''Mythic Quest'' (known as ''Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet'' for its first season) is an American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by

Charlie Day Charles Peckham Day (born February 9, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Charlie Kelly on the FX Networks, FX dark comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Phila ...

, Megan Ganz, and

Rob McElhenney Robert McElhenney III ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his role as Mac on the FX/ FXX comedy series '' It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–present), a show he created and co ...

for

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

. The series premiered on February 7, 2020, and follows a fictional video game studio that produces a popular

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

called ''Mythic Quest''. In January 2020, ahead of its first season premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. A special episode, "Quarantine", was released in May 2020, and a second special episode, "Everlight", was released in April 2021. The second season premiered in May 2021. In October 2021, the series was renewed for a third and fourth season, which premiered in November 2022 and January 2025 respectively. In April 2025, the series was canceled after four seasons, and the fourth season finale received an updated ending. A spinoff series, '' Side Quest'', premiered in March 2025.

Premise

The series follows a fictional video game studio that produces ''Mythic Quest'', a popular

, run by the game's creator and creative director Ian Grimm (

). At the start of the series, the studio is about to release a major

expansion pack An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion, is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game, collectible card game or Miniature wargaming, miniature wargame. An expansion may introduce new rules ...

to the game, ''Raven's Banquet''. Ian argues with lead engineer Poppy Li (

Charlotte Nicdao Charlotte Nicdao (born 14 August 1991) is an Australian actress. She is known for starring as Jackie Lee in the Nine Network series ''A gURLs wURLd'' (2010–2011) and as Poppy Li in the Apple TV+ comedy '' Mythic Quest'' (2020–2025). Caree ...

); executive producer David Brittlesbee ( David Hornsby) and head of monetization Brad Bakshi (

Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor and director. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supp ...

) about aspects of developing the game.

Cast and characters

Main

as Ian Grimm ( ), the creator and

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

of ''Mythic Quest'' and later ''GrimPop'' **Judah Prehn portrays a young Ian Grimm ("Sarian") *

Ashly Burch Ashly Burch (born June 19, 1990) is an American actress, writer, director, and singer. She is known for her roles as Aloy in the ''Horizon (video game series), Horizon'' series, Chloe Price in the ''Life Is Strange (video game), Life Is Strange ...

as Rachel Meyee, a game tester and later the head of

monetization Monetization ( also spelled monetisation in the UK) is, broadly speaking, the process of converting something into money. The term has a broad range of uses. In banking, the term refers to the process of converting or establishing something into ...

for ''Mythic Quest'' * Jessie Ennis as Jo, the executive assistant for David, later Brad and then Dana * Imani Hakim as Dana Bryant, a game tester and later a

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

for ''Mythic Quest'' * David Hornsby as David Brittlesbee, the

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

of ''Mythic Quest'' *

as Poppy Li, the lead engineer and later co-creative director of ''Mythic Quest'' and later ''GrimPop'' **Isla Rose Hall portrays a young Poppy Liwanag ("Sarian") *

as Brad Bakshi, the head of monetization, later a

janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...

and then a financial advisor for ''Mythic Quest'' * F. Murray Abraham as C.W. Longbottom (seasons 1–2), the

head writer A head writer is a person who oversees the team of writers on a television or radio series. The title is common in the soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio ...

of ''Mythic Quest'' **

Josh Brener Josh Brener (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor. He played the roles of Kyle on the IFC series ''Maron'', Nelson "Big Head" Bighetti on the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'', and Alan Zweibel in the film '' Saturday Night''. In animation, ...

portrays a young Carl Longbottom ("Backstory!") *

Naomi Ekperigin Naomi Ekperigin is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer, and producer. She wrote for the Comedy Central sitcom ''Broad City'' from 2015–2016, the NBC sitcom '' Great News'' from 2017–2018, and the Apple TV+ series '' Mythic Quest'' f ...

as Carol (seasons 3–4; recurring seasons 1–2), the head of

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

and later the head of

diversity and inclusion Diversity, in a business context, is hiring and promoting employees from a variety of different backgrounds and identities. Those characteristics may include various legally protected groups, such as people of different religions or races, or ...

for ''Mythic Quest''

Recurring

* Caitlin McGee as Sue Gorgon (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 3–4), the community manager for ''Mythic Quest'' * Elisha Henig as Brendan / "Pootie_Shoe" (season 1; guest season 4), a popular livestreamer who plays ''Mythic Quest'' * Aparna Nancherla as Michelle (season 1), a programmer on Poppy's team working on ''Mythic Quest'' *

