This week, Netflix unveiled a flurry of news about all their upcoming series for 2025. We got new footage from Wednesday season 2, a release date for Squid Game season 3, confirmation that One Piece season 2 isn't coming out until 2026, and loads more. Nestled in among all those big reveals was a piece of adult animation news I'm particularly excited about: opening credits and a release date for Devil May Cry, the upcoming adaptation of the popular video game series from original Castlevania showrunner Adi Shankar and Studio Mir.
The Devil May Cry games are about a half-human, half-demon devil hunter named Dante, who has a bad attitude and slices up the creatures of hell like no other. The first game debuted on the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2001, but Dante's hold on popular culture has remained strong. There are five games to date, and most of them are very well-loved by fans.
Shankar has been working on his Devil May Cry adaptation since 2018, laboring to get it just right. Now we've gotten our first glimpse at what to expect from the show's opening, which is set to Limp Bizkit's song "Rollin." Can't say Dante wouldn't approve of the music choice:
Shankar explained the song choice on Twitter/X: "My DMC Universe is set in a late '90s/early 2000s PS2 era of the world. It's not set in modern times. It's set in my memory of the world, pre- and post-9/11. My music choices reflect this. My series features a mix of hits from that era and greatest musical hits from the DMC franchise (reimagined by [Power Glove])."
I'll admit, I was surprised to hear Limp Bizkit when I fired up that opening, but I can only agree with Shankar that it certainly fits the vibe of those early games. I was a teen in the era when the first three Devil May Cry games came out, and yeah, I absolutely listened to a ton of nu metal in this exact vein. I totally get the vision. According to Shankar, these credits are going to evolve as the series goes on.
"In my DMC Universe each season will have a different feel to emulate the way each game has a different feel," he said. "That means a different theme song each season and a completely different title design each season."
Devil May Cry opening foreshadows major villains from the game
What exactly Shankar's Devil May Cry show will cover has been kind of an open question. Will it directly adapt the games? Will it be a branching side story, similar to the 2007 Japanese Devil May Cry animated series?
From Shankar's comments and this credit sequence, the picture is starting to become a bit clearer. Those opening credits feature a bunch of notable images from the games, including iconic weapons and important villains. For example, we get brief glimpses of Mundus, the king of hell who featured in the original game, as well as an Angelo knight and a few others. We also see plenty of footage of Lady, Dante's companion from the third Devil May Cry game, which was a prequel that explored his teenage rivalry with his twin brother Vergil.
Devil May Cry season 1 is based on Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
The very first shot of the trailer, which you can see above, also shows off a slew of weapons from the games. While that would be exciting just for fan service, it also could foreshadow the scope of this series. This image features swords from all five Devil May Cry games; specifically, the front four are Red Queen (Devil May Cry 4), Vendetta (Devil May Cry 2), Dante's original sword Rebellion (Devil May Cry 3), and Alastor (Devil May Cry). The screen flashes, changing Rebellion into Yamato, the sword of Dante's brother Vergil.
This likely has much larger symbolism for the season than first glance. Throughout the rest of the trailer, Dante mainly flies around chopping monsters with Rebellion. That is the sword he used in the Devil May Cry 3 prequel, which is all about him facing off against Vergil. According to Polygon, the series "will focus on a younger Dante, and is inspired by the 2005 franchise prequel Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening." They also report that this season will span eight episodes.
Devil May Cry 3 leaves off in a way that leads almost directly into the original game. Depending on how many seasons the show runs, we could end up seeing quite a bit of the game saga adapted. I'll cross my fingers.
Devil May Cry show release date
In addition to Shankar serving as executive producer, Devil May Cry is written by Alex Larsen (Yasuke) and animated by Studio Mir (The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep, The Legend of Korra). Dante is played by voice acting legend Johnny Young Bosch (Power Rangers, Dragon Ball, Bleach).
Devil May Cry premieres on Netflix on April 3.
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