Brennan Lee Mulligan of “Dimension 20” fame remembers his first encounter with Matthew Mercer’s Critical Role, and tells the story with the infectious joy of a man who has found his match.
Mulligan was working on “Um, Actually,” the web series on the streaming platform Dropout, and for one episode, he was given the task of writing mistakes in the war series ” Dungeons & Dragons” set with comic panels. Mercer was a guest at the event in November 2018. At the time, “Key Role” – the “D&D” Twitch stream that turned the company Mercer founded into a major player in the nerdworld business – was it had just begun.
Mercer, as a “lawyer,” had to see all the errors on Mulligan’s plate. Not only did he find them all, he found those that no other man had written.
When filming wrapped, they stood in the elevators of a West Hollywood studio, talking about their “D&D” games.
“There’s love at first sight, and this is one of those differences,” Mercer told BI. “Like, this is someone I know right away: ‘I’ll know for a very long time, and I look forward to seeing them again.’
These two men have now formed an incredible partnership in the business of nerdworld. The headline shows have fans packed into arenas: “Dimension 20” sold out Madison Square Garden for their January 2025 gig, and “Key Part” filled venues from Wembley Arena in London to the Greek in Los Angeles.
In addition, they also have leadership roles behind the scenes. Mercer is the chief creative officer at Critical Role, working with eight of his friends on everything from Amazon-backed animated series to game projects. Meanwhile, Mulligan is one of the biggest creative minds at Dropout, the streaming platform that’s already picking up Emmy nominations.
Mulligan assisted his first Critical Role mission, EXU Calamity, in May 2022. Mercer returned the favor, and the game was optimized for “Dimension 20’s” Ravening War,” a feature campaign. six which was announced in May 2023.
Go to ‘Downfall’
Mercer and Mulligan had a lot of fun creating the world of Aeor together, they told BI. Important Part
Mulligan told BI that he’s been eyeing Keynote for a long time, and that he threw himself into Mercer’s case while working on the EXU Calamity. Then he was invited again for “Downfall” – a three-part drama that aired in July.
Mercer told BI that working with a guest artist like Mulligan on a Key Role required “a strong sense of trust” because of how much Exandria’s stories love him.
“I was worried about the possibility of trying to live up to what I saw in my head, I had the pleasure of realizing that someone I trusted could do it more justice than I thought I could. ,” Mercer said of Mulligan.
Mulligan said he would approach Mercer with a “broad outline” of where he planned to take the story. But Mulligan had “complete freedom” to improvise while playing the tableau role, which he found “extremely exciting”.
“There’s Matt, it never stops. It’s more like: ‘This is the place I have to protect for something that comes in the next campaign, and now everything here is stadium,” Mulligan said.
To make Aeor
Mulligan said it helped that he and Mercer were always on the same page — from familiarity with the mythological references to common visions for the direction of the story.
Together, they have built the vast landscape of Aeor, from the beautiful landscape where robots and humans can interact to the brutal architecture of the city’s important wards. They also created organized warfare together, setting the stage where the gods of the Exandrian gods battled dragons, monsters, and powerful sorcerers.
“We put the staff together for that fight and of course I stopped,” Mulligan said.
“I was right next to the camera behind the curtains watching the whole thing happen, I was crying, and it was great,” Mercer said.
Mercer and Mulligan admitted that telling the story and working separately, they were happy to be able to spend time with each other.
“As an adult I have been challenged to find community at different points in my life, and my passions and interests have not been easy to find people to share with,” Mercer said.
Mercer says that telling stories to her friends is her love language, and she’s glad to be able to do that with Mulligan.
Mercer is back at the helm of the game after the “Downfall” arc, and the Core Team continues with the third campaign of the crew. Important Part
“The staff at CR have become the closest non-blood people in my life,” said Mercer. “What’s great about these partnerships is allowing that family to grow, allowing more people to come in and be part of that community,” he added.
Now, Mercer is back in the game master’s seat for the third campaign of the Major League. I asked if he’d like to be a player on the Mulligan table for a change, maybe checking out the fan favorite, elven wizard Essek Thelyss.
“There’s nothing wrong with putting it in. I’d love to,” Mercer said, adding that if the opportunity arises for another event with Mulligan, it’s a game.
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