Mythic Quest Season 3 Trailer: Apple's Hilarious, Heartbreaking Video Game Comedy Returns

"Mythic Quest" season 3 is almost here, and a new trailer for the Apple TV+ gaming industry comedy just dropped today. From the looks of it, the team at Mythic Quest — and Ian (Rob McElhenney) and Poppy's (Charlotte Nicdao) new company, Grimpop — are just as entertainingly dysfunctional as ever, only now with 100% more Joe Manganiello. And 100% less F. Murray Abraham.

The series is set to return in November with a season that appears to be picking up a year after Ian and Poppy left MQ to start their own company, and while their business seems to be thriving, things definitely aren't going off without a hitch. Check out the trailer below.

MQ versus Grimpop

If this trailer is any indication, "Mythic Quest" looks to be double the chaos this season, as David (David Hornsby) runs Mythic Quest while Poppy and Ian set out on their own. Dana (Imani Hakim) is also obviously working at Grimpop, but based on her teary outburst in the car with girlfriend Rachel (Ashly Burch), she's not having a great time. 

Meanwhile, back at the base for the popular MMORPG that now lacks an authoritative leader (sorry, David), things seem to be going sideways. Brad (Danny Pudi) has been released from jail and is now a shady janitor, and there seems to be a Mythic Quest show or movie in the works, with "Magic Mike" and "True Blood" star Joe Manganiello set to play Ian. "No one's gonna believe that he could play me, he's not big enough!" Ian declares, before a shot of he and Manganiello standing together in mocap suits shows how blatantly wrong he is.

This trailer definitely aims for laughs, but I can't help but notice that it also features details that remind me of the surprisingly heartbreaking cautionary tale, "A Dark Quiet Death," that was the standout episode of season 1. In that self-contained story, a couple (Cristin Milioti and Jake Johnson) create a video game with all the naive enthusiasm in the world, only to be pulled in different directions when capitalistic interests come calling and threaten their art and relationship.

While Ian and Poppy are getting along impressively well here, the time jump, new partnership, and Hollywood version of "Mythic Quest" all make me think the show will return to these themes of creative partnership and the ways it can be tainted. We'll find out for sure when "Mythic Quest" returns to Apple TV+ on November 11, 2022.