Invincible star Steven Yeun has revealed he’s started recording lines for the animated show’s highly anticipated second season.
In the most significant Invincible season 2 development yet, Yeun – who portrays Mark Grayson/Invincible in the R-rated superhero TV series – has confirmed he’s back in the recording booth to conduct work on the Prime Video show.
In a 20-second long video posted on the official Invincible Twitter account, Yeun can be seen and heard saying “Can’t wait to make more…” before the footage cuts to the show’s iconic title card and musical accompaniment. There’s a brief but amusing clip after that involving Yeun, but we won’t spoil it for you before you watch the video.
So, what are you waiting for? Check it out below:
With how many lines he has, his vocal cords really will need to be… pic.twitter.com/0Chd6KvxxQApril 15, 2022
The rest of the video doesn’t tease us about which of Yeun’s lines were being recorded, nor does it provide us with any evidence of a potential season 2 release date. However, the footage officially confirms that Yeun will be spending the next few weeks and months recording his lines for Invincible’s next instalment, which is exciting in itself.
At the time of writing, it’s nearly been 12 months since Invincible’s season 1 finale aired – the brutal, gruesome showdown between Mark and his dad Nolan Grayson, aka Omni-Man, landed on Prime Video on April 29, 2021.
Since that time, fans have been eagerly awaiting the animated series’ next two instalments. Seasons 2 and 3 were greenlit by Amazon Studios on the same day that the first season’s final episode was released, but the wait for season 2’s arrival is likely to continue for a while yet.
Still, it’s pleasing to see that Yeun is finally recording dialogue for Invincible season 2. In January 2022, the former Walking Dead star confirmed that he hadn’t started work on season 2 yet, so we’re glad he’s finally doing so now. Hopefully, the rest of the cast won’t be too far behind if they haven’t returned to record their own season 2 lines already.
Understandably, Amazon Studios hasn’t confirmed a release date for Invincible’s next outing yet. But, if you’re after more Invincible-based content while we wait, check out our thoughts on why the season 1 finale is the blueprint that seasons 2 and 3 should follow.
Analysis: when will Invincible season 2 be released?
That’s hard to predict. In March 2022, showrunner Simon Racioppa exclusively told TechRadar that the crew was “working hard” on delivering Invincible season 2 as soon as possible. Given the sheer amount of work that goes into animated productions, though, we don’t think it’ll air on Prime Video for some time yet.
We’re delighted to see Yeun back in the recording booth, and we’re sure his return means that plenty of work has already been conducted on the pre-production side of things. However, there’s still a fair chunk of the development cycle that needs to be completed after the voice cast have recorded their lines.
In traditional 2D animation pipelines, voice-over work can take place during the pre-production and/or full production phases. Regardless of which stage of the process Yeun is recording his lines at, though, there’s bound to be a ton of work that still needs to be carried out before season 2 launches. Development steps include, among others, line testing, scene/sequence clean ups, compositing, addition of the show’s musical score, editing, and final checks, so Invincible season 2 still has a way to go before it’s ready to be released.
Our guess? Don’t expect Invincible season 2 to premiere on Prime Video until early 2023. As long as the series’ next batch of episodes are as good as (if not better) than what came before, we’re more than happy to wait. And we suspect you, dear reader, will be as well.