With two half-Viltrumite Graysons taking to the skies in Invincible Season 3, it would make sense for fans to wonder whether Mark or Oliver is the stronger brother.
Fans first met Oliver in Season 2, Episode 4, when he was just a baby. Eventually brought into Debbie and Mark's care, the purple half-Viltrumite, half-Thraxan aged quickly.
By Season 3 (about a year later), he is all powered up and hoping to hit the streets as Kid Omni-Man—though he has a lot to learn in the process.
Invincible Comics: Is Mark or Oliver Stronger?
To help answer whether Mark or Oliver is stronger in Invincible, it could help to first turn to the comics the show adapts. In the comics, Oliver is not quite as powerful as Mark.
The comics specify that Thraxans are not as compatible with Viltrumites as humans are. As the Invincible Wiki describes it, humans and Viltrumites are genetically incredibly similar, which grants Mark the ability to theoretically match the power level of a full-blooded Viltrumite.
This is not the case for Oliver, though, since Thraxans do not share many physical characteristics with Viltrumites (the Thraxans, including Oliver's mother, Andressa, are purple, bug-like creatures). Oliver's purple skin is also a result of this lower compatibility between Thraxans and Viltrumites.
All this to say, physiologically speaking, Mark's maximum strength is naturally higher than Oliver's. However, it is hard to determine where the cap on Viltrumite strength is, and therefore where Oliver's slightly lower maximum power would be.
It is also worth noting that Oliver has certain Thraxan abilities that Mark lacks, including fluctuating aging, a perfect memory, and the ability to fully understand something simply by encountering it.
Invincible Show: Is Mark or Oliver Stronger?
Looking at Invincible Season 3 on the surface level, audiences could make an argument that Oliver is stronger than Mark. However, going deeper proves it is a little more complicated.
First, Oliver kills both Mauler twins in one of his first-ever fights, meanwhile, Mark has been battling these two for two seasons at this point. While this is technically true, it can be argued that Mark was likely holding back when fighting the Mauler twins in the past.
In Season 3, Episode 1, Mark and Rex Splode are fighting with two technically powered (but not to the extent of other foes Mark has faced) individuals trying to steal the Declaration of Independence.
During the fight, Mark reveals that he is holding back, because they seem to simply be people. When he does eventually have to end the fight fast, he is able to take out the thief with one blow—and likely, he was still using just a fraction of his full strength to do that.
This implies that Mark may have held back some of his full strength in the past to avoid killing people, or started doing so now that his strength has increased so drastically since the last time fans saw him.
The other main argument that could be made for Oliver potentially being stronger than Mark in the show is that Oliver got his powers far younger than Mark did. However, rather than that being an indication of stronger powers, that could simply be a result of Oliver's rapid aging thanks to his Thraxan genes.
As such, while it technically is unknown which of the two is, or has the potential to be, stronger than the other, the show will likely go the same route as the comics, and give Mark that distinction down the road.
New episodes of Invincible Season 3 are released Thursdays on Amazon Prime Video.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
