'Critical Role's Travis Willingham steps into our video studio at San Diego Comic Con 2024.
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00:00There is a specific location that our heroes are going to be going to that I think is going to,
00:05it's going to set the internet on fire. At least we hope so. Yes, on fire. That's an intentional pun.
00:21All right, Travis, I was here last year at Comic-Con when Critical Role really just like
00:27took over Ballroom 20. Yeah. What was it like to have, you know, the consistent love for all
00:34of the things that you all are putting out, including, of course, we're celebrating season
00:38three of Vox Machina this year. Yes, it's incredible. To be able to come down to San Diego
00:44Comic-Con every year and just spend time with the Critters as they amass in that room is such a
00:50special transaction between the two of us. I mean, it's one thing where we are on every single week
00:56and they're spending hours in the world of Exandria. But when we get a chance to interact
01:00with our fans and just hear that audible wave of love, it's such an amazing thing. And really,
01:07it's our yearly dose of the cosplay. Like we need to see what people are repping out there,
01:12which campaigns, which characters they're feeling. And it's amazing. I know people have been waiting
01:17a long time for season three. It's finally here in October. So we're excited to give a little bit
01:22of a sneak peek, tease it a little bit. And the next couple of months are going to be really,
01:25really fun. Well, on the cosplay beat, what have you seen out there so far? Oh, man, I saw I saw
01:32Caduceus walking down the street, which is hard to pull off in the San Diego sun, but only eclipsed
01:38by the fern that was walking right along with him, which are just two towers of power, in my opinion,
01:43because you got to have the staffs and the hair and the whole the whole thing. And then I've seen
01:47about six or seven jesters, which is on par, you know, the blue army just kind of moving along,
01:52handing out pastries and doughnuts and whatnot and stickers of a unsavory variety. But it's it's
01:58been it's been amazing. And I think I'm I'm always keeping an eye out for my Chitney Pocopee
02:04character, because if you can rep a 400 year old three and a half foot gnome, it's that's something
02:10special. Is there an expectation that after people see season three, that one of the characters in
02:16particular will have more cosplay next year? How do I how do I not spoil this? Yes, there is going
02:30to be one character, I think, by the end of the year that might get a little bit of a tweak to
02:34their look, depending on if they succeed or fail in the trials and tribulations that await them
02:40this season. But yeah, it's always amazing to see what the cosplayers throw together. And plus,
02:46you never know what our characters are going to get their hands on or what the villains are going
02:51to go through. So we always like to see our protagonists and antagonists represented equally
02:56as well. Well, what can you tease about season three? Because like you said, it has been really
03:01highly anticipated by fans. Some people kind of know because of that some people kind of know
03:06where it might be going. But like, how much do you expect? I don't know the details of the campaign
03:13to maybe change or what what can you tell us about, you know, how you adapted that campaign
03:18into the season? Yeah, absolutely. So one of the one of the challenges in adapting a live stream
03:22like ours is that campaign one was, you know, over 112 episodes, we had over 400 hours of content.
03:29I think when we were looking at seasons one and two, we realized it was 26 hours being squished
03:34down into about six. So for season three, we're finally starting to get into the larger aspect of
03:41Exandria as a world. And one of the wonderful things about working with Prime Video is that we
03:45also have the Mighty Nein animated series, which will be coming sometime soon. And so we're really
03:50getting to stretch the breadth of what the story encompasses. So we have a little sneak peek of
03:56our heroes hitting a new continent this season, a few more after that as well, and rounding out
04:02the sort of villains that they're starting to see. But it's going to set up the larger picture
04:07in terms of what Exandria holds for both of these series is one of the amazing things about Vox Machina
04:13is it sort of set the the base for where the universe was built on top of after that.
04:19And both series as well, in our in our minds, be connected by those little red chaos strings
04:26that we like to do in our in our writers room and things like that. So we always set up little
04:29Easter eggs and things for our audience to find. But we do it because we know they're expecting it.
04:34We know it's our chance to improve it. And hopefully our fans love it. All right. You can't
04:39tell me what the Easter egg is, but can you tell me maybe what episode your favorite Easter egg?
04:46Oh, my favorite Easter egg of season three.
04:51Oh, gosh, I'm running through all my favorites in my head. I love 307. 306 is really good. 303 is a humdinger.
05:04304? Yes. Let's say 304. I'll land on 304 for now. Change my answer every week. But there is a
05:11specific location that our heroes are going to be going to that I think is going to,
05:16it's going to set the Internet on fire. At least we hope so. Yes. On fire. That's an intentional pun.
