Critical Role Mighty Nein Show Greenlit at Amazon Under TV, Film Deal
Amazon has made a mighty embrace of the Critical Role cinematic universe.
Amazon Studios has announced an exclusive, multi-year global television and first-look deal with Critical Role, the media company and D&D role-playing group behind Prime Video’s popular adult animated series “The Legend of VoxMachina”.
The first new series to be produced under the deal is “Mighty Nein,” based on Critical Role’s second campaign, which ran from January 2018 to mid-2021. The Mighty Nein group of adventurers – a gang of criminals and misfits – are the only ones who can save the kingdom from descending into chaos when an arcane artifact capable of reshaping reality falls into the wrong hands. “Mighty Nein” is set to begin production soon in partnership with animation studio Titmouse, which has teamed up with Critical Role and Amazon Studios for “Vox Machina.” The series will stream exclusively on Prime Video, but there is no release date yet.
Critical Role’s first animated series, “The Legend of Vox Machina”, is based on its first D&D campaign, which the group aired live from 2015 to 2017. Season 1 premiered in January 2022 on Prime Video (and still holds a 100% review score on Rotten Tomatoes), and Season 2 premiered with the first three episodes on January 20. A third season of “Vox Machina” was officially announced at New York Comic Con and is currently in production.
As part of the deal with Amazon Studios, Critical Role will continue to produce under its production banner, Metapigeon, which will develop its own TV shows, movies and original content while continuing to “partner with talented creatives on a new slate of projects, both in and outside of the Critical Role universe,” according to the companies.
“With the success of our animated series ‘The Legend of Vox Machina,’ we look forward to continuing our relationship with Critical Role and expanding its universe with ‘Mighty Nein,'” said Vernon Sanders, Head of Global Television at Amazon Studios. “Expanding these iconic franchises for our global Prime Video customers continues to be an ambitious and rewarding journey and we can’t wait to see where this new series takes us.”
Travis Willingham, co-founder and CEO of Critical Role, said, “Critical Role’s livestream campaigns are the spark that ignited the flame for our global audience. Seeing the stories and characters from our first campaign come to life in “The Legend of Vox Machina” was a dream come true, and we’re absolutely thrilled to do it again with “Mighty Nein.” But with today’s announcement, we’re confident the stories we tell will continue to expand into realms of entertainment beyond what we can even imagine.
The upcoming “Mighty Nein” series will be executive produced by Tasha Huo, Sam Riegel and Willingham alongside Metapigeon and Amazon Studios. From Titmouse, Chris Prynoski (“Legend of Vox Machina”), Shannon Prynoski (“Fairfax”), Antonio Canobbio (“Arlo the Alligator Boy”) and Ben Kalina (“Big Mouth”) will also serve as executive producers.
Amazon Studios struck a first deal with Critical Role in 2019, securing a two-season order for “Vox Machina” after CR’s record-breaking Kickstarter campaign for their first animated project.
Critical Role began in 2012 as a private D&D game night between a group of friends in Los Angeles who are all voice actors. Since then, Critical Role – whose passionate fans are affectionately known as “Critters” – has expanded into multiple industries. In addition to “The Legend of Vox Machina” on Prime Video, this has included comic books, graphic novels, fiction and non-fiction books on the New York Times bestseller list, collectibles , tabletop and role-playing games, podcasts and live events.
Watch Amazon’s announcement video for the “Mighty Nein” series:
Pictured above (left to right): Critical Role founders Liam O’Brien, Taliesin Jaffe, Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer, Ashley Johnson