Dispatch’s All-Star Cast Explains the Superhero Sitcom Game You’ve Been Waiting For

Dispatch is the latest example of what the branching narrative game format can do in the modern era, with AdHoc Studio’s entry to the superhero genre bringing plenty of personality to the heroes behind the masks. Set in a world where superheroes are such a common occurrence that an entire industry has grown out of dispatching them to emergencies, players are tasked with stepping into the role of a former hero as he becomes a new dispatch agent for the SDN.

The real meat and bones of the game come from the supporting cast, who are brought to life by a mix of established voice actors and comedians who’ve never appeared in a game before. ComicBook got the chance to speak with some of the stars of Dispatch to discuss their take on a workplace superhero comedy, finding the surprising shades of their characters thanks to the branching narrative structure of the story, and which other genres they hope AdHoc Studios tackles next.

Dispatch Is Invincible Is By Way Of Office Space

Superheroes have become a ubiquitous part of pop culture in recent years. Even if fans and critics argue if the MCU is over and James Gunn redefines the DC Universe on-screen, shows like The Boys and Invincible keep the genre thriving for fans of all ages. Dispatch is definitely a fresh swing at the genre, a clever and emotionally compelling mix of a foul-mouthed Incredibles and the interoffice conflicts of The Office.

At the center of the episodic game is a group of co-workers taking part in the Phoenix Program. While players step into the shoes of Robert Roberson/Mecha-Man, the rest of the cast bring a snarky, snippy, and sympathetic edge to their superhero archetypes. One of the most overt is Invisigal, the latest in a long line of troubled young antiheroes in the genre. For her voice actor, the irreplaceable Laura Bailey, there was a sense of confidence once she saw what AdHoc team was bringing to the character.

“I was excited mostly about working with this team. Having worked with them previously on other Telltale Games, [I know] Nick and Pierre are just the most amazing duo. Their character creation and their writing is so wonderful. I don’t think anybody does comedy writing in video games quite as well as they do. I was beyond excited when they approached me about it.”

Erin Yvette concurred, noting that her recruitment to play the heroic SDN field leader Blonde Blazer was driven by the crew behind the project. “There are certain creative teams that, once you’ve worked with them, you’re just like, ‘I’m yours. Just call me and I’ll do whatever you need.’ The crew behind AdHoc is one of those for both of us. Then you get to see what they’re making, and you’re [begging] to get in.”

“I’ve never been a part of a video game before,” Lance Cantstopolis admitted, laughing off the stress of the experience. As Flambae, Canstopolis is the resident hothead of the Z-Team — in temperament and power set. “To be able to dip my toe into something like this is amazing. I slowly discovered how wide the scope it is and the scope of the people involved. Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, all these talented voice actors, it’s just a cool new space for me to enter. I come from the stand up world, and this became cooler with every layer of the onion revealed. That’s why I wanted to do it.”

Joel Harver, whose sketches on YouTube often poke fun at the medium, plays the comically unconfident Waterboy in the game. Harver noted that “I just love branching path video games,” with a focus on impacting the overall storytelling. I love storytelling in any way, shape, or form. I think video games that let you choose your path and your story tickle my brain. It’s so fun to make a decision and just think about what if I didn’t do that, you know? Unlike in real life, where all your decisions are final and often painful, in video games you can go back and do it again, you could try again. I think that’s what’s so fun about games like this, and it’s an honor to be involved.”

“I think a lot of the credit goes to Nick Herman and Pierre Short and the entire creative team at AdHoc,” Travis Willingham gushed. One of Bailey’s The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein co-creators and co-stars, Willingham found the balance between the superhero bombast and the workplace comedy to be the key to the game’s effectiveness, especially with his Superman riff, Phenomaman. “[These people] are all in an office. They’re trying to coexist, they have cubicles. What does the HR department at SDN look like? But then you get to hit the extremes of the characters that have these incredible powers and absurd personalities and the most amazing moments of humor — and real emotion as well. I think [AdHoc[ did a really great job of balancing that indoors tone most of the time, and then when you get outdoors, all bets are off… I think Dispatch just knocks it out of the park.”

