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Devil May Cry — news, coverage & facts — IJR

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Devil May Cry is an adult animated action horror television series created by Adi Shankar for Netflix. Based on the Japanese video game franchise of the same name by Capcom, the series follows the demon hunter for-hire Dante as he attempts to foil a demonic invasion of Earth orchestrated by the White Rabbit while also coming into conflict with human soldier Mary Ann Arkham.

Shankar serves as the showrunner and executive produces alongside Haruhiro Tsujimoto. Produced by Studio Mir, Adi Shankar Animation, and Capcom, the series features the voices of Johnny Yong Bosch, Scout Taylor-Compton, Hoon Lee, Chris Coppola, Kevin Conroy, Ian James Corlett, Robbie Daymond, and Graham McTavish in main roles.

The first season premiered on April 3, 2025, on Netflix. One week after the first season's release, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on May 12, 2026. In June 2026, the series was renewed for a third and final season. The series has received generally positive reviews from critics.

Contents

Premise

While being hunted by the government organization Dark Realm Command (DARKCOM) under Vice President William Baines, Dante, a cambion demon hunter for-hire, comes into conflict with a demon-obsessed terrorist called the White Rabbit who seeks revenge on the human race.

Voice cast and characters

Main

Johnny Yong Bosch as Dante, a laid-back professional demon hunter who was born to a human woman and a demon knight, Sparda. His demonic physiology enables him to be far stronger than other humans, move fast enough to appear to slow down time, survive otherwise fatal wounds, and sense the presence of demons. Dante has a good sense of humor, but also possesses a pathological hatred of demons due to their role in his mother's death

Kue Lawrence and Adam LaBelle as young Dante

Scout Taylor-Compton as Mary Ann Arkham / Lady, a no-nonsense DARKCOM lieutenant whom Dante nicknames "Lady"

Evie Hsu as young Mary

Hoon Lee as the White Rabbit, a demonic terrorist plotting to merge the demon and human worlds and bring about complete human extinction

Chris Coppola as Enzo Ferino, an information broker who helps Dante find work

Kevin Conroy (season 1) and Ian James Corlett (season 2) as William Baines, the Vice President of the United States and head of DARKCOM

Robbie Daymond as Vergil, Dante's twin brother and his only equal in strength and skill. He is known as Nelo Angelo when in his demonic form.

Marcel Nahapetian as young Vergil

Graham McTavish as Arius von Enhrenberg, a sorcerer who is the CEO of the Uroboros Corporation and founder of DARKCOM

Quinn Eakins as young Arius

Supporting

Introduced in season 1

Zeke Alton as Dr. Fisher, a paranormal scientist at DARKCOM

Jon Gries as Jed Hopper, the President of the United States

Benjamin Abiola as Anders, a DARKCOM agent and newly recruited member of Mary's team

Sunkrish Bala as King, a DARKCOM agent and member of Mary's team

Fryda Wolff as Ninja, a DARKCOM agent and member of Mary's team

Leilani Barrett as Patriot, a DARKCOM agent and member of Mary's team

Tina Majorino as Sentry, a DARKCOM agent and member of Mary's team

Kenny Omega as Sly, a demon disguised as one of the mercenaries hired by DARKCOM to capture Dante

Jason E. Kelley as:

Arnold, a mercenary acquainted with Dante

Bruce, a mercenary hired to capture Dante

Erica Lindbeck as Kalina Ann, Mary's deceased mother

Ray Chase as:

John Arkham / Jester, Mary's father, who became obsessed with trying to prove that demons exist and later transformed into a mischievous clown demon that serves Mundus and killed Mary’s mother

Agni & Rudra, a pair of demon brothers working for the White Rabbit

Episodes

Production

Development

In late 2018, Adi Shankar announced his plans to produce the TV series adaptation of Capcom's Devil May Cry for Netflix. Alex Larsen was hired as a writer for the series which consists of eight episodes. Shankar claims he initially attempted to get the rights to Dino Crisis before being offered Devil May Cry, though Shankar has also stated that he "fought" for the rights rather than being offered them and spent a year negotiating with Capcom before approval in 2018. Shankar claims he was unaware of Devil May Cry 5 prior to acquiring the rights and was "unhappy" when it was revealed as he believed the franchise was dormant at the time, stating "This was my thing. I thought I was bringing this thing back, and so I was like, ‘Oh! This is a modern fucking thing! This is ongoing? Then I should have done Street Fighter."

