Critical Role: Weird Al Yankovic & The Other Celeb Collabs On The Gang's Wishlist
Looking back, it's remarkable how successful the "Dungeons and Dragons" actual play series "Critical Role" has become since its humble start in 2015. What first began as a private "D&D" home campaign between friends has exploded into one of the most popular web series in recent memory — expanding into a colossal multimedia franchise that includes a comic book series, two canon "D&D" campaign settings, and the adult animated series "The Legend of Vox Machina."
During this meteoric rise in popularity, the "Critical Role" team has also collaborated with a wide variety of famous guest stars, including Phil Lamarr, Vin Diesel, Joe Manganiello, and Stephen Colbert. Though the gang has worked with dozens of high-profile celebrities over the years, they still have a few names on their wish list for future episodes. During an interview with Polygon, "Critical Role" staples Liam O'Brien and Matthew Mercer named Derek Jacobi, Jordan Peele, Hideo Kojima, Mike Mignola, Yoshitaka Amano, and parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic as a few artists they would love to collaborate with.
Specifically, Mercer and O'Brien seemed interested in how these "dream collaborators" might factor into the ever-expanding format of "D&D" actual play, musing on how that space could continue to develop and expand over the next decade.
These dream collaborators could be more than just guest stars in Critical Role
Discussing how these particular celebrities could factor into the future of "Critical Role," Matthew Mercer and Liam O'Brien were thrilled by all the possibilities that could open up in the actual play format's future.
"We feel like we're in that Wild West stage, so I can't even fathom what we and other creators are going to do over the next 10 years," Mercer explained. "The core of [actual play] is still just a very conversational, collaborative narrative. And so the challenge is how much you can advance that experience without detracting from the honesty and the very real connection." Mercer specifically referenced the "Exandria: Unlimited" spinoff campaign by Aabria Iyengar as an example of letting a collaborator "take the reins" and create a distinctive series that he could never have achieved.
As such, it's possible that this short list of "dream collaborators" might actually be handed the keys to future "Critical Role" projects — bringing their considerable creative talents to the ever-expanding "D&D" franchise. As exciting as it is to imagine creatives like Jordan Peele or Hideo Kojima helming a project under the "Critical Role" umbrella, for now, these names remain no more than hopeful candidates for future collaborations.