05:24Well, we will we will all be looking for. But I think maybe some people,
05:28even just from that clip, are going to know exactly what you mean. You know,
05:31what is that experience like as you've kind of continued to see the fandom grow
05:38around kind of all the critical role properties, but also the idea of
05:43the deal with Amazon as well and the opportunity to kind of, as you said, you know, take these
05:50thousands of hours of content and now find new ways to put them out there. You know,
05:56as you're kind of thinking of the strategy of what's next, what's next?
06:01What is next? You know, we're coming up on our 10 year anniversary this next March, and that's
06:06a wild thing to comprehend that we've been doing this for almost a decade. But
06:10you know, we we love this nerdy stuff. You know, we are comic book fans. We are pop culture fans.
06:16And and so knowing that we can approach this story with an open beginning and an open end on each one
06:23of the larger campaigns that allows us to tie things in in a sort of a careful way.
06:27But I think we also recognize that our audience shifts every year. There's there are new people
06:33coming in. Maybe some people are, you know, taking some time off and we're always trying
06:38to find ways to make sure that if you saw the Vox Machina campaign or if you saw the Mighty Nein
06:42campaign, that the animated series is not just for you because you've seen it before, but because
06:47it's going to surprise you. There's going to be something new. We're going to change things.
06:51For us, it's a way to improve it, economize it, and maybe make it a little bit more spicy if we can,
06:55just because we know what's happened in the years that have followed. So it's a it's an amazing
07:01thing having what we do every Thursday. And I mean every Thursday down to, you know,
07:06every Thursday down to last week, the most recent episodes of AOR Downfall, all of it
07:12has these ripples into the animation process. And until it's locked and sent off for animation,
07:18anything can change. So we're always trying to make it so that if you've seen campaign one,
07:23but you haven't seen campaign two, you're going to fit right in. It's vice versa for
07:27Mighty Nein or Vox Machina. And if you just jumped in for Bell's Hells, this will tee up everything
07:31and maybe explain some things in that world a little bit better too. So we're trying to make
07:35it piecemeal. So wherever you come in, you're incentivized to join the larger critical role
07:40buffet. And what are you noticing from the business end too, in terms of the appetite
07:46from studios like an Amazon for this kind of content? Because, you know, you were all being
07:5210 years in the game. We're at the forefront of, you know, the increasing popularity. So what are
07:58you seeing in terms of other studios kind of getting involved, other opportunities for you
08:03all to branch out? It's been an amazing experience coming from a situation in which we would try and
08:11tell people what critical role was. And that in itself is a bizarre intro, right? We play
08:17Dungeons and Dragons. We play tabletop role-playing games on the internet for four hours per episode.
08:24And, you know, years and years ago, people would say like, oh, okay, sounds cool, right? And we
08:29had to do all of these strings of pitches for the original show. And we were met with, oh,
08:35it sounds awesome, probably not right for us, but we're sure it'll find a home. And that's when we
08:39knew we had to turn to our amazing fans, our audience for the Kickstarter. And it blew our
08:43minds, jumping up to $3 million in the first day and 11.3, 11.7, something crazy by the end of it
08:52all. And I think that woke everybody up. But it also told us that we had more room to tell our
08:59stories. So we don't just look at the animated series as a way of condensing what we have.
09:03We also look at our comic books with Dark Horse Comics as a way to hit things from before the
09:07stream, stories that we haven't told anywhere else. So if, and for the people that are collectors,
09:13you know, if it's, you got to get your hands on the comic book, you got to get the Funko Pops,
09:16you got to get the merch, the licensed merch, all that stuff. We want to make sure that each
09:20one of those finds a piece in sort of the larger critical role economy, if you will,
09:24the ecosystem that we're looking to build out. And it's been amazing. I think the thing that
09:29we're excited to hit more this year is the live shows. We were able to sell out Wembley Arena
09:36last fall in London, and that is still something that's almost impossible to conceive, to have
09:4311,000 people just screaming back at you at one time. So we're going to try and hit that up a
09:49little bit more this upcoming year, because we've seen such a demand for it. I think people are so
09:55interested in getting together for those communal experiences. We tried to have instances for some
10:02of our events where people can view in theaters and things like that, because just like here at
10:06Comic-Con, folks want to come out and share and laugh and cry and, you know, point at the inside
10:11jokes as they happen. And that's where also we found a lot of new friendships and relationships
10:17have been forged. So it's a community building aspect as well, and something we're looking to
10:22pad into the coming year. Well, as we talk about theaters, then I guess I have to start asking
10:27about theatrical as well. Are you starting to kind of pivot plan, you know, have larger discussions
10:34about more theatrical releases? Yes, theatrical releases, my goodness. A Critical Role feature
10:43release? Amazon, should we do that? Listen, the Critical Role world is stacked with stories.