“As a performer, it’s actually a lot easier to play a grounded character if you can find the human inside of them.” For voice actress, writer, and Game Awards-nominated Content Creator Alanah Pearce, the real core of what makes Dispatch work is the focus on keeping even the most absurd characters authentic on an emtotional level — like her demonic Malevola. “That’s what gives it that relatability… you do have to find that core and stick to it. The game is so well written that seeing those branching paths and different reactions to things actually gives us more context as actors. Someone else makes a choice that impacts Malevola, and her reaction made me go, ‘Oh! Interesting.’ That actually adds more context about the character and to the picture of her that I built. It makes it easier to have a full picture, which we don’t always get in real life.”

That same grounded humanity applies just as well to Coupe, a ballerina assassin with a deadpan sense of comedy. Played by writer, comedian, and voice actor Mayanna Berrin, she expained that what appealed to her about the project was just how “it’s so grounded and organic. Sometimes there’s pressure to put a particular interpretation on a character. I think everyone is bringing so much of themselves to their characters. I think that’s what gives it that relatability. I think that’s the thing that people are really like resonating with people.” The branching paths presented plenty of creative challenges for Berrin, who noted that “you have to find the thing in it that’s interesting, or the thing in it that you don’t expect, even if you’ve heard it before. That’s where the fun is.”

Music artist Thot Squad, who plays the pop-star-coded Prism, noted that “relatability and authenticity” were the two things that stood out the most about the game’s approach to the superhero genre and the Office Space-style character dynamics. “That draws you in. These are conversations these people are having are so well-written and so well-timed, and our directors were so great at allowing us to play. I think that’s what really makes the game special and different from another thing. I’m thinking 1960s Batman, where it was Part A: Crime, Part B: Investigate, Part C: KaPow! The day is saved. None of that would ever happen in real life. This game is what would happen in real life.”

Secret Identities and Surprises Behind Every Mask

One of the things that helps make Dispatch so compelling is the little dashes of unexpected humanity that peek through the facades. Having played the first four episodes, it’s surprising just how many emotional twists and hilarious turns the game throws at the player and the overall cast. That includes some big surprises that took the cast themselves by surprise too.

Despite appearing to be the golden idealized superhero, Blonde Blazer has some unexpected layers that Yvette embraced about the character. “She transcends this idea — I think on the surface, people look at her and they think she’s nice. My goal as an actor, and what I was delighted to see supported within the script, is the idea that she’s more than just nice. She’s multifaceted, she has her flaws, and she can laugh at them. She is a good hang, her feathers don’t ruffle very easily. She’s seen a lot. She can mess around and tease and hit right back, and still wear her authoritative hat. She can be warm and nice, and she also has her own fears and insecurities. She was a real fleshed-out person, not just a one-sided archetype. That was really lovely and a relief to see.”

The entire cast reflected on the biggest surprises, with many of them wary of giving too much away about the game. Bailey explained that “from the original recording sessions of Invisigal, she presents herself as… she has a very hard exterior, but you get these little peaks, these little moments of vulnerability seeping out of the cracks. I think what surprised me was her chewy marshmallow center.”

“With a character name like Phenomnaman, you know what he is on the outside,” Willingham joked. “He looks like your standard atypical broad-shouldered superhero. But it’s the “buts” that make it so interesting. They always do. He’s an alien from another world. He doesn’t understand humanity, emotion, subtlety, or any of those things. He’s constantly at odds with romance, his feelings, trying just to communicate or really even find friends. I think, in this environment, that’s such a great thing to play as an actor.”

