Amazon Prime Video has ordered 2 Seasons of upcoming animated series ‘Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina‘, based on the adventures and characters of the phenomena that is Critical Role, the wildly successful Twitch live role-playing show.
‘Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina’ follows a group of second-rate, drunken adventurers on a quest to save the realm from terrifying monsters and dark magical forces, only to discover they become a family in the process. It’s an adult animated action-comedy series in the fantasy universe of, and starring original characters from Critical Role.
For those of you that have never heard of Critical Role, it is a weekly live-streamed Dungeons & Dragons game set in Exandria, which is the world created by veteran voice actor and Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer. Each week, Matthew leads his friends (also fellow voice actors!) on epic adventures. The live-stream grew into something of a phenomenon, drawing huge audiences to their Twitch channel and audio-only podcast. This content agreement builds on the long-standing engagement Critical Role has had with the Amazon-owned live-streaming service.
When we meet the members of Vox Machina in ‘Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina’, they’re a rowdy, ragtag assortment of swords and wands-for-hire. Seven wandering dumbasses who care more about easy money and cheap ale than actually protecting the realm. But when their home city of Emon is attacked by a horrific monster, they realise they are the only ones capable of avenging their neighbours and restoring justice. United as Protectors of the Realm, we follow Vox Machina as they venture beyond the walls of Emon to battle even darker forces across the kingdom. Throughout the first season of Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina, they will face undead giants, help overthrow a sinister necromancer, and confront a powerful curse that has taken root inside their own group. Through it all, they learn how to function as a team, and discover they’re much more than that: they’re family.
Earlier this year, Critical Role launched The Legend of Vox Machina as a Kickstarter campaign for a 22-minute animated special produced by Titmouse, reaching their original funding goal within minutes. The campaign continued to gain traction thanks to Critical Role’s passionate fanbase, becoming the most-funded TV, film or animated project in Kickstarter history and raising over $11.3M, enough to fund a 10-episode season. With this new agreement, Prime Video will build on that record-breaking support, ordering an additional 14 episodes, for a total of 24 episodes across two seasons, to stream exclusively on the service.
“We were absolutely floored by the level of enthusiasm we received on the Kickstarter campaign, and now we can deliver exactly what the fans wanted, and MORE,” said Sam Riegel and Travis Willingham, cast members of Critical Role and executive producers on the series. “Teaming with Prime Video to deliver the series to fans across the globe is exciting and surreal – and we’re psyched to be able to tell even more stories with not just one, but two 12-episode seasons!”
‘Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina’ stars the Critical Role cast of Laura Bailey (Future-Worm!), Taliesin Jaffe (Mr. Mum), Ashley Johnson (Blindspot), Liam O’Brien (Carmen Sandiego), Matthew Mercer (Amphibia), Marisha Ray (Thrashtopia), Sam Riegel (Duck Tales), and Travis Willingham (Ben 10), who are reprising their roles; they will also serve as executive producers, alongside Brandon Auman (Star Wars: Resistance) and Chris Prynoski (Metalocalypse), with Sung Jin Ahn (Niko and the Sword of Light) joining as supervising director. Emmy award-winning studio Titmouse is the animation partner. Critical Role is represented by CAA, who helped broker the deal.
“Critical Role blazed a new trail for original digital content, with fresh new voices and humour that earned devoted fans around the world, as evidenced by their wildly successful Kickstarter campaign,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “We’re thrilled to work with the whole team to bring The Legend of Vox Machina, and new Critical Role series, to our Prime Video customers.”
‘Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina‘ Season 1 will premiere on Amazon Prime in the UK and around the world. There is no premiere date yet, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