In September 2023, the first-look teaser was released during Netflix's Drop 01 livestream. Shortly after, Dante's long-time English voice actor, Reuben Langdon, revealed that he was not asked to reprise his role. As a self-proclaimed fan of the series, Adi Shankar said he cosplayed in response to the game, which attracted the company in charge of the games. Shankar brought parallels between Devil May Cry and the comic book Iron Man in terms of popularity and wanted to give it a revision inspired by Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. According to Shankar, the series is considered to be part of a shared "Bootleg Multiverse", alongside Castlevania, Castlevania: Nocturne, and Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.

On April 10, 2025, the series was renewed for a second season. The first episode of the second season, "The Fallen", was dedicated to the memory of actor James Van Der Beek, a mutual friend of Shankar's.

On June 4, 2026, it was announced the series was renewed for a third and final season, with Shankar stating, "This was always Dante's Divine Comedy with guns and a red coat. Season 1 was Inferno. Season 2 was Purgatorio. Season 3 will be Paradiso. These three seasons make up "The Force Edge Saga". Since inception, "The Force Edge Saga" was designed as a movie trilogy disguised as a television series."

Casting

In September 2024, it was announced that Johnny Yong Bosch would be taking on the role of Dante. Bosch would later mention on a social media post that Langdon, Dante's original voice actor, had quit acting and that Shankar had written Dante with him in mind for the role. Bosch auditioned for the role unaware it was related to Devil May Cry and expressed apprehension when cast due to his previous role in the franchise as Nero. On March 11, 2025, a trailer with additional cast members was revealed with one of them being Kevin Conroy in a posthumous role as William Baines following his death in November 2022. As Conroy had not finished recording all of his dialogue prior to his death, Ian James Corlett was brought in midway through production to take over the role of Baines. In 2023, Tony Todd was cast in an undisclosed role later revealed to be Beowulf for the second season. Following Todd's death in November 2024, he was replaced by James C. Mathis III for the final two episodes of the season.

Release

By September 2023, a first-look teaser trailer was released along with the news that Studio Mir from South Korea would be producing and animating the series. A second teaser trailer was released on September 19, 2024. In January 2025, the intro sequence, which featured the song "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit, for the series was unveiled. The first season premiered on April 3, 2025. The second season premiered on May 12, 2026.

Reception

Season 1

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 96%, based on 27 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Honoring its source material's flair for the bombastic, Devil May Cry slices and dices its way into the animation medium and makes a bloody memorable first impression." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 8 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Aidan Kelley of Collider gave the series a score of 9 out of 10. He dubbed the series "one of the best new animated shows of 2025", comparing it favourably to Shankar's previous work on Castlevania and that it "goes above and beyond to deliver a brilliant animated series that is as thematically rich as it is wildly entertaining." Daniel Kurland of Bloody Disgusting gave the series a score of 4 out of 5. He praised the action sequences and wrote, "There's strong enough artistry behind the action and battle choreography that makes this adaptation a sheer delight." Kurland then commented on the art style by stating, "There are some really creative art direction and stylistic choices that make the series a visual triumph." Kambole Campbell of The A.V. Club gave the series a rating of B−. He noted that "Shankar's spin on Devil May Cry is mostly a fun love letter to the qualities that made it popular" and praised the soundtrack, specifically mentioning its licensed music and the original song "Afterlife" by the rock band Evanescence that plays during the sixth episode, which he described as the "show's best episode." Rendy Jones of RogerEbert.com similarly praised the episode and wrote that "Everything pays off in the sixth episode, a chapter guided by silent visual storytelling that incorporates various animation styles and some aptly fitting needle drops. It is one of the year's best TV episodes to date, a bold move that proves why these studios hire Shankar for their adaptations."

