Surprise! As announced at Summer Game Fest, a new animated TV adaptation of Among Us has shadow-dropped on Paramount Plus, which seems strange in an industry currently obsessed with teasing the life out of every single project (just see the Spider-Man Brand: New Day 24-hour trailer event). However, creator Owen Dennis says shadow dropping the series makes sense, as it's just one more surprise the who-dunnit has up its sleeve.
"People like surprises," Dennis tells GamesRadar+. "The whole show is full of surprises. That's what we did. Make the show full of surprises, and then surprise people to get into the show in the first place. Make everything a surprise. Let's go!"
The news was revealed on June 5, live on stage at Summer Game Fest by voice stars Yvette Nicole Brown and Liv Hewson. Fans at the event were also treated to the first official trailer, which you can watch below.
Embracing the unexpected makes sense as the new show is based on the wildly successful video game of the same name, which revolves around a group of players trying to work out who the shapeshifting killers are amongst them (much like the classic parlor game Murder in the Dark). The game is set on a spacecraft where each crewmate has to complete tasks to keep the ship running. The catch is, before the game starts, an imposter or two is selected, and their job is to sabotage the tasks and pick off each crew member before they are spotted.
The show follows a very similar premise, constantly leaving the crewmates and viewers at home wondering just who the alien imposter could be. Alongside Brown as Orange and Hewson as Black, the cast also includes Kimiko Glenn as Cyan, Ashley Johnson as Purple, Wayne Knight as Lime, Phil LaMarr as Brown, Randall Park as Red, Dan Stevens as Blue, Debra Wilson as Yellow, Patton Oswalt as White, and Elijah Wood as Green.
Ahead of the announcement, we asked some of the voice cast what they thought of the series being shadow-dropped. Park, who plays the ship's captain, said, "I think it's kind of cool. It's kind of like a surprise album drop." Glenn, who plays the ultra-spiritual Cyan, adds, "People's attention spans are so limited these days. I feel like you see something and then the next day you forget about it, so it's like, why wait? Let's just drop it."
Not only has Paramount released the series the same day as the trailer, but all 10 episodes are available to stream at once, so fans won't have to wait weeks on end to find out who the imposter is. Brown feels as though this works with the murder mystery nature of the show. "There are cliffhangers in each episode, you want to immediately get to the next episode," says Brown, who plays HR manager Orange. "I love that we don't have to wait, that we can just binge it when it comes out."
Among Us is out now on Paramount Plus. See our Among Us review for our verdict. For more, check out our guide to the best shows on Paramount Plus, and keep up with upcoming video game movies.
