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.
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 Mundus, the king of Hell, who seeks to take over Earth Kari Wahlgren as: Eva, the human mother of Dante and Vergil, who was brutally slain by demons when they were children Echidna, a plant serpent demon working for the White Rabbit Jason Marnocha as Cavaliere, a demon knight working for the White Rabbit Roger L. Jackson as: Plasma, a shapeshifting demon working for the White Rabbit Griff, a DARKCOM agent who Plasma assumes the appearance of Donovan Patton as Bloodstryke, a demon minion who serves the White Rabbit
Introduced in season 2 John Omohundro as Tom Remington, Jr., a former football player turned DARKCOM soldier Tony Todd (episode 9) and James C. Mathis III (episodes 15–16) as Beowulf, a chimera demon who serves Mundus. Salli Saffioti as Chi, Arius' second-in-command Tara Strong as Nell Goldstein, DARKCOM's chief weapons engineer Jim Conroy as Stan Sullivan, the host of an American talk show Andrew Morgado as Argosax the Chaos, the imprisoned former king of Hell whom Arius seeks to free using the four Arcana relics Rick D. Wasserman as the Trismagia, a three-faced demon who serves as Hell's oracle Keith David as Lucan, an aging professor who has learned to wield demonic powers and is knowledgeable of Dante's demonic heritage Paris Johnson as Matilda "Mattie", Lucan's orphaned granddaughter
Episodes Series overview
Season 1 (2025)
Season 2 (2026)
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 28 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."