Apple TV+'s Mythic Quest is a comedy series centered on the team behind a leading multiplayer video game. The show follows them as they build worlds, mold heroes, and create legends - all while dealing with office drama. Easily one of the best series on any streaming platform, it features perfect comedic timing, but also causes viewers to look inward at times. Season 4 has heavy themes of work-life balance and creative teams versus management teams, something that everyone can relate to.

Rob McElhenney not only stars as Ian Grimm, but is also one of the creators of Mythic Quest alongside Charlie Day and Megan Ganz. Day and McElhenney also work together on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which will be premiering its seventeenth season later this year. The first two episodes of Mythic Quest Season 4 premiered Wednesday, January 29, 2025, with episodes released every following Wednesday.

ScreenRant interviewed Rob McElhenney about the seeing co-creator Charlie Day in the trailer and tells us why he is finally making an appearance in the show.

Rob McElhenney Has Always Straddled The Line Of Management & Creative

"I always wind up leaning back towards the creative, but nevertheless, it's still a difficult position to be in sometimes."

ScreenRant: In this season, there is the theme of management versus creative. What I find interesting is you are on both sides of that with a lot of your projects. Did that inspire part of the story?

Rob McElhenney: I've always straddled that line, and not necessarily by choice. I mean, I started way back when as just on the creative side of things, as an actor out of work, who then had to learn how to write and make my own thing. I never really thought of myself as being on the other side, on the producing side or in the studio side. And yet, just by nature of the way that Sunny evolved, I was able to sort of straddle that fence and be on both sides of it.

So I had a lot of experience with it, which makes things a lot easier, but in some ways it makes things a lot harder, too, because I'm sort of in that centrist position where I can understand. At first, when you're just a creative you're like, "Oh, it's all just a bunch of suits, and they don't know what they're talking about. Leave it. Let us be free to make our art." And then you're on the other side of things, and you hear the rationale behind some of the decision making. And you go, "Well, okay, some of that does make a point and these crazy artist types, they're just running amok with all of the money, and there's no business."

And so you realize, like, "Oh, wow, wait, I understand both sides of this position. Now, where do I stand?" And I always wind up leaning back towards the creative, but nevertheless, it's still a difficult position to be in sometimes.

Charlie Day's Role In Mythic Quest Was Written For Him

"Some of it was just finding the best time to bring him in and a character that we knew he would crush."

ScreenRant: Charlie Day finally makes an appearance this season. Fans went crazy when they saw him in the trailer. Can you talk about the decision to wait for the right time to bring him in?

Rob McElhenney: Yeah. I mean, look, some of its scheduling, and some of it was just finding the best time to bring him in and a character that we knew he would crush. We've been talking about it for years, because I spend half, I mean, literally, spend more than half the year with him, every day together in a room. So it was just a matter of timing and finding that right character. We knew right from the very beginning that that character was probably going to be written for him. And he was into it.

Rob McElhenney Says Ian & Poppy Need Each Other, But They Hate That They Need Each Other

"It's like a band who you find out hate each other, but they make this beautiful music together."

ScreenRant: Ian and Poppy are forced to work with themselves this season, and they cannot handle it. What do you think it is about their relationship that makes them such a good team?

Rob McElhenney: I think it's because they recognize that they need each other and neither one of them wants to it that. We literally say that in the pilot that they need each other, and they hate that they need each other, but they need each other. Of course, what comes along with that too is they love each other deeply, but that doesn't mean they always like each other.

So that is what creates, I think, really complex and fun characters to write. People who love each other but don't like each other, but are forced together, because together, they are better at creating that thing than when they are apart. It's like a band who you find out hate each other, but they make this beautiful music together. Is the world better off for it, okay? And if that's the case, then they have to navigate the difficulties of their relationship.

Charlotte Nicdao's Pregnancy Was The Greatest Gift For Mythic Quest Writers

"Now this gives us an opportunity to write to it, and it gives us so much more to write about."

ScreenRant: Can you talk about the necessity of the time jump partway through the season to drive the story forward?

Rob McElhenney: Yes. Well, it was just a function of reality. But this happened with Caitlin, actually twice as well, and by happened, I mean, she got pregnant. The first time we were able to hide it on Sunny, and the second time we were unable to hide it. Or maybe it was the other way around, either way, we realized with Charlotte, maybe we could get away with it for a couple of weeks, but otherwise, here we go.

I she called us and obviously, gave us this incredible news, and was concerned about how it would affect the show. And we were like, "This is the greatest gift you could give us." First of all, always, you approach those situations as a human being first, and you're so happy for her and her family, and then you go, "Great. Now this gives us an opportunity to write to it, and it gives us so much more to write about." And that's what the whole second half of the season is about.

The Mythic Quest Season 4 Finale Is A Bombshell

"I feel like it'll be really fun for people to finally see it."

ScreenRant: I can't wait to see the season finale. I only got nine episodes, and it's killing me.

Rob McElhenney: I'm only finding out now that people don't have the finale, and I know why, because it's a bombshell. I feel like it'll be really fun for people to finally see it.

More About Mythic Quest Season 4

The 10-episode season of Mythic Quest, the global hit workplace comedy from creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz, will premiere globally on Wednesday, January 29 on Apple TV+, with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode weekly through Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Season four sees the return of stars McElhenney, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, who also executive produces, Danny Pudi, Ashly Burch, Imani Hakim, Jessie Ennis and Naomi Ekperigin under the same fluorescent office lights as the reunited team at Mythic Quest confronts new challenges amongst a changing video game landscape as stars rise, egos clash, relationships bloom, and everyone tries to have a little more work-life balance.

Check out our other Mythic Quest season 4 interviews here:

• Charlotte Nicdao & David Hornsby
• Danny Pudi & Imani Hakim
• Naomi Ekperigin & Jessie Ennis
• Ashly Burch & Megan Ganz

The first two episodes of Mythic Quest season 4 premiered on Apple TV+ Wednesday, January 29, 2025, with episodes released every following Wednesday.

Source: Screen Rant Plus