Move over, Marvel, there seems to be some new competition in the superhero genre after the early success of Invincible. The show’s first three episodes debuted March 25 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, the remaining five episodes were released weekly on Fridays. The show is adapted from the Invincible comic book series first released by Image Comics in 2003. The animated series follows teenager Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun) in a world where superheroes exist. His mom Debbie (Sandra Oh) is human but his father Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons) who hails from another planet and serves as Earth’s strongest superhero. When Mark develops powers similar to his father’s, his life changes forever as he must learn to navigate his new abilities, manage a secret identity, and balance saving the world with his regular life. To make matters worse, a colossal threat looms after Earth’s premier team of superheroes is mysteriously murdered in one night. Mark sets out to prove he can live up to his new alias and become Invincible.

The show’s cast is definitely among the best things it has going for it. There’s A-list talent all around, even in minor roles and cameos. Seth Rogen, Mark Hamill, Mahershala Ali, Justin Roiland, and Clancy Brown are all big names who appear in three episodes or fewer. So many of Invincible’s characters, like Amber (Zazie Beetz), Cecil (Walter Goggins) and Rex Splode (Jason Mantzoukas) to name a few, just would not be the same without their respective voice actors, it’s the main reason why the characters are so dynamic.

The show makes it abundantly clear early on that it isn’t your typical Saturday morning superhero cartoon, showing by the end of Episode One why it earned a TV-MA rating. The show’s creators are no strangers to gore, Invincible creator Robert Kiriman was also the mind behind AMC’s The Walking Dead. Because the show is animated, it doesn’t have to follow the limits of live-action violence. The result of this is some of the more creative, gruesome and bloody fight scenes you’ll ever see on television. This stays true to the Invincible comic books which are just as bloody, but while it’s nice that the show draws as much from the source material as possible, the violence often seems unnecessarily drawn out.

If you’re a fan of the superhero shows and can stomach the gore, Invincible is definitely worth a watch. It deviates from the standard formula followed by similar projects to provide a mostly refreshing spin on the tired and sometimes repetitive genre. The show consistently subverts expectations with plot twists that always leave the audience never fully sure what will happen next. There’s rarely a dull moment in eight episodes, Invincible is a wild ride throughout. Amazon Prime has already renewed the show for seasons two and three, but the wait for those will be at least a year, leaving plenty of time to get caught up.