We recently got word that Invincible's fifth season should be with us next year, and it seems a former cast member we really didn't expect to see back on voice duties will be returning.
Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad, Westworld) played Powerplex in season 3, but decided to step away from the role after admitting that he didn't feel comfortable inhabiting the emotionally unstable villain's skin again.
"They asked me to come back for the next season. That show, I'm such a fan of – I watch every episode. But it was just way too grueling on my psyche," Paul told Kinda Funny Games back in November. "I have so much respect for what they're doing, but Powerplex, man. He's not just messing around; he's going through turmoil. How I approach everything I do, I really put myself in that skin. It was a skin I didn't feel comfortable in. I didn't want to do it anymore."
Scott Duvall, aka Powerplex, was certainly put through the wringer in season 3, with his desire for revenge against Mark Grayson for the accidental deaths of his niece and sister ultimately costing the lives of his wife and son.
Paul appears to have left little doubt that he will return to the series with the following tease, but will he play Powerplex or a different character? It would certainly mark a major turnaround for the actor if he did agree to reprise his former role, but maybe Robert Kirkman promised him that Duvall would have a slightly easier time of things in season 5!
"Everything's streamlining. So, everything that we're doing isn't changing, but everyone at every level of the process is getting a little bit more efficient," executive producer and co-creator Robert Kirkman recently said of his approach to season 5 in a recent interview. "The writing team is learning how to write to production a little bit better." "This is a very complicated and bizarre show, and our production pipeline is very complicated, so we're learning to navigate that," he added. "I'll say for me, each season gets easier. I don't think everybody on the production would say that."
"While the world recovers from catastrophe, a changed Mark fights to protect his home and the people he loves," reads the season 4 synopsis, "setting him on a collision course with a threat that could alter the fate of humanity forever."
Invincible stars Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, J.K. Simmons, Gillian Jacobs, Seth Rogen, Walton Goggins, Lee Pace, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Jason Mantzoukas, Zazie Beetz, Grey DeLisle, Zachary Quinto, Chris Diamantopoulos, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Andrew Rannells, Kevin Michael Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Clancy Brown, Jay Pharoah, Mark Hamill, Matthew Rhys, Danai Gurira, and Melise.