The Batman's Joe Manganiello Appears In the First Episode of CelebriD&D

03/23/2017 11:00 am EDT

The Batman villain Joe Manganiello will appear in the first episode a new online series from Nerdist and Geek & Sundry's Alpha.

The series, titled CelebriD&D, will bring together celebrities who grew up with tabletop roleplaying games, and pit them against one another.

The series is a bit of a spinoff of (or at least a riff on the concept of) Critical Role, the fan-favorite series that pits voice actors against one another in games that are filled with improv, humor, bickering, and other forms of fun.

Alpha is the new premium content platform from Legendary Digital Networks aimed at engaging with popular fandoms. Alpha interactive channels include Nerdist Alpha, which features exclusive content from Nerdist, as well as Geek & Sundry. Alpha "bridges the gap between the audience and content through special features including original programming, chat, polling, and live fan experiences," per their official description.

You can check out a preview of the first episode of CelebriD&D above, some stills from the episode in the attached image gallery, and the official series synopsis, courtesy Nerdist, below.

Celebrities… They're just like us. Many of them grew up playing role-playing games, and even remain avid fans and participants to this day. While excelling in their careers, they've put their love for imaginary sword-wielding and potion-making on hold… until now. CelebriD&D puts D&D-playing celebrities into a small, mini-campaign where they are paired with some of the best role-players in the world. The 45-minute premiere episode features Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike XXL, One Tree Hill), who has played D&D since childhood and still plays to this day. His episode will air on Alpha on Thursday, March 23 at 6 am Pacific (9 am Eastern), with additional episodes to be announced at a later date.

In this first episode, Manganiello joins forces with Geek & Sundry's Critical Role cast members Matthew Mercer (Dungeon Master), Marisha Ray, and Taliesin Jaffe along with Nerdist's Dan Casey and Jessica Chobot on a mission of life and death as they enter an abandoned temple in search of an ancient relic. Spells are cast, damage is done, and more than a few hit points are lost; the group emerges worse for the wear, but with an epic story to tell. Did the party acquire the artifact? At what cost? Watch this tale of heroism, and laugh along with Manganiello and his adventuring party on projectalpha.com to find out.

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