Rafael Motamayor of IGN gave the series a score of 8 out of 10. He concluded his review by stating, "Adi Shankar and Studio Mir craft a fun video-game adaptation that doubles as a deranged, bonkers, and bold homage to and indictment of '00s Americana. If nothing else, it contains some of the best animation you're likely to see this year." Brett Cardaro of CBR gave the series a score of 8 out of 10. He commended the performance of the voice cast, stating that Dante's voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch "is actually the perfect person to play him in the anime" whose "cocky one-liners are often as genuinely entertaining as they are in the games" and that the White Rabbit's voice actor Hoon Lee gave a "standout performance" and was a "surprisingly amazing character." However, Cardaro was critical of the use of CGI animation and noted that "The action is mostly great, but one way it's held back is by the appearances of some of the demons created using CGI. The fight choreography is consistently solid, but the CGI models just don't do it justice." Isaiah Colbert of io9 criticized the depiction of Mary, or "Lady", but praised voice actress Scout Taylor-Compton for her performance and wrote "There's a lot to love about Lady, which is why its so disappointing to witness any sense of poignancy of her quieter contemplative moments or badassery being upended by her cursing so god damn often."

Season 2

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season holds an approval rating of 100%, based on 13 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Devil May Cry emboldens its second season by capitalizing on familial drama that further motivates the wondrously crafted action set pieces to stunning effect." Metacritic assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 6 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. The season received 4.1 million views on the week of release, a drop of over 20% compared to that of Season 1.

Aidan Kelley of Collider rated the second season as 8 out of 10. He praised the action of the season, stating "every chaotic frame feels like it serves a purpose and amplifies this feast for the senses" and had "enough bloody great spectacle to satisfy more casual fans" but was an overall step down from the first. Kelly noted that Dante was sidelined compared to the side characters, something he noted was also a factor in Season 1 but more egregious due to less interesting characters, stating Arius was not "nearly as compelling" as Hoon Lee's White Rabbit. Rafael Motamayor of IGN was largely positive, scoring the season as 8 out of 10. The character of Vergil was highlighted as "the star of the season" as both an antagonist and a compelling character that added "a darker tone, a compelling emotional story, and some kick-ass fight scenes." Motamayor also criticized the scripts' predictability and noted a lack of delicacy when approaching heavier topics, stating, "Adi Shankar knows to follow the lead of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace when he says that writers who use subtext are all cowards." Grant Hermanns of Screen Rant described the second season as "both an improvement and a downgrade", praising the action and animation as improved from the previous season and the villains as genuine threats, claiming Arius was "the area where it arguably succeeds the most." However, Hermanns had criticism of the presentation of the narrative, feeling the pacing of the season "had more filler" and that it "doesn't quite nail the pacing of its gaming counterpart". Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut was more critical of the series, scoring the season 3 out of 5 and stating that there wasn't enough to "stop the whole thing from feeling tedious after a while." Wilson disparaged the season for sacrificing casual audiences to appeal to the existing fans of the franchise, such as the inclusion of notable iconography that was "clearly intended to elicit a response to those in the know but won't mean a thing to those who aren't" yet also believing it wouldn't appeal to hardcore fans and was "bound to annoy plenty of them in Season 2, just like it did the first time around" and that the series as a whole "feels like it's wearing out its welcome a bit already."

