Season 3 of Invasion ups the ante with alien mothership infiltration

If you’re an Apple TV+ subscriber, you may have missed Invasion. The platform’s high-profile fall launch in 2021 has been mostly outshone by two other projects that took a big gamble: Silo and Foundation. One of the most ambitious sci-fi series of 2021, Invasion has its share of ardent defenders, but it also earned mixed reviews (especially in the first part of its run) because it’s a slow burner. Even fans of the series have said they have a love/hate relationship with it.

Yet, there’s no denying that the series’ cinematography has been impressive throughout, and while it has had ups and downs, the creative team has mostly been striving for big, bold statements. Apple TV+ just released the trailer for the upcoming third season, and it has a more unified, sinister tone that might see Invasion realizing its potential to the fullest.

Created by David Weil (Hunters) and Simon Kinberg, who is perhaps best known for his work on various X-Men movies and his producer/writer work on The Martian (which was nominated for a few Oscars), the series is and was conceptually interesting: an alien invasion story, seen from the point of view of average people who live on different continents and who speak different languages. The series mixes English, Japanese, and Pashto, languages that help drive home the global nature of the narrative by grounding it with personal, very human stories.

Season 1 of Invasion explored the early days of the alien threat. As is hinted at in the trailer for Season 3, during its first season, Invasion took its time, letting the characters live their separate lives and revealing their backstories. The aliens, while present and quite often a menace, frequently felt like secondary characters. This was a major letdown for viewers who had probably expected an action-packed and gruesome alien invasion movie/series.

As much as fans of the show wanted to get to see more of the “big picture” (pun intended), the storytelling, characters, and season 1’s closing did all point to the fact that this was a show that was going to privilege the personal, human dramas over cosmic-scale conflicts.

Season 2, With a Warped Sense of Normality

At the close of season 1, it was hard to miss the fact that the full alien invasion was now unavoidable, and the second half of the series sought to fulfill that promise by upping the ante in every way. The action and the stakes were far higher, which gave the second season of Invasion a needed breath of fresh air. It also allowed for different stories of how the characters were adapting to the vastly changed reality of the show’s universe. With aliens now in complete control of the world, humanity was driven underground, living in small and protected enclaves.

Season 2 also took a more ruthless and uncompromising route, as the show laid bare the fact that to survive, people had to often make unspeakable choices, and that not everyone would survive. The pacing remained leisurely, but the story had far more momentum by this point.

Season 3 Brings All Characters Together for a Dangerous Mission to the Mothership

Season 3 picks up two years after the events of season 2, but the threat has mutated in horrible ways. According to the official synopsis, the individualized perspectives will converge for the first time as the main characters (who were separated by continents and oceans in previous seasons) are now teaming up for a dangerous mission. The characters are now all together on the mothership, in a high-risk joint mission to access it from the inside.

Aliens have also evolved into what is described as an “apex” form, while deathly tendrils appear to be spreading far and wide. One could not miss the seriousness of the situation: if humanity has any chance of standing a chance against these seemingly omnipotent, voracious aliens, it will take all the survivors’ resources and willpower.

There will be new alliances among the human survivors, and existing relationships could very well be tested to breaking points. As far as returning cast members go, Invasion will once again feature Golshifteh Farahani as Aneesha Malik; Shioli Kutsuna as Mitsuko Yamato; Shamier Anderson as Trevante Cole; India Brown as Jamila Hudson; Shane Zaza as the loathsome and all-too-realistic tech billionaire Nikhil Kapur; and Enver Gjokaj as Clark Evans.

A new series regular is Erika Alexander, who also hails from an international background and should add more spice to the show’s already diverse ensemble.

Storytelling-wise, it’s both the ending of certain storylines and the larger-scale action that will be on display during season 3. It will be interesting to see how the series will balance the smaller, more character-driven approach with the wider-scope narrative and the encounter with the aliens that fans have been waiting for since the series’ premiere.

Invasion has a track record of being a divisive series, but it looks like it has finally arrived at its sweet spot with the upcoming third season. As the trailer makes it abundantly clear, there are far higher stakes, and it also has a more unified focus. This third season could well be the one that turns skeptics into believers (if any remain, of course).

The third season of Invasion will premiere on Apple TV+ on August 22, 2025.