Devil May Cry creator on making a super gothic Netflix anime series: 'Infusing comedy within action really makes it pop'

Burning up the best streaming services universe starting on April 3 2025 will be Netflix’s latest adult anime sensation: the adaptation of Capcom’s Devil May Cry fantasy horror video game franchise that first spawned way back in 2001 and has included five demon hunting sequels and spinoffs.

Under the capable guidance of renegade executive producer and fearless creator Adi Shankar (Dredd, Castlevania, Captain Laserhawk) and his ace writing partner Alex Larsen, Devil May Cry has been transformed into a smoking barrage of character-based insanity all brought to life by the remarkable crew at South Korea’s Studio Mir to be one of the best Netflix shows.

If that acclaimed Asian company’s name is familiar then you’d be totally correct, as they’ve been involved with an impressive array of recent animated offerings like X-Men ’97, The Legend of Korra, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Dota: Dragon’s Blood, Skull Island, My Adventures with Superman, and many others.

An animated Dante runs while holding two pistols — *Devil May Cry* has the makings to be one of the best anime shows. (Image credit: Netflix)

Right from the raw and rowdy opening title sequence paired with Limp Bizkit’s nu-metal anthem, Rollin’, eager viewers will know they’re in for one hell of a ride when this eight-episode series hatches.

The series tells the spooky saga of a cocky, half-human half-demon named Dante who’s being used by a gung-ho paranormal commando group to stop a portal to hell from entering our dimension. Toss in one well-dressed, six-foot white rabbit with a penchant for murder, stir in an army of unholy creatures, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a hardcore anime concoction.

Devil May Cry is also layered with a wicked sense of humor that feels perfectly natural in this upside-down world besieged with demonic entities and electrifying paranormal clashes, which is an essential element Shankar and Larsen have become particularly adept at.

“Infusing comedy within action stuff really makes it pop,” Shankar tells TechRadar. “I really didn’t quite get that ten or fifteen years ago. I always thought moments of levity were a betrayal of the audience, but as long as the joke doesn’t break the fourth wall or suspension of disbelief you can do it. And that’s one of the things I dig about this franchise and this show now, where I get to inject humor into it.”

An animated Dante fires two pistols

Did you read TechRadar Gaming’s Devil May Cry 5 video game review? (Image credit: Netflix)

Devil May Cry 1, the game, was very much in the world of The Crow, Underworld, Blade, Dark City, maybe the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing movie
Adi Shankar, creator, showrunner and executive producer of Devil May Cry

When tackling this beloved intellectual property and steering it into another medium, Shankar and Larsen endeavored to protect the addictive essences of the video games and be faithful to the source material for its bloodthirsty legions of longtime fans.

“We definitely wanted to preserve the characters,” Shankar explains. “The characters are iconic and they are iconic for a reason. I don’t need to change the characters at all. It’s just a question of how old are the characters and where in their lives are we meeting them, and how much trauma have they unpacked.

“The franchise is rooted in a tragic childhood. When it comes to the challenge of it, I originally envisioned it in my mind as being super gothic. Devil May Cry 1 the game was very much in the world of The Crow, Underworld, Blade, Dark City, maybe the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing movie, because they’re very much in that world.

“They’re all night and all dark. But I realized that the story I came up with was not that. So the challenge was knowing that the gothic thing eventually shows up, but Dante hasn’t quite realized he’s the Son of Sparda. He doesn’t even know he’s half-demon. He doesn’t know anything about himself.”

One of the pivotal creative choices Shankar first made was to set this adapted Devil May Cry series in the realm of the real world, similar to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, and to just drop the whole thing into familiar territory and a retro, cellphone-free timeline.

“We’re going to take the entire story and play it for reals and how does this play out,” he adds. “Not a huge deviation from the games, but that one choice did create positive ripple effects.”

Embodying gothic angst with nu-metal

A white rabbit demon with glowing eyes

This well-dressed, six-foot white rabbit has a penchant for murder. (Image credit: Netflix)

Music is an indelible part of Netflix’s Devil May Cry, especially those energetic, hard-rocking tunes from the late ’90s and early 2000s, which was the era when Capcom initially released the first games and also the memory book of Shankar’s younger, more formative years growing up.

“Firstly, Devil May Cry 1 came out in 2001 so it’s of its time. As a brand, a franchise, as a story, and a universe, each game is radically different. But the core tenet of the brand is that it’s rooted in tragedy and I feel like nu-metal also is rooted in tragedy.

Devil May Cry 1 came out in 2001 so it’s of its time… It’s rooted in tragedy and I feel like nu-metal also is rooted in tragedy.
Adi Shankar, creator, showrunner and executive producer of Devil May Cry

“The angst is born from unfairness, which is the Devil May Cry brand if you break it down that way. Lastly, you’ve got Dante listening to music throughout the game franchise. The jukebox and playing guitar. I plopped him in the real world, set it in that time period, so this is the music he’d clearly be listening to.”

Shankar and Devil May Cry’s Dante often feel like they’re cut from the same cloth, both are rebellious rule-breakers with style and attitude, and perhaps that’s why this new anime series feels like it’s been crafted with such care and attention in a place where life and art intersect.

“That’s one of the things that I connected to with the material,” notes Shankar. “I did feel a connection to the character and there’s a jester-esque quality to Dante as well, which is something you don’t normally get in action heroes.

“You get like Deadpool, who’s all comedy and takes nothing seriously. On the other hand you get characters like Blade or The Crow who are pure vengeance. Selene from Underworld who is sheer vengeance. Dante exists in this gothic angsty world but he has a great heart. And that is a combo you don’t see a lot of.”

Devil May Cry streams exclusively on Netflix beginning on April 3, 2025.

Devil May Cry creator on making a super gothic Netflix anime series: ‘Infusing comedy within action really makes it pop’

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