10:52You know, there is a huge clamoring for EXU Calamity stuff, which goes back to the
10:59early Divergence, the start of the storyline. AOR Downfall, we just watched the masterful
11:04conclusion last night of Brennan Lee Mulligan's run of that three-part miniseries. And, you know,
11:09the more and more we do these things, I think every different format of distribution has its place.
11:16Series is great, whether it's a half-hour format, hour-long format. We have never made a feature
11:22before. It doesn't mean we're not interested in trying or that we wouldn't want to expand into
11:27other things. But I think one thing we've consistently done at Critical Role is we've
11:32tried to find where the ceiling is. What are we capable of doing? What are our wildest dreams? And
11:37are we able to achieve those? Can we try it? And we've been met with success in a lot of those
11:44things. So, I think the desire is there. It might just be a matter of finding the time for
11:49everything else. But I think the potential is certainly there.
11:53Truly, I don't actually know how you find time for anything else in addition to all the other...
11:58Cloning practices. We have a secret cloning facility.
12:01Is that how you were also able to do X-Men 97?
12:04That's absolutely right, yes. But that's Travis clone number three. He gets those.
12:11Number one is sleeping.
12:13Three did a very nice job. And the reason why I bring up that role in particular is
12:17obviously X-Men 97 now nominated for an Emmy for an episode that, of course, you were featured in.
12:24What is it like to see or what are you seeing in terms of the industry's awareness of and
12:31appreciation for this type of animated content? We love to see it. We love to see it. I mean,
12:39I grew up in the 80s and 90s. Animation was my number one thing. I was singing and drawing in
12:46classrooms, the original animated series, along with everybody else. So, being in my 40s now and
12:54seeing the love for that pop back up with the original intro, the throwback to that animation
12:58style, but plus stuff in such a beautiful way. I think you're just seeing people feeling the
13:03nostalgia for what they grew up with. And I frankly love to see the colors and the expression
13:13of those early animated series, especially with a property like Marvel. We've had such an amazing
13:19run over the decades now of all these incredible live action feature films. But for me, it's the
13:23pastel colors that Jubilee wears. It's the blue and yellow Wolverine outfits. It's Scott Summers
13:30with unnecessary diagonal chest harnesses. Give me all that stuff. Give me the colors. Give me
13:36the expression and really widen the world. So, I think they've done an incredible job there.
13:41But I think they're also hearing from an audience. There's a desire for that. And I think animation
13:45is the palette for that type of show as well. Because if you can draw it, it can happen.
13:52There's a sound design that can fit to it. There's an animation style. And I think it just allows for
13:56a greater breadth of expression. So, yeah, it makes my heart so happy. I'm a Thundercats, G.I.
14:03Joe, Silverhawks, X-Men fan. And any time you see the older shows brought back up into the forefront,
14:11my heart sings. Any one of those you would be curious to bring back? All of them. I would
14:17love to bring back all of them. If they would just bring us those rights, yes, we will make
14:24them with care and nerd love. I think you're at the point where you all can be pursuing rights.
14:29I mean, like you said, you don't have time. It would need to be Travis number six that maybe is
14:33the one who's going out. Seven. Six is in New York right now. Well, they're all just so busy. It's
14:38hard to keep track of them. I don't know how you do it. GPS trackers. They all have air tags.
14:44Well, they're not sponsoring us either.
14:46Oh.
14:50But also speaking to like this, the larger industry frame as well. You know, last year,
14:55Comic-Con was different because we had a different SAG strike. This year, voice actors are currently
15:01striking against video game companies. What are your concerns as a voice actor in this industry
15:08at the moment? Yeah, I mean, I think we're all keeping an eye on A.I., right? Generative A.I.
