Last week was a crazy week over at Netflix. As part of the streamer's Geeked Week celebration, they trotted out tons of teasers, trailers, and announcements for all their biggest shows, including Wednesday, One Piece, and The Sandman. On the animated front, Arcane was undoubtedly the star of the show; the Emmy-winning series is debuting its second and final season this November, and now we know exactly when it'll be releasing.
But Arcane wasn't the only animated show to get some love at Geeked Week. We also got our first glimpse at Devil May Cry, a new Netflix animated series based on the long-running Capcom action video games. And I can't lie, this one's got me frothing with excitement. Check it out:
What is Devil May Cry about?
The first Devil May Cry video game was released for the PlayStation 2 all the way back in 2001, and it revolutionized action hack-and-slash gameplay, inspiring many of the games to follow in the genre like God of War, Ninja Gaiden, and Chaos Legion. The games follow a young devil hunter named Dante (yes, after Dante's Inferno) who slices through armies of monsters as he tries to prevent the forces of hell from taking over the surface. But Dante doesn't just kill demons, he kills them with style; much of the game is focused on putting Dante into situations so outrageous they'd feel right at home in an anime, and then filling players with wild glee as he fights his way out of them while badmouthing his enemies.
Just look at Dante's typical outfit: oversized red trench coat, a sword so massive a normal person probably couldn't even wield it, and twin handguns named Ebony and Ivory. He's half human and half devil, so not only does he have connections to the underworld (a twin brother named Vergil — again, Dante's Inferno), he's got the strength to go toe-to-toe with the worst baddies it can offer. But rather than use that for some glorious purpose, Dante runs a devil hunting shop that looks more like a pool room at a bar, likes ordering pizza, and generally acts like a washed up bro who doesn't want to be bothered — at least until the sword comes out, and then it's curtains.
Yes, it's all just as ridiculously iconic as it sounds. And based on this trailer, along with some comments from Devil May Cry showrunner Adi Shankar, I'm more confident than ever that the Netflix series might nail that bonkers tone that is so key to the games.
Everything we know about Netflix's Devil May Cry show
Part of what makes the Devil May Cry series so exciting is the team behind it. Showrunner Adi Shankar is also the mastermind behind another of Netflix's animated shows, Castlevania, which is similarly based on a video game about a man who hunts creatures of the night (vampires, in that instance). It's hard to understate the glow-up that Castlevania gave its source material, taking a fairly basic game story and structure that the series has used since 1986, and expanding it into a weighty, dramatic, brooding yet funny series which easily stands among the best animated shows Netflix has ever produced.
So Shankar's involvement is a huge plus for Devil May Cry. On the animation front, the series is being brought to life by Studio Mir, the same studio who did The Witcher spinoffs Nightmare of the Wolf and the upcoming The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep. Again, Studio Mir is great at portraying monster hunters hunting monsters, which is just what Devil May Cry needs. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say the battles in Nightmare of the Wolf look more like something out of Devil May Cry than they really do The Witcher.
And this isn't just some little show Shankar and Studio Mir are slapping together so Netflix can continue cashing in on its reputation as a leader in adult animated shows. This is a passion project that Shankar and his producing partner Alex Larsen have been working on "every day" since 2018. They're taking the time to make something truly special.
“Rest assured, we are working very hard because we love the franchise and because we want to deliver something great,” Shankar told Tudum. "Our goal wasn’t just to pump out another animated show. My goal is to make one of the best shows on the Netflix platform — period.”
Who voices Dante in the Devil May Cry show?
We're still waiting to hear about more of the cast for Devil May Cry, but we do know who is voicing Dante as well: Johnny Young Bosch. Bosch is basically show and video game royalty. He was one of the stars of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, where he played the Black Ranger starting in season 2, and has lent his voice talents to hundreds of animated projects and video games, including Bleach, Akira, Trigun, Demon Slayer, and more.
So you can rest assured: Dante is in good hands. As for what the show itself will be about, we also got a logline as part of Geeked Week:
"Sinister forces are at play at the portal between the human and demon realms. In the middle of it all is Dante, an orphaned demon hunter for hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck."
Best of all, we know when we'll be watching it. Devil May Cry releases on Netflix in April 2025. So mark your calendars and get ready for some devil hunting action! And if you want to get a feel for what Devil May Cry is all about before then, there are five video games in the franchise for your to slice your way through. In the words of Shankar, it's time to "get hyped."
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