Back in 2020, during the lockdowns that required people to remain in their homes, there were a few collective touchstones that people indulged in to remain sane. For starters, the complete original series of Avatar: The Last Airbender dropped on Netflix, allowing old fans to take a trip down memory lane and new fans to discover Aang and the gang for the first time. Warner Bros. and HBO Max released multiple films straight-to-streaming and in theaters, including Godzilla vs. Kong and the 2021 Mortal Kombat reboot. And of course, there was Among Us.
Initially released to little fanfare back in 2018, the social deduction/online party game experienced a surge of attention during lockdown from people whose only interaction with friends and the outside world came through the virtual space. The gameplay loop involved a group as small as four or as big as 15 trying to deduce which crew members on a spaceship are actually alien impostors. The game’s cultural ubiquity didn’t go unnoticed by a certain Owen Dennis, the creator of the short-lived and beloved animated series Infinity Train and now the creator and director of Paramount’s new Among Us show.