Audience response

Reception among the existing audience from the games was more mixed. Multiple sources reported issues with the liberties taken with the source material, with Daniel Kurland of CBR noting fans considered it "a disappointment due to how it strays from its source material for the worse." Brett Cardaro of CBR noted multiple criticisms from fans, such as many feeling Dante was sidelined as a protagonist and "too weak" compared to the game counterpart, as well as the political allegory introduced into the series being a "source of ire". Maddy Casale of Decider expressed surprise at the "controversial" reception of the series and the "hate" directed towards the story, characters, and politics, stating "there seems to be a sense of betrayal and anger when it comes to Adi Shankar's direction and decisions." Isaiah Colbert described the second season as "an eight-episode prank played on the game's fans" and noted various criticisms that wouldn't irritate those "who've only experienced the series through the show", such as Dante and Mary's relationship being "like jangling keys in front of a toddler" and noting "the final battle being the cherry on top of none of its heroes winning a battle". Ediz Guner of Game Rant described the series as "a double-edged sword for long-time fans" as while the success of the show brought attention to the franchise during a hiatus between games, the pre-existing fanbase disapproved of the show believing "Netflix has done a bad job at representing the franchise's overall story" meaning that the new audience brought in by the show "are not seeing the franchise at its best."

George Foster of The Gamer details the criticisms towards Dante and Mary, stating fans found Dante "much more carefree and meme-y" that was "much more similar to Deadpool [...] than he is to his character in the games", a comparison also noted by Rafael Motamayor of IGN, while quoting a critical fan as describing Mary as an "unlikeable loser who swears every two seconds". Lucas Simons of Game Rant detailed the criticisms of Dante in relation to season 2, stating "the myriad of secondary characters [...] constantly steal the spotlight" drawing attention to how Mary "[carried] the whole team throughout the entire plot" while Dante was "sidelined and beaten to a pulp for two consecutive seasons". Simons highlighted these flaws were a repetition of Dante's character arc in season 1 and that "going over the same trope to showcase some sort of character growth at the end (which didn't happen in the end) is pointless." These critiques led Simons to question Dante's status as protagonist, explaining that if Shankar intended "to reforge the entire lore of DMC just because he wants other characters to shine" it would alienate the majority of its audience, concluding "what would it be of Devil May Cry without its main character?"

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Joshua Fox of Screen Rant was more critical of the series from the declared perspective of a Devil May Cry fan. He commented on the quality of the writing, stating that "my issues with Devil May Cry's writing are compounded by what became the biggest sticking point: the political elements" before elaborating on how the series' commentary on the war on terror was "completely out of place" for the franchise. Fox also noted that the series "doesn't work because of how poorly it portrays old and new characters alike", specifically mentioning how Dante and Mary compare unfavourably to their video game counterparts. David Opie of GamesRadar+ in contrast was critical of the series for being too devoted to the games. Opie rated the series 2.5 out of 5, stating that though the series was able to capture the spirit of the games, "there's little depth beyond that" and that the greatest issue was that the show was "very much stuck in the past, rather than paying homage to it", failing to update the series for modern audiences. Opie was similarly dissatisfied by the series undermining its more positive moments through lacklustre presentation, claiming "it feels like Devil May Cry is trying to convince you of Dante's coolness, rather than simply showing it" and found the action to be a "run-of-the-mill scrimmage" when compared to the choreography of Castlevania. Evie Rivas of In Between Drafts claimed the show is antithetical to the source material, stating it "possesses a nihilistic need to strip the identity of the franchise in favor of a cynical reconstruction" and that "a thick layer of cynicism covers all traces of heart. Irony consumes all sincerity. Adi Shankar's anime adaptation seems to be trying to philosophically murder Devil May Cry." Rivas also criticized the character Mary and her excessive narrative importance and unlikability, describing her as "a theocratic Nazi that eventually builds a concentration camp" while claiming that Shankar's exploration of politics was "in extremely poor taste." Louis Kemner of CBR listed the series among the most disappointing anime of the 2020s, stating that though it "delivered the goods with moments of good animation and solid characterization" it was overshadowed by low quality animation and CGI and how it "deviated from the source material enough to not feel like a true adaptation of the games."