, Max Dillon was originally depicted as a simple thug; a lineman who got a very lucky shock and tried to cash in. Some later Electro depictions, like Jaime Foxx’s Max in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” have made him a more pitiable character. Powerplex goes a step beyond that, being a villain who truly makes your heart ache.

“All I Can Say Is I’m Sorry” opens during Invincible and Omni-Man’s fight back in the season 1 finale, which leveled Chicago and killed thousands. Among those casualties were Scott’s sister and niece, Jessica and Gretchen. Worse, Scott saw them die when Omni-Man flung Invincible into their apartment building, causing it to crumble.

Scott holds Invincible responsible, believing he’s a murderer no better than Omni-Man, and conspires with his wife Becky (Kate Mara) to see “justice” through. We know Mark isn’t truly responsible, but the episode itself and Paul make you feel for Powerplex. Even if he’s misguided, you spend the episode hoping he can get some catharsis, or that he and Mark can reach an understanding. Sadly, that doesn’t come.

Thanks to his day job at the Global Defense Agency (GDA), Scott can steal some power-enhancing disks to boost his mild energy abilities. He tries calling Invincible out by disturbing the peace; after two failed attempts, he only gets him by pretending to hold Becky and their baby son Jack hostage. As Powerplex roasts Invincible, his powers accidentally strike and kill his family too; he’s imprisoned at the episode’s end, but even locked away, his hatred for Invincible still surges through him.

Now, this episode is a faithful adaptation of Powerplex’s original appearance, “Invincible” issue #59. The major beats are all there but stretched out a bit to fill 50 minutes (not that this hurts or drags the episode). That comic was published in 2009, but watching the episode now, one can’t help but think of the two biggest superhero movies of 2016: “Batman v Superman” and “Captain America: Civil War.”

Both of those films centered on how superheroes should be governed to limit collateral damage and ensure oversight of beings with power. Omni-Man vs Invincible is especially similar to Superman and Zod’s clash from “Man of Steel,” with two flying, super-strong aliens demolishing a city. Like Batman, Powerplex thinks Invincible is too powerful to exist above the law, and like Zemo from “Civil War,” he lost a loved one thanks to a hero’s failure and is out for revenge.

Aaron Paul has limited voice acting experience, but he is excellent as Powerplex. Scott has that trembling yell of anger and despair that Paul used during Jesse Pinkman’s lowest moments on “Breaking Bad.” (Those moments that made Jesse the show’s soul.) Circling back to the original comparison, Paul as Powerplex reminded me of Crispin Freeman’s amazing voice work as a temperamental Electro in “The Spectacular Spider-Man.”

The big theme of “Invincible” this season is accountability — and how Mark can take it for himself. He’s cut ties with GDA head Cecil Stedman (Walton Goggins), but despite how shady Cecil operates, no one can call him entirely wrong for fearing Mark’s power. Mark is also feeling the need to be his best self because he has to set the right example for his little brother Oliver (Christian Convery), and finding that even though a good heart steers you on the right path, it won’t give you all the answers on how to walk that path. Powerplex is there to remind Invincible his failures have consequences, and in the end, Mark can’t give Scott an answer beyond promising to be better and remember his loved ones — which gives Scott no solace at all.

Mark’s characterization is one reason “Invincible” is beating “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” at its own game. Mark Grayson may be Invincible, but he’s not perfect.

“Invincible” is streaming on Prime Video.