15:13is a tricky thing. I think A.I. has its place, especially in businesses. But when it comes to
15:19our artistic endeavors, anything that could take the place of someone that's a writer,
15:23that's an actor, that's using their voice, using any kind of expression, stunts,
15:27motion capture, you know, that's a sticky, sticky place to be. And I think it's, you know, frankly,
15:33for me, it's an overreach if a company says like, yeah, we're going to hire you to do this thing,
15:37but we're also going to we're going to capture your likeness. We're going to be able to use it
15:40as much as we want to. And that's something that we've agreed to. Now, I understand that,
15:45you know, a lot of people think that should be up to the individual to decide. But there is enough
15:49of a voice from SAG, you know, from the union in general to say, like, listen, this is a concern
15:55of our members. We've been talking to you guys 20 plus months. There hasn't been any movement
16:00on this. We really love to offer this sort of protection for our performers. And it just hasn't
16:04been heard. And so, you know, it's unfortunate that these things have to happen. But I think
16:08they also have to recognize that this is what, you know, I think the best of the best are asking
16:14for. And it also helps just protect this kind of an industry. So, you know, I hope there's a quick
16:20resolution to it. I think it'll be, you know, the best thing for everyone. But, you know,
16:25we stand strong behind behind SAG. Absolutely. I guess as we're winding down and speaking of,
16:32you know, voice actors, I've got to hear about the all the guest stars for season three,
16:37because you all are bringing in and continue to bring in, you know, so many friends, so many,
16:42I'm sure there's probably also people calling you all wanting to be a part of this now. Join
16:47your various. Yeah. I mean, if we can just geek out a little bit together, it's, you know,
16:54we're in this incredible position where the cast will get together and we'll talk about,
16:58you know, the protagonist, antagonist, the NPCs. And then we get a whiteboard and we throw out
17:04names that there is no chance that they will say yes to it. They will say yes to the offer.
17:10Most don't because they're super busy with, you know, really important stuff. But every once in
17:15a while and a little bit more than that, they say yes. And then they show up in a recording
17:20session with us and we have to act like we're chill and actually record them for the show.
17:24So it's it's been amazing. I mean, we were all spoiled just to have Matthew Mercer,
17:29the most incredible DM in the world, out here rocking hundreds and hundreds of NPCs with
17:34accents and personalities and difference in each one of those deliveries. But to, and he would
17:41tell you this, to have people come in, put their voice, put their own spin on the characters has
17:45been nothing short of amazing. Stephanie Beatrice just absolutely shines as Lady Kima. The list
17:52goes on and on. And, you know, the incredible Lance Reddick was, we were so fortunate to get
17:57him for Thordak. And so we were very mindful of him as season three came to a wrap. But the more
18:04seasons that we do, the more shows, being able to add those voices and personalities to this world
18:09is just for us, such a special feather in our hat. It really feels like a blessing that we're,
18:17you know, able to work with such incredible, incredible folks. It's something we never
18:20could have dreamed of. And so we have to pinch ourself each and every time.
18:24All right. Who's somebody that's on your whiteboard for season four?
18:30Oh my gosh.
18:35I would take Denzel. Denzel could come play. You know, we get Jack. Jack will come with the
18:41eyebrows and the whole thing. Is Pacino busy? We can get Pacino, right? Pacino, no problem.
18:48Um, yeah, you know. Oh no, now you're really making me think. I was like, yeah, who do you
18:54want him to play? Take the pitch now. Who's he going to be? Who's he going to be? Gosh. I don't
19:01know. Uh, boy, you know, we're, we're big Ward of the Rings fans. So, uh, we have like a, a secret
19:08desire to get all of the Hobbits. You know, I might take a Gollum, give me an Andy Serkis or
19:12something like that. That would also be great. Um, yeah, there's, boy. Oh, now I need to make
19:18a list, a real list. We'll see. Well, hopefully some of them saw this and maybe we can make
19:25something happen. Okay. But as we, we talk about wishlists, I also want to know what's on your
19:30watch list. I know everybody is of course, anticipating this series in October, but what
19:35else are you either anticipating and it could be upcoming, uh, old things you haven't watched yet?
19:42Oh man. So we have a, we have a six-year-old. So, you know, as parents, we have the like hour to
19:47connect with each other and, or watch something before the rest of the night continues. Uh,
19:52we just finished Invincible season two. Uh, we're in the middle of season four on, on boys. We're
19:58a little behind, but that's because we were catching up on Gen V, which is stellar. Uh, I,
20:03I loved Shogun on, on, it was so good. Um, and there's a couple others that we're just waiting
20:11to, uh, waiting to get to. My wife drags me into, um, Netflix. What's it called? Uh, Rhonda,
20:20what's the Bridgerton? I'm a, I'm a Bridgerton guy. I hate to, I hate to admit it. I jumped
20:27in for the first couple episodes of season one and now it's, we're in there. I don't have any excuses.
20:41I just, I just love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. I