Harver didn’t have to dig deep on his character, with the directors from AdHoc convincing him to lean more into his own personality to give Waterboy his human elements. “I wanted to be a character with Waterboy. I think I realized he was more me than I initially let him be. I was doing a much higher pitch, way more awkward stuttering in my first session. [The directors] told me to pull it back and to just be me. I’m like, ‘Oh! So I’m just the awkward guy. I don’t have to try to be awkward.’ No sauce, the meal is good [Laughter]. That was a surprise for me, discovering the characters was more myself and more grounded than what I was initially reading on the page.”

Cantstopolis recalled how, when he was brought in to play Flamebae, “I know they wanted the bravado, they wanted the confidence, the busting balls. I could do that in my sleep! But then there are moments where it gets kind of tender, and I wasn’t expecting that. Those moments of real drama, grounded dialogue. That’s surprising for a video game. This world is newer to me. This game seems to be breaking ground in that way, mixing together this world that’s fantastical but also very real.”

What caught Pearce about Dispatch by surprise was the way that Malevola “chooses to deal with betrayal… it added layers, because it doesn’t necessarily have to happen. Getting that new piece of information added another piece to the puzzle of this person. The writing’s so good that it was delightful every time to get a new morsel of information.” Likewise, Mayanna found something similar with Coupe, revealing that “a single line of dialogue at the beginning of episode 4… changed my entire understanding of who Coupe was as a person. After that, knowing that I was going reconfigure a couple things in the remaining dialogue that I had to write, knowing that piece about her opened up all these other thing I was very delighted to explore.”

Thot Squad was taken by Prism’s sense of self and confidence, which is something she was able to “relish” in compared to her real-life experiences. “It’s amazing. Prism’s ability to say and do and think what she wants, and who cares if it’s in a work setting? Okay, so this is her third strike. So what? I don’t care; I’m still going to cuss out my boss. Being able to play that type of person gave me hope to be that type of person. It’s the dream, really just self-advocating. It doesn’t have to be cursing people out, but just self-advocating for yourself and not shrinking down? It’s more uncommon than it needs to be, especially for women, and especially for women of color. Prism is just standing in it. I love that.”

Looking at the legacy from companies like Telltale that built up to AdHoc and the bright future awaiting the video game developer, the stars of Dispatch had a lot of fun ideas where the narrative game genre should be taken next. Bailey joked that she was hoping for a Critical Role game — which is already in development with AdHoc. She also admitted she wanted to see “something like a Pride and Prejudice game. I really want to feel like I’m in a Regency-era romance.”

Yvette and Pearce had similar ideas, both wanting to see more done with the horror genre with this format. “Give me someone running from Jason or Freddy,” Pearce said. She’d also take “something like Monsters Inc.” Meanwhile, Yvette, meanwhile, was curious about the potential of a perspective flip. “What if there is a narrative-focused character-based horror game, but you’re the guy wearing the Scream mask? What’s that like?”

Willingham had nothing but ideas, noting that “the AdHoc team, it feels like they could make excellent games” of several genres. Citing a noir story, a western narrative, and a “fantasy game — but I might be a little biased,” Willingham was adamant that the key to their success wasn’t defined by genre. “As long as they have a palette with a variety of colors and characters and locations, that’s where they thrive. The quality level just absolutely blew my mind. We might as well see how far we can push it.”

Harver and Cantstopolis each had their own ideas driven by specific movie tropes and styles. Harver was in support of a “Kaiju game, a Godzilla game from the people’s perspective trying to survive a monster attack.” Canstopolis turned to another cinematic icon, describing how he would love a “Jackie Chan-type game. Specifically Rumble in the Bronx.”

“I want to see a comic book convention,” Berrin gushed. “I want to see people trying to do something at a comic book convention, and there are these different fandoms and places, seeing behind-the-scenes at the panels. It’s just such a fun arena to try and manipulate because of the scale of it.” However, Thot Squad might have had the best answer of the whole cast, though. “The movie Titanic,” she confidently exclaimed while her co-stars laughed in agreement. “Who makes it ot the end? Does Rose make it? There are so many parts where everything could have gone a different path! It’d be great.”

The first two episodes of Dispatch are now available to play.