Invincible will be leaning even harder into one of season 4’s most critiqued aspects for future seasons.

Invincible season 4, episode 4, titled “Hurm,” stood out for telling a self-contained story that didn’t originate from the Invincible comics. Mark Grayson’s adventure with Damien Darkblood in Hell failed to hit with many fans. “Hurm” has a 6.5 out of 10 score on IMDb, making it the lowest-rated episode of the entire series. However, this isn’t deterring Invincible creator Robert Kirkman from telling brand-new stories on the show again.

In an interview with The Direct, Kirkman shared that future Invincible seasons will contain “more side quests,” as the show’s writers are brimming with ideas on how to further distinguish the show from the original comics. Check out his comments below:

I mean, any lack of new storylines in the television show is not due to a dearth of ideas from the writers. The writers on the show have tons of ideas, and so, yeah, you can expect more side quests and things that will be working their way into the overall narrative of the show as we go on, just because it’s exciting to us and it’s a fun thing to do.

Invincible co-showrunner Simon Racioppa added that the incorporation of any new storylines into the animated series “just needs to feel organic.” Specifically, the Invincible team prioritize making sure that “there shouldn’t be any episode you can skip.” So long as it helps further the storyline, that makes whatever new idea is hatched worth exploring, and the Damien adventure fulfilled that purpose.

In the comics, Damien, a supernatural detective, disappears from the main storyline after Global Defense Agency head Cecil Stedman banished him back to Hell. Though Kirkman had once considered bringing Damien back to the printed page, he ultimately decided to scrap that storyline. The Invincible animated series, on the other hand, afforded him the opportunity to finally see it realized in a different format.

Damien’s return was first teased in the Invincible season 3 finale’s post-credits scene, when he summoned an unnamed demon, later revealed to be Satan, whom he served. Satan informed Damien that “a surface dweller with great power” would be able to help restore him to his throne. Damien intended for that surface dweller to be Omni-Man, but the vial of Nolan Grayson’s blood that he used for the ritual accidentally summoned Mark instead during “Hurm.”

It worked out in the end, though, as Mark helped Damien and Satan defeat their adversary Volcanikka, who had taken over Hell. While “Hurm” wasn’t as critically well received as Invincible’s other episodes, it was proof enough for Kirkman and his team that it’s worth delving into brand-new storylines rather than solely make tweaks to the existing source material.

Neither Kirkman nor Racioppa shared any details on what any of these new storylines could entail. Given how “Hurm” ended with Satan instructing Damien to investigate Volcanikka’s motives and entertaining the idea of going to the surface himself, it’s possible that the storyline could be continued.

What is known is that Invincible season 5 will be released by Prime Video sometime in 2027. The voicing acting was finished for the next season by the time it was announced in 2025, and Lee Pace’s Thragg and Matthew Rhys’ Dinosaurus are both confirmed to return among many other familiar characters.