John DiMaggio John William DiMaggio ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American actor. His various voice roles include Bender on ''Futurama'', Jake the Dog on ''Adventure Time'', Marcus Fenix in the ''Gears of War'' series, Dr. Drakken on '' Kim Possible'', ...

as Dan Williams (season 1; guest season 4), the executive producer of ''Cold Alliance'', ''Mythic Quest's'' main competitor *

Craig Mazin Craig Mazin (born 1971) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known for creating, writing, and producing the HBO historical disaster drama miniseries ''Chernobyl (miniseries), Chernobyl'' (2019) and co-creating, co-writing, an ...

as Lou (season 1), a replacement game tester for ''Mythic Quest'' **Mazin also portrays Sol Green ("Backstory!") *

Humphrey Ker David Humphrey Rivers Ker (; born 11 October 1982) is a British actor, comedian, writer and football executive, who is a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Penny Dreadfuls. Early life and education Ker was born to David Peter James Ker ...

as Paul (season 1; guest season 2), an exceptionally tall developer for ''Mythic Quest'' * Derek Waters as Phil Birch (seasons 2–3), the head of the art department for ''Mythic Quest'' * Mort Burke as Anthony (seasons 2–3; guest season 4), a bespectacled programmer working on ''Mythic Quest'' * Ben Stillwell as Kai (season 3), part of a pair of young game testers for ''Mythic Quest'' who replace Rachel and Dana * Austin Zajur as Travor (season 3), the other young tester * Andrew Friedman as Andy (seasons 3–4), part of a pair of middle-aged game testers for ''Mythic Quest'' who are

diversity, equity, and inclusion In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject ...

(DEI) hires * Michael Naughton as Mikey (seasons 3–4), the other middle-aged tester * Alanna Ubach as Shannon (season 4; guest seasons 1, 3), Ian's ex-girlfriend and Brendan's mother * Chase Yi as Storm (season 4), an artist and Poppy's boyfriend * Karolina Szymczak as Anna Nowak (season 4), the head of monetization for ''Sea of Destiny'' (a competitor to Dana's Game ''Cozy Galaxy'') and an ex-lover of Brad

Guest

* Sean Philip Glasgow ("The Convention") and Tyler Lawrence Gray ("Rebrand") as "LOL_Trevor" *

Jake Johnson Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger (born May 28, 1978) is an American actor. He has starred as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom '' New Girl'' (2011–2018), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Come ...

as Michael / "Doc" ("A Dark Quiet Death"), a video game developer and Bean's partner on the ''Dark Quiet Death'' video game *

Cristin Milioti Cristin Milioti (born August 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for playing The Mother, The Mother (How I Met Your Mother), Tracy McConnell, in the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'' from 2013 to 2014, and Sofia Falcone in the HBO ...

as Bean ("A Dark Quiet Death"), a video game developer and Doc's partner on the ''Dark Quiet Death'' video game * Geoffrey Owens as Tom ("A Dark Quiet Death") *

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

as the Narrator ("Everlight") *

Jason Fuchs Jason Isaac Fuchs (born March 5, 1986) is an American actor and screenwriter, best known for writing '' Ice Age: Continental Drift'' (2012), '' Pan'' (2015) and ''Wonder Woman'' (2017). He is also known for his role as Lawrence Grey on the Fox ...

as Strauss ("#YumYum") *

Parvesh Cheena Parvesh Singh Cheena is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gupta in the TV series ''Outsourced'' and as Sunil Odhav on ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. He also voices Bodhi in '' T.O.T.S.'' and Blades in '' Transformers: Rescue Bots'' ...

as Zack Bakshi ("Breaking Brad" & "TBD") *

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

as himself ("Breaking Brad") * Shelley Hennig as A. E. Goldsmith ("Backstory!") **Hennig also portrays Ginny Cromwell ("Peter") *

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. For his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Cannes Film Festival Award for B ...

as Peter Cromwell ("Peter") ** Michael Cassidy portrays a young Peter Cromwell ("Backstory!") *

Joe Manganiello Joseph Michael Manganiello ( ; , ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor. His professional film career began when he played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man''. His breakout role was as werewolf Alcide Herveaux in five seasons ...

as himself ("The Two Joes" & "The Year of Phil") *

Lindsey Kraft Lindsey Brooke Kraft (born January 23, 1983) is an American actress, model and writer. She is best known for playing Marguerite Macaw on '' Getting On'', Leslie Curry on '' Living Biblically'', and Allison on '' Grace and Frankie''. Kraft has a ...

