Critical Role crew promises ‘wild ride’ in Campaign 3, reveals theatrical D&D kickoff

Just months after wrapping up the adventures of the Mighty Nein in their second campaign, Critical Role is beginning a new adventure featuring a new cast of soon to be heroic misfits. Today, the third campaign for the series about prolific voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons was formally announced in a video by castmates Marisha Ray (Final Fantasy XV), Matthew Mercer (Overwatch) and Travis Willingham (Avengers). 

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the new Campaign is that it'll begin by going theatrical. (Artagan is shaking, certainly.) On Thursday, Oct. 21, Cinemark theaters in 20 cities across the country will simulcast the first episode. Cinemark's already got a website ready for you to check if there'll be a screening in your area.

From there, things will progress as normal: new episodes air at 7 p.m. PT on Thursdays on Twitch and YouTube, followed by a public release on YouTube the following Monday. Episodes will continue to be prerecorded as they have been since the series returned from their pandemic-induced hiatus in July 2020, but the final Thursday each month will go without an episode so the cast can take breaks and anyone who lapsed to try and catch up.

Campaign 3 will be set in the continent of Marquet, first name dropped early into the original "Vox Machina" campaign, and be set chronologically after the events of both the "Nein" campaign and the Exandria Unlimited miniseries that premiered during the summer. Home to massive deserts, mountains, and even a volcano, it's uncharted territory for the series and will surely lead to some chaos as our new adventurers begin their rise to power.

In addition to Mercer, Ray, and Willingham, original stars Liam O'Brien (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Taliesin Jaffe (Final Fantasy XIV), Sam Riegel (Ninja Turtles), Ashley Johnson (Last of Us), and Laura Bailey (also Last of Us) are returning. New surprises are on the horizon; at one point, Ray hints that "new storytellers" will be a part of the campaign, and says that fans should expect a shakeup in the way the campaign is told. "This campaign is gonna be a bit of a wild ride," she teased. In the first two campaigns, Mercer served as the Dungeon Master (or DM), but the Unlimited miniseries put him in the players seat while Aabria Iyengar of Dimension 20 took over.  

October is a big month of Critical Role; at New York Comic-Con next week, the cast is premiering an extended look at the animated adaptation of the "Vox" campaign that was Kickstarted to massive success and coming to Amazon. For those who love the Mighty Nein, the first of their character-focused graphic novels arrive starting in November, devoted to Laura Bailey's mischievous tiefling cleric, Jester Lavorre. Future graphic novels are in the works for other members of the "Nein:" kind hearted barbarian Yasha (Johnson), O'Brien's traumatized wizard Caleb and Riegel's goblin rogue Nott. 

Critical Role: Campaign 3 begins on Oct. 21.