Tim Mcgraw, Alan Cumming, and More Guest Stars

Like a High-Level Creature Ripped from the Pages of the Player's Handbook, The Cultural Juggernaut that is Critical Role Seemingly Cannot Be Stopped. Ten Years Into the Reign of the Dungeons & Dragons Troupe-Turned-Multimedia Savants, Critical Role Isn'T Just Content With The Start of Their Biggest-Ever Campaign, Launching Their Own Streaming Service, or Even Working on Video Games-There's Always Room for More.

Premiering on Nov. 19, Just A Little Over a Month After Their Next Actual Play Campaign Begins, The Mighty Nein Will be the second animated series from Critical Role and Amazon MGM Studios, Following Three Seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina. While Their First Show (APTLY) Adapted Their First Livestreamed Campaign, The Mighty Nein Jumps Ahead 20 Years from what Will possibly be the end of the Freshman Series to Tell Different such in Exandrian History.

Each of the Core Cast Members Returns to the Roles That They originated in the Livestreamed Tabletop Series (Which Ran from 2018 to 2021): Travis Willingham As the Half-Orc Warlock Fjord Stone; Marisha Ray As The Human Monk Beauregard Lionett; Taliesin Jaffe As the Tiefling-like Blood Hunter Mollymauk Tealeaf; Ashley Johnson As the Aasimar Barbarian Yasha Nydoorin; Sam Riegel As the Goblin Rogue Nott the Brave; Liam O'Brien as the Human Wizard Caleb Widogast; and Laura Bailey As The Horned Cleric Jester wash. Also Returning is Campaign Two's Chief Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer, Albeit in Various Absted Bit Parts.

But adaptation event a fraction of the 141-Episode, 600-Hour Tabletop Series is no small feat. Rolling Stone Recently Spoke with Executive Producers Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, and Tasha Huo About How They Reimagined the Introduction of The Mighty Nein'S Heroes for a New Take, As Well As An Exclusive First Look at Many of the Supporting Characters Played by Guest Stars Like Mark Strong, Alan Cumming, and – Somehow – Tim McGraw.

Differentiating from Vox Machina

One of the Things That's Most Notable About Critical Role's Original Three Campaigs is That, Although Thoy All Share a Continuity, They Feel Very Different. Campaign One Followed The Exploits of Vox Machina, and Followed Many Linear Aspects of The Lord of the Rings-Tyle fantasy tropes. By Comparison, Campaign Two Felt More Scatted and Improvisational (befitting a D & d game).

The Two Animated Series Will Also Share A Similar Contrast in Tone, Which will be evident from the onset. For Starters, Each Episode is Longer-Running over 40-Minutes, More Akin to the length of a drama Than An Animated Comedy. According to the EPS, that's intentional.

“Vox Machina Is such a fun romp. You start with a Group of Characters that are together, and you clearly see how different they are, but they're all working as a team, “Willingham Says.” They have a shared goal. And immediate, in The Mighty Neinit was important to use to show not just the breadth of exandria, [but] Also Show How Dangerous It is – How Dark and Grytty It Can Be. “

Riegel Agrees, and notes that the show doesn'T Just Setle Into the Tone of a Typical Animated Series, in Critical Role's Style or Otherwise. “I Feel Like The Legend of Vox Machina Is a Fun, Action-Packed Animated Series, and this Show [is] A Gripping, Grytty Action Drama, Hourlong Television Series That happy to be animated, “He adds.

One Major Change is How the Show Will Dole Out Introductions for Each of Its Main Characters. Rather Than Kicking Off as A Team, Early Episode Will Tease Out Their Backstories and Individual Motivations Before Uniting The Nein.

