Why Mythic Quest Is A Creative Love Story, According To Charlotte Nicdao
The popularity of online gaming communities is at an all-time high, but it's not often that we think about the real people who bring the games we love to life. Created by Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" fame, the Apple TV+ series "Mythic Quest" tells the stories of the folks responsible for the hours of entertainment and escapism enjoyed by millions of players across the world. Set at the headquarters of an extremely popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), "Mythic Quest" explores the lives of a team of programmers, testers, and executives while they grapple with the gaming industry and how their personal lives intertwine.
The series has already released two seasons and a fantastic pair of early pandemic-era quarantine specials, and with season 3 just around the corner, now is the perfect time to catch up on all things "Mythic Quest." In addition to co-creating the series, McElhenney stars as Ian Grimm, the self-important creator behind the hit game whose grating personality can cause a hellish work environment. His lead engineer is the brilliant and underappreciated Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao), who often serves as a buffer between Grimm and the rest of the team. It's a hilarious workplace comedy filled with plenty of heart and injected with plenty of geek-culture humor that avoids the cringe-inducing "Big Bang Theory" pratfalls.
Ahead of the season 3 premiere, /Film's own Valerie Ettenhofer had the chance to interview series stars Charlotte Nicdao and Imani Hakim, who agreed with her assessment that "Mythic Quest" is also a love story about a creative partnership.
'It is a will they/won't they, but not romantic'
During the interview, /Film writer Valerie Ettenhofer described "Mythic Quest" as showing a "creative partnership as a form of love," and was curious if that angle was something consciously explored by actor Charlotte Nicdao. "A hundred percent, that's exactly how I see it," Nicadao said. "It is a will they/won't they, but not romantic." As "Mythic Quest" deals so intimately with the formulation of a gaming experience, the will they/won't they question often reserved for romantic comedies is explored in terms of artistic expression and workplace camaraderie:
"It's about will they/won't they create something great? Will they/won't they find a healthy way to work together? Will they/won't they remain friends?"
As a little tease for season 3, Nicadao also said, "And I feel the stakes of that, especially in this season." The team of the in-world "Mythic Quest" game took a huge risk last season by formulating a new company, which has opened them all up to a new world of will they/won't they questions yet to be answered. "I don't think that the problem is that they're not capable, in terms of the skills that they have, of building a legacy as important as 'Mythic Quest,' said Nicadao. "It's whether they're capable, emotionally, of doing it together."