as Sarah Grimm ("Sarian") * Hayley Magnus as Olivia Liwanag ("Sarian") *

Casey Sander Clinton O. "Casey" Sander (born July 6, 1955 or 1956) is an American actor known as the character "Captain" Jimmy Wennick on the short-lived TV series '' Tucker''. His television credits also include ''Criminal Minds'', ''The Golden Girls'', '' ...

as Grandpop Joe ("Sarian") * Dionysio Basco as Benito Liwanag ("Sarian") *

Sam Witwer Samuel Weiler Witwer IV (born October 20, 1977) is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles as Crashdown in ''Battlestar Galactica'', Davis Bloome in ''Smallville'', Aidan Waite in '' Being Human'', Mr. Hyde in ''Once Upon ...

as Ian Grimm Sr. ("Sarian") *

Robert Picardo Robert Alphonse Picardo (born October 27, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the Doctor on '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He also appeared as Richard Woolsey in the ''Stargate'' franchise, the Cowboy in '' Innerspace'', Coach ...

as Principal Taggart ("Sarian") * Brittany Ross as Jackie ("1000%") * Sophia Adele Saux as Yara ("Second Skeleton") *

Natasha Liu Bordizzo Natasha Liu Bordizzo (born 25 August 1994) is an Australian actress. She made her movie debut portraying the character of Snow Vase in Netflix's 2016 wuxia film '' Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny''. In 2019, she portrayed the c ...

as Tracy Liwanag ("The Fish and the Whale") ** Alyssa Aure portrays a young Tracy Liwanag ("Sarian") *

Travis Schuldt Travis Schuldt (born September 18, 1974)"Catching up with....Travis Schuldt." ''Soap Opera Digest''. August 12, 2013. p. 63. is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on ''Passions'', and played the recurring roles of Keith D ...

as Louis ("The Fish and the Whale") *

Donald Cerrone Donald Anthony Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and actor. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions of the Ultima ...

as himself ("Rebrand") *

as Spencer ("Rebrand") * Andy LeBuhn as Jean-Georges ("Heaven and Hell")

Episodes

Season 1: ''Raven's Banquet'' (2020)

Specials (2020–21)

Season 2 (2021)

Season 3 (2022–23)

Season 4 (2025)

Production

Development

On August 9, 2018, it was announced that Apple had given a series order to a new half-hour comedy series written by

, Megan Ganz, and

, all of whom also serve as executive producers alongside

Michael Rotenberg Michael Rotenberg is a Canadian producer and entertainment manager. Early life and education Rotenberg grew up in Toronto, Ontario and studied law at the University of Windsor, He was admitted to practice in Upper Canada as well as in Californ ...

, Nicholas Frenkel, Gérard Guillemot, Jason Altman, and Danielle Kreinik. Production companies involved with the series consist of RCG Productions,

3 Arts Entertainment 3 Arts Entertainment, formerly 3 Arts Productions, is an American film and television production company founded in 1991 by Erwin Stoff, Michael Rotenberg and Howard Klein. The company has gone on to produce television series such as ''King o ...

, and Ubisoft Film & Television. McElhenney said the concept of the show resulted from a discussion video game developer Ubisoft had with him about producing a television show around video games. McElhenney had been invited to

Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., doing business as Ubisoft Montreal, is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Montreal. The studio was founded in April 1997 as part of Ubisoft's growth into worldwide markets, with subs ...

to discuss the project, and though he was initially hesitant, as he toured the studio, he saw the potential vision for the show. Since then, Ubisoft has assisted in designing the video game characters and game world, as well as providing other art assets for the show. Ubisoft also helped the writers with details of video game development to stay authentic to industry approaches. The series was renewed for a second season ahead of the first season premiere. In October 2021, the series was renewed for a third and fourth season. On April 11, 2025, the series was canceled after four seasons and the fourth season finale received an updated ending the following week, on April 17.

Casting

was confirmed to star in the series at the time of the initial series announcement, and F. Murray Abraham, Imani Hakim, David Hornsby,

and Jessie Ennis subsequently joined the cast.

played the narrator in the special "Everlight".

, and Derek Waters guest starred in the second season. In April 2022, it was announced that F. Murray Abraham had exited the series and would not return for the third season. Abraham had previously been warned after an allegation of

sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, ...

on the show's set, and was let go from the show after a second allegation against him was brought to McElhenney. Abraham issued a public apology for making jokes that offended his former colleagues. The third season saw

appear in a guest role.

