'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Invincible season 3, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video on February 6, 2025, has the hero, aka Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun), going up against an unexpected antagonist - Global Defence Agency (GDA) director Cecil Stedman (voiced by Walton Goggins).
In the third season's first episode, Mark declared that he would consider Cecil an enemy after finding out that the latter was working with villains. Cecil was discovered partnering with DA Sinclair, an unhinged scientist who created mindless hybrids of humans and robots, and Darkwing II, the murderous sidekick of the original Darkwing, in order to protect the Earth from the threat of Viltrumites.
With Sinclair's unpleasant history with Mark and Cecil's methods to incapacitate him, Mark refuses to see the world through Cecil's shades of grey, thus making Cecil the moral villain.
Trending
Here's a riveting new look at Apple's new medical drama: CLICK HERE
Invincible season 3 reveals how Cecil came to be the villainous director of GDA
Five episodes into Invincible season 3, viewers now have a clearer grasp of who Cecil Stedman is. As the leader of one of the most influential organizations in the world who went up against Omni-Man despite having no superpowers, Cecil has always commanded respect from all. Still, his personal motivation to get the job done had been a mystery through season 2.
However, the audience explores Cecil's past in the second episode of the ongoing season. As a young GDA agent, he is seen struggling with morality and reaching conclusions he would not have arrived at in the present day.
Cecil's past and moral compass
The second episode of Invincible season 3, titled A Deal with the Devil, opens with a young Cecil checking out a joint where a terrorist group called the Order of the Freeing Fist was known to plan an attack. He discovers a storage unit of deadly gas to be released upon the block and fights off two superpowered villains to stop the tragedy.
The dutiful agent faces great personal peril to get the job done and has nearly all of his skin melted off in the process. While Cecil manages to save thousands of lives, a handful of people succumbs to the gas that had leaked before he could contain it.
Unlike his modern-day self, Cecil was strongly moved by the lives lost and did not allow the surgeons at the Pentagon to completely reset his face. He left the scar on the right side of his face as a reminder that he could have done a better job protecting people.
While Cecil believed the terrorists who planned the attack were dead after their encounter, he later discovered that his boss, the then-director of GDA Radcliffe, had patched them up and put them on the agency's payroll. Being unable to convince himself to work with known villains, Cecil shot them dead, which earned him a long stay in prison.
When Radcliffe was set to retire, he visited Cecil in his cell and offered him his position in the GDA, telling him that his time with the inmates had taught him to learn to do what was necessary.
When Cecil doubts the GDA's intentions, Radcliffe bluntly states:
"You can be the good guy or the guy who saves the world. You can't be both."
The statement has the intended effect and is echoed by Director Cecil to his second in command, Donald Ferguson, when he faces a rampaging Omni-Man for the first time, as shown in Invincible season 3.
Was Cecil's antagonistic turn forecasted before Invincible season 3?
Cecil Stedman and Mark Grayson had been allies through the show's first two seasons, even if their relationship had often been strained. Cecil was adamant about keeping a close eye on Mark while he was growing in strength. This clashed with the family's right to privacy, but after Omni-Man, aka Nolan Grayson's rampage on Earth in season 1, Cecil's approach came across as one to err on the side of caution.
It was only towards the end of the first episode of Invincible season 3 that Mark discovered the GDA retained DA Sinclair to produce an army of reanimen for them to counter any unforeseen threat that may overwhelm the heroes.
With Sinclair's history of endangering the life of his best friend William and turning his boyfriend Rick into a humanoid, Mark refused to work with Cecil any longer. He refused to see reason in Cecil's appeals and attempted to kill Sinclair when Cecil activated a chip emitting high-frequency noise inside Mark's head to incapacitate him. The act broke the bond of trust between the two, with Mark telling him that he would not spare him the next time they crossed paths.
Ironically, Mark's sentiments echoed those of a younger Cecil, whom the audience gets to see in the episode 2. With experience in a world of growing threats to humanity, Cecil seemingly learned to make peace with his monsters, even though he refused to let Donald die to help him continue to do his job, as revealed in season 2.
With his heart full of young ideals, Mark refuses to view the world through Cecil's gray lenses, thus turning him into his villain for Invincible season 3.
New episodes of Invincible season 3 will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime every Thursday through March 13.