“We Always Knew That These Characters, [their] Past Really Shaped Them, “Willingham Says.” They all Have Traumatic Pasts or Have Done Questable Things, Have Big Regrets in Their Past. One of the Things That We Tasked Ourselves with is the know -how that we use a ton of flashbacks in The Legend of Vox Machina. We Wanted to Try and Minimize That Just To See If We Cound from the Start, But that Also Means Teeing up the characters from a position that predates anything that was seen in the livestream. “

While it might seem obvio to start an ensemble show with an old-fashioned arc of Getting the team together, the idea is in some Way Antithetheral to How the Series' Tabletop Source Material Operates.

“I do Remember that converse that we had in the writer's room, Because [if] You've Ever Played D & dyou start in Tavern. You're All Strangers, but Somehow You Just Start Playing Together, Because You Have To, “Huo Says.” That's How The Game Works. But in the show, [none] of these Characters, Given Where They Came From, would actually trust Each Other Widespread to Go on a Mission Together in Episode One. [Why] They Become a Team is equilly as Important as the fact that they are a team as we progress into the show. “

Role call

But it's not just the primaries and their backstory that needs to be adjusted; Each of the Game's Many Npcs Must Now Be Embodied Differently as Well. AS Riegel Points Out, in The Actual Play Sessions, All of the NPCS Are Controlled and Voiced by DM, Matt Mercer. Now, Things are very different.

“I was the one where i was like, 'well, they all have to sound like morning mermer, right?' Because that's What's in My Head, “Huos Says, Adding,” and Sam's Like, 'No, Tasha, they can be other people.' And then you Hear These New People Step Into Those Roles, and not Only do they honor What Matt Did, But God, they plus it. (“Matt Still Does Plety,” Sam Assures.)

ALTHOUGH FANS GROW DEEPLY ATTENTHED TO THE MIGHTY OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR YEARSLONG Journey, The Supporting Roster of NPCS Play A Huge Role is flexing out the world – Often Becoming Favorites Themselves. For the New Hires Taking Over the Many Faces of Matt Mercer in the Adaptation, The Array of Talent on display is Mind-Boggling, Encompressing Broadway Stars, Country Music Legends, and Not One, But three Disney Princesss.

One of the First Key Players Introduced is daon, A Shadowy Monk Known As An Exposator Voice in the Series by Ming-Na Wen (Mulan; The Mandalorian). (That's Disney Princess Number One, For Those Keeping Count.)

“Ming-na Plays Dairon, Who is beau's super-secret spy handler; not boss for Say, but a superior officer in the cobalt soul,” Riegel Says. “They sort of collaborate on a project to root out the source of the corruption in the Government and take them Down. She's a Real Badass, but in Real Life and [in] Her Character. “

Part of that Corruption Stems from the Season's Main Villain, Trent Ikithon, Portrayed by English Actor Mark Strong (The Kingsman Series; Nine Perfect Strangers). The Archmage of Civil Influence for the Magical Organization, The Cerberus Asseemly, Ikithon Also Has a Deep Personal Connection to Liam O'Brien's Character Caleb. Secretly, He's the Head of a Team of Elite Wizard Assassins that operates under the Empire.

“We Defiately Needed Our Biggest Baddie, Trent Ikithon, to Be Someone with Gravitas; Someone Whose Voice Struck Fear Into the Hearts of Men,” Willingham Says. “And then, Mark Strong Came Along and Actual Said Yes. There is a Special and Beautiful Thing That Happens When you have an idea for a Character and How it Sounds, and the Amazing Performance that Matt Mercer Has Given BeforeHand, and Mark Strong Up to a Microphone and ABSOLULY Decimates All of Those Expectations.

Donning the Mantle of a Much More Beloved Character is Tony Award-Winning Broadway Star (and Second Disney Princess), Anika Noni Rose. Known for Her Role of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009), AS Well As Mlore Stage and Screen Roles Over the Years, Rose Plays Marion Lavarre, The Mother of Laura Bailey's Jester, Putting in Double Duty As a Voice Actor and Performing Vocalist in The Mighty Nein – All Done in A Vaguely Eastern European Accent.

