The Mighty Nein: seven heroes, nine brain cells, and one world about to regret hiring them (fantasy TV series trailer).
Crikes, The Mighty Nein — proof that even in fantasy worlds of dragons, gods, and all-powerful relics, the real danger is still a group of chaotic adventurers with impulse control issues. The new animated series from Critical Role’s ever-expanding multiverse is landing on Prime Video this November, and it looks ready to reclaim its crown as the funniest, filthiest, and most emotionally devastating D&D campaign ever committed to moving pictures.
If The Legend of Vox Machina was your introduction to Critical Role’s colourful carnage, think of The Mighty Nein as its older, moodier cousin — still prone to stabbing first and asking questions later, but now with more emotional trauma, moral ambiguity, and actual consequences for setting things on fire.
The story takes us back to Exandria, that sprawling sandbox of Matthew Mercer’s imagination, where the ale is strong, the accents are stronger, and every tavern has a 50/50 chance of collapsing before last orders. It’s set twenty years after Vox Machina’s world-saving antics, and things are not going well. War is brewing between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty, and somewhere in the middle of this looming apocalypse, a group of mismatched wanderers stumble across a glowing artefact called The Beacon — which, as per D&D tradition, is definitely not safe, not stable, and absolutely not something you should poke with a stick.
Enter our beloved misfits: Laura Bailey’s Jester Lavorre, a tiefling cleric who treats divine miracles like party tricks; Marisha Ray’s Beau, a monk whose fists are faster than her patience; Taliesin Jaffe’s flamboyant blood hunter Mollymauk Tealeaf, whose life expectancy is inversely proportional to his wardrobe flair; Liam O’Brien’s Caleb Widogast, the wizard who’s basically a walking dissertation on guilt; Ashley Johnson’s Yasha, the angelic barbarian with the emotional range of a thunderstorm; Travis Willingham’s Fjord, a charming half-orc sailor with a demon problem; and Sam Riegel’s Nott the Brave — a goblin rogue with a crossbow, a drinking habit, and approximately zero shame.
Together, they form The Mighty Nein, a name that’s either an act of irony or arithmetic failure, depending on which member you ask. And judging by the trailer, the show isn’t afraid to lean into that self-aware humour — the Nein are heroes only in the loosest possible sense, saving the world one botched persuasion roll at a time.
This time, though, the tone is darker. Showrunner Tasha Huo and the cast have promised “a more mature, cinematic” adaptation — less “rowdy pub crawl with gods” and more “epic political thriller with jokes about goats.” Expect espionage between empires, drow intrigue under the Bright Queen’s gaze (voiced by Lucy Liu, no less), and plenty of beautifully animated moral collapse. The animation studio, Titmouse, is back at the helm, bringing the same kinetic energy and gleeful chaos that made Vox Machina look like a Renaissance painting mid-explosion.
And the cast list reads like a Comic-Con fever dream: alongside the original Critical Role crew, guest voices include everyone from Alan Cumming and Ming-Na Wen to Felicia Day and Anjelica Huston. Yes, that’s right — Morticia Addams herself is in The Mighty Nein. If she ends up playing a necromancer, the internet may simply implode.
What’s particularly exciting here is how The Mighty Nein seems to embrace the weirdness that made its campaign such a fan favourite. It’s less about shiny heroes and more about broken people doing their best — or at least trying not to make things worse. And knowing this crew, they will absolutely make things worse. Gloriously so.
Here at SFcrowsnest magazine, we have a soft spot for stories that blend the epic and the idiotic — and The Mighty Nein looks like a critical hit on both counts. Expect sword fights, soul-searching, morally dubious spellcasting, and at least one tiefling prank that escalates into divine retribution. So, grab your dice, refill your tankard, and get ready for November 19th, when The Mighty Nein finally drops on Prime Video.
