In Critical Role’s sporadic behind-the-scenes series, The Legend of The Legend of Vox Machina, fans of the Dungeons & Dragons stream have been getting crucial glimpses into upcoming, and highly anticipated, animated adaptation of the series, The Legend of Vox Machina. Wednesday’s featurette focused on the voice acting process and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on production and, in doing so, re-introduced fans to Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Naruto, Carmen Sandiego) in her new role as The Legend of Vox Machina’s voice director.
Critters, fans of the sprawling fantasy landscape of Critical Role, may recognize McGlynn from her guest appearance as Zahra Hydris during the series’ first Dungeons & Dragons campaign. In Wednesday’s feature, McGlynn self-identified as a Critter and cast members cited her knowledge of the campaign and vast voice acting experience as a recipe for success.
The players of Vox Machina – Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us, Blindspot), Liam O’Brien (Carmen Sandiego), Laura Bailey (The Last of Us: Part II, Spider-Man), Travis Willingham (Avengers Assemble, Camp Camp), Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Marisha Ray (8.13) and Taliesin Jaffe (Hellsing) – will all voice their beloved Vox Machina personas and serve as executive producers on Amazon’s The Legend of Vox Machina. In Dungeons & Dragons, it’s the Dungeon Master’s duty to bring an entire realm of Non-Player Characters (NPCs) to life, meaning Matthew Mercer’s (Overwatch) role will change slightly in The Legend of Vox Machina. The Dungeon Master and executive producer on the series unveiled that he will crop-up as some iconic characters in The Legend of Vox Machina, but that a majority of those roles have been fulfilled by new performers.
A major reveal about The Legend of Vox Machina came when Mercer shared that he would reprise his role as the NPC and villain, Sylas Briarwood. As Briarwood “will serve as a primary antagonist for the second half of The Legend of Vox Machina‘s first season,” this was a significant casting announcement for fans of the series, via ComicBook.
Aside from a clarification on one of Mercer’s major roles, Wednesday’s The Legend of the Legend of Vox Machina took fans behind-the-scenes of the COVID-19-related changes to the series production. Cast members cited the special magic that came to life in their group recording sessions, prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, a magic they had to slowly learn to recapture virtually. Critical Role’s space in the Dungeons & Dragons actual-play world is unique in that the cast consists entirely of professional voice actors, which came in handy when the need arose to record The Legend of Vox Machina virtually. While most cast members had professional voice recording equipment on hand, many needed to build makeshift home studios, out of office and closest space, in order to work on The Legend of Vox Machina from home.
The slow-down in production caused by COVID-19 caused a delay in the series release, though McGlynn and the Critical Role cast indicated that there may be more news to share soon. The prior Legend of the Legend of Vox Machina introduced fans to animator Phil Bourassa (Young Justice, Batman: Hush) and offered an enticing first look at the series’ animation style. Hopefully a trailer, showcasing the work of Bourassa, McGlynn and the entire Legend of Vox Machina team, awaits fans soon.