We've been getting casting updates on Hulu's upcoming sci-fi/fantasy anthology series Dimension 404 on a weekly basis this month. It started with the announcement that Lea Michele, Ryan Buckley, and Ryan Lee would be appearing on episodes, and that was followed by the news that Joel McHale and Sarah Hyland had also signed on.
Now we can add three more to the cast list: Patton Oswalt, Ashley Rickards, and Sterling Beaumon have each been cast in separate episodes of the series, which was created by Dez Dolly and Will Campos. It is
inspired by the Internet’s “404” error code. Dimension 404 aims to evoke that 3 AM feeling of wandering onto the weird side of the web, stumbling upon stories that cannot be explained in the world that we know.
Oswalt will be playing Uncle Dusty, "a lovable movie nerd who worships at the altar of cinematic history. But when he takes his teenage niece Chloe (Hyland) to see a new sci-fi YA film, he quickly discovers that the film’s never-before-seen cinematic format – called Cinethrax – gives the audience a strange, perilous moviegoing experience."
Rickards' character is Sue, "a brilliant yet scattered college student whose procrastinating ways get her caught up in time-traveling adventure when Captain Chronos, the hero of her favorite ’90s-era cartoon, shows up needing help to save the past, present and future – unless the villainous Lord Entropy can stop her."
Beaumon will be portraying Jess, "a handsome, slightly mysterious and strong-willed high school senior who works part time at Ernie’s Arcade. There, teenage gamer Andrew (Lee) discovers a mysterious, never-played arcade game called Polybius, and investigates its dark and bloody provenance."
Expected to premiere on Hulu in 2017, this first season of Dimension 404 is set to run for six episodes.
My favorite thing about these descriptions we're getting of episodes by way of the characters is how retro it all sounds, with stories based around arcades and '90s cartoons. That's making it very appealing to me.