The Boys Presents: Diabolical, also marketed as simply The Boys: Diabolical, is an American adult animated anthology superhero miniseries that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on March 4, 2022. It serves as a spin-off of the live action television series The Boys, and is similarly based on the comic book series of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The series is created by Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, all executive producers of The Boys television series, alongside Simon Racioppa.

Each episode serves as a standalone story. The tone of the stories vary from comedic to dramatic, and each episode has its own animation style. Writers include Ennis, Racioppa, Rogen, Goldberg, Justin Roiland, Ilana Glazer, Awkwafina, and Andy Samberg; featured voice actors include Antony Starr, Dominique McElligott, Colby Minifie, Chace Crawford, Elisabeth Shue, and Giancarlo Esposito, reprising their roles from the live-action series.

Diabolical received positive reviews from critics, with praise going to the animation, voice acting, writing, humor and themes.

Premise A series of animated shorts telling side stories in the universe of The Boys using various animation styles. Voice cast The series features a large voice cast, including several actors reprising their roles from The Boys.

Antony Starr as Homelander Dominique McElligott as Queen Maeve Chace Crawford as The Deep Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar Elisabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell Colby Minifie as Ashley Barrett Simon Pegg as Hughie Campbell Jason Isaacs as Billy Butcher Ben Schwartz as Simon and Kingdom's Dad Christian Slater as the Narrator Kieran Culkin as O.D. Michael Cera as Great Wide Wonder Awkwafina as Sky, Areola, and Turd Seth Rogen as a drug dealer Aisha Tyler as Nubia Don Cheadle as Nubian Prince Youn Yuh-jung as Sun-Hee Randall Duk Kim as John Andy Samberg as Gary Kumail Nanjiani as Vik Nasim Pedrad as Cherry Nicole Byer as Bree Kevin Smith as Boobie Face Kenan Thompson as Mo-Slo's Dad Xolo Maridueña as Aqua Agua Caleb McLaughlin as Mo-Slo Frances Conroy as Barb Eugene Mirman as Denis Retta as Ghost's Mom Grey Griffin as various characters Chris Diamantopoulos as various characters Kevin Michael Richardson as Jack from Jupiter and Ironcast John DiMaggio as Groundhawk Jermaine Fowler as Ted Sean Patrick Thomas as Reporter 1 and Male Hostage Khary Payton as Vought Tactical Leader and Vought Thug

Production At the 2021 CCXP Worlds panel for Prime Video in Brazil, The Boys Presents: Diabolical was first announced. It was revealed to be an animated anthology series set in The Boys universe, with executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg likening it to The Animatrix. Diabolical is made up of eight brand new stories created by Awkwafina, Garth Ennis, Eliot Glazer and Ilana Glazer, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, Simon Racioppa, Justin Roiland and Ben Bayouth, Andy Samberg, and Aisha Tyler. The series premiered on March 4, 2022.

Eric Kripke stated that the idea to create Diabolical arose during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the producers wanted to release something during the wait for season three of The Boys. Due to the restrictions on most live-action productions, they decided to try to make an animated anthology utilizing different forms and styles.

Several key cast members were revealed with the first teaser trailer in February 2022, which included several of the creators. Later that month, a full trailer with the rest of the large cast was revealed. This included the revelation that Pegg would provide the voice of Hughie Campbell, a character who was long associated with Pegg; however, Pegg could not portray him in live action, having aged too much by the time the series was produced.

Eric Kripke later clarified that the show's production crew only considered three episodes to be canon despite the entire show being advertised as such. These are "Nubian vs Nubian", "John and Sun-Hee", and "One Plus One Equals Two". "I'm Your Pusher" is further set in the universe of the comics while a follow-up comment states that the other episodes are in their own multiverse continuity.

In October 2025, Kripke stated that he "didn't think there's going to be a second season."

Episodes

Reception Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 97% approval rating based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Diabolicals animated shorts pack the same supersized punch as The Boys, transposing the original series' scabrous social commentary into a cartoonish medium that's just as much devilish fun–and definitely not for kids." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 70 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Best Short Form Animation Series The Boys Presents: Diabolical Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Lexy Naut Outstanding Short Form Animated Program Simon Racioppa, Eric Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Ori Marmur, Ken F. Levin, Jason Netter, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, Michaela Starr, Loreli Alanís, Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Ben Kalina, Andy Samberg, Steve Ahn, Giancarlo Volpe, and Meredith Layne Saturn Awards Best Animated Series on Television The Boys Presents: Diabolical Hollywood Music in Media Awards Original Score — Streamed Animated Film (No Theatrical Release) Steven Bernstein and Julie Bernstein

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