Filming

Filming of the first season concluded by March 2019. A special, titled ''Mythic Quest: Quarantine'', was written, shot, and edited in just three weeks, all remotely during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, using products supplied by Apple, such as iPhones. The second season suspended production in November 2020 after positive

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

tests of production team members. The following month it was further reported that while McElhenney claimed "to date there remains ZERO evidence of any transmission at work", at least 12 members of the production staff that worked in close contact with one another had contracted COVID-19, marking the second cluster of COVID-19 cases linked to the ''Mythic Quest'' production, and prompting another production suspension. During a ''Mythic Quest'' panel at the

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 American and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts appli ...

's Winter Press Tour in February 2021, McElhenney stated that he "did not want to be known as the person who got F. Murray Abraham very, very ill", elaborating that Abraham's character was continuing to work remotely for the first few episodes, and did not actually shoot in person until episode seven of the second season, where COVID testing occurred "as many times as five days a week," and Abraham's scenes only included "very small amounts of people on camera". By March 2021, a total of 26 crew members of ''Mythic Quest'' came down with COVID-19, making it "the worst outbreak of any show in Los Angeles". The fourth season started production in March 2024, after having been delayed because of the

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists

and WGA strike and wrapped on May 4, 2024.

Release

On June 10, 2019, a trailer for the series was presented by McElhenney at

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...

E3 2019 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

press conference, where he announced that ''Mythic Quest'' would premiere in the fall of 2019. On December 18, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on February 7, 2020. The first season consisting of nine episodes was released on February 7, 2020. A special episode ("Quarantine") focusing on the ongoing

was released on May 22, 2020. A second special ("Everlight") was released on April 16, 2021, prior to the second season premiere. The second season premiered on May 7, 2021, with episodes releasing weekly. The third season premiered on November 11, 2022, with an expanded episode order of ten episodes. The fourth season premiered on January 29, 2025.

Reception

Critical response

Season 1

The review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 90% approval rating, based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it relies too heavily on the workplace comedy formula, ''Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet'' is nonetheless hilarious and stands out for exploring the gaming industry with intelligence, thoughtfulness, and sincerity."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 73 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Season 2

The second season received positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 100% based on 32 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smartly written, sharply performed, and sentimental without losing its sense of humor, ''Mythic Quest''s stellar second season solidifies its place as one of TV's best workplace comedies." On Metacritic, it has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Season 3

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 95% based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The core characters have gone their separate ways but ''Mythic Quest'' remains thematically cohesive as an acidic sendup of the gaming industry that never compromises its essence as a warm-hearted workplace comedy."

Season 4

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 95% based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Much like a good RPG, ''Mythic Quest'' keeps expanding its world in clever ways while allowing its hapless characters to grow in surprising directions." On Metacritic, it has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades

The series was recognized with

The ReFrame Stamp The ReFrame Stamp for Gender-Balanced Production certification is awarded by ReFrame to corporations and media that show progress toward gender equality and greater representation of women in key roles. History On June 8, 2018, the ReFrame Sta ...

for hiring people of underrepresented gender identities, and of color.

Other media

Inspired by the short story mentioned in the episode "Backstory!", ''Tears of the Anaren'' was released in June 2021 on

Apple Books Apple Books (known as iBooks prior to iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave) is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS, iPadOS and macOS operating systems and devices. It was announced, under the name iBooks, in conjunction ...

as an ebook and an audiobook, which is narrated by C.W. Longbottom (F. Murray Abraham) and Ian Grimm (Rob McElhenney).

Spin-off

In December 2022, Apple TV+ ordered ''Mere Mortals'', an eight-episode companion series created and written by

, John Howell Harris and Katie McElhenney. It focuses on new characters who are employees, players, and fans of the game ''Mythic Quest'', and has been compared to the stand-alone episodes "A Dark Quiet Death" and "Backstory!". The series was later renamed to ''Side Quest'', and released all four episodes on March 26, 2025.

References

External links

*
Mythic Quest
' at

* at

* {{Ubisoft Motion Pictures 2020 American television series debuts 2025 American television series endings 2020s American sitcoms 2020s American workplace comedy television series Apple TV+ original programming American English-language television shows Massively multiplayer online role-playing games in fiction Television shows about video games Television series by 3 Arts Entertainment Television series by Lionsgate Television Ubisoft