“We needed Someone Who Couuld Both Act Very Well, Perform A Very Strange Accent That was made up by Laura Bailey, And Also Sing Her Face Off. And Anika Could Do All of Those Things,” Riegel Says. “I Think She Really Pully Pulled Off The Warmth of the Character and Also The Sultriness of the Character, As Well.”

Rose Tells Rolling Stone That, While She Didn'T Grow Up Playing D & dThe Opportunity to Connect With Critical Role's Fandom Through the Familiar Lens of Acting is a Joy (“I Get It Now!,” She Says). “

“Marion is known as the rubby of the sea. She is a courtesan; she is a burlesque performer as well,” Rose Explains. “She is somebody Who is Known Not Just For Her Beauty, But Her Wit and Wiles. She's Sort of Walking Sex. I Don't Think I'Ve Done A Character Similar to This Before, and That's The Type of Thing I Love.”

Another Tony Award-Winning Multi-Hyphenate Performer To Join The Cast Is Alan Cumming, Who's Most Recently Taken the World by Storm With His Delicious Person AS Host of The Traitors. Cumming Plays Gustav Flexing, The Eccentric Ringmaster of the Flexing and Moondrrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities, Which Existing Fans Know Plays a Huge Role Kickstarting The Narrative of the Campaign Two.

“I Think He Was On the list for Several Different Roles; We Cound Have Stuck Him in At Least Three Different Parts, And We're Very Lucky That Heid Yes To One of Them,” Riegel Says. “He's a Delight and Brings a Spark to the character of Gustav That You Really Need to Fall in Love with that Character Instantly. And How Can You Not Fall in Love with Mr. Cumming? And He Brings a Tiny Dog to Recording Sessions.”

The Third and Final (for now) Disney Princess to Join the Crew is auliʻi Cravalho (Moaa), Who Plays the 13-Year-Old Performer, Toya, Within The Carnival. Despite Her Small Stature, Toya is a Somewhat Dramatic Personality, Being the Tamer and Handler for Kylre, in Huge and Dancerous Devil Toad. Like Rose, Cravalho Use Her Powerful Vocals in the Series, singing to Keep The Beast Under Her Charm.

“I Was Very Happy to get [Auli’i]. I'm such a Fan of Hers, and She Also Killed It, “Huo Says.” Her Voice is Absolutely Ridiculous. She Got to play a Little Bit of a Darker Character, and She Got to Flex that muscle, Coming from A Disney Background. “

Cravalho Tells Rolling Stone That She's Been a Fan of Critical Role For Years and would love to Explore More of the World Beyond The Animated Series. “The play D & d AS A A Tabaxxi Rogue, and I'd Be Honored to Have a Seat on the Critical Role Table As a One-Shot Guest or Anything Else! “

Lastly, There's Captain Vandran, Played by Country Music Icon and Actor, Tim Mcgraw (Yellowstone, 1883). Vandran is a Key Part of Willingham's Character, Fjord's, Backstory – and his unique person Demands a very specific Kind of Voice Actor.

“Captain Vandran is fjord's mentor, The Biggest and Most Prominent Father Figures in His Life. And Canonically, Had to Have a Really Strong Southern Drawl to Him – Something So Much So That Fjord Will Try to emulate that When he's Trying To Present Himself As Something This is confident Now Strong or Rilia, “Willingham Says. “And I know, when we were to Think of who out there has that sort of drawl, that warm, fatherly tone, a bit of that tough love in their voice, Tim Mcgraw immediate Came to our mind and almost recursted off the atmosphere, Because Surely, Tim Mcgraw Won't Mess Around With Animation For Some Nerds on the Internet.

Willingham adds, “He was just an apsolute pleasure to work with; he had so many questions and was so interweaving by what we were doing, he wanted to know where the story was going .'m from texas as well, so talk about horses and boots and boots and [hats]”.”