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Hazbin Hotel x Invader Zim: Series creator Vivienne Medrano says it's a dream come true of working with Invader Zim's Richard Horvitz
Whether it's their shared dark humor or wiry animation style, it's easy to assume that Hazbin Hotel owes a lot to Invader Zim. And according to the former's creator, Medrano, working alongside the voice of the latter's titular character is a serious perk
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Prime Video's Hazbin Hotel is all about villainy (it's a musical comedy set in Hell, remember), but it's the spiritual, demonic kind - not the type of baddie that comes from Outer Space. That said, as series creator Vivienne Medrano will tell you, there's plenty of alien animated antagonist Invader Zim embedded into the series, and for a number of reasons. There's the dark humor, quirky animaton, and oh yeah - Invader ZIm himself is part of the cast.
That's Richard Horvitz, by the way, who's frequently a topic of conversation at Hellaverse panels and public appearances (like, for example, SDCC '25). Horvitz, who voiced the titular invader between 2001 and 2002, is much beloved by the entire Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss crew, but particularly by creator Medrano.
"He's impossible not to like," Medrano told Popverse at New York Comic Con 2025, "He's the most delightful human. I work with him a lot because I'm in all the voice records with him."
In case you didn't know, Horvitz is not only vocal director on both series, but also plays the role of Moxxie in Helluva boss. So, as you can imagine, he and Medrano do a lot of work together.
"It's crazy," says the animator, who's also known as VivziePop, "Because he was such a big part of my childhood. My favorite animated show of all time is Invader Zim, and he plays the title character. So it's crazy because, now, I've been petty. I've gotten drunk with him; I've done karaoke with him. 'I'm like, 'This is great!' If you told little me that, she would not believe me."
I guess the lesson here is that you should meet your heroes, kids. Especially when they're your favorite villain.
Hazbin Hotel season 2 is on Prime Video now.
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