Video game film adaptations are all the rage right now, and Studio Mir’s take on Capcom’s classic action series Devil May Cry is the latest breakout success in this ongoing trend. Now, just a week after its premiere, Netflix announced that the show will get a second season.
Devil May Cry has been a big hit for the streamer, debuting at number four on its global top ten list, with over 5.3 million views in its first three days. On top of being a big hit with viewers, the show has earned praise from critics for staying tonally faithful to the over-the-top source material it’s based on.
The eight-episode run follows Dante, a demon hunter on the run from the authorities, on a mission to stop a mysterious, demon-obsessed villain looking to wipe out all of humanity.
Even before the Devil May Cry series made its debut, the rollout for its premiere has been a fun throwback to the era the first few games belong to. Not only does Limp Bizkit’s Rollin’ serve as the pitch-perfect theme song for the anime, the game’s soundtrack also includes an all-new track from popular 2000s nu-metal band Evanesence. These inspired choices are a nice throwback to the gritty, post-Matrix era the video game series was forged in and emulated.
“I wanted it to feel like a giant movie, like a Hollywood blockbuster from between 1999 and 2004,” showrunner Adi Shankar told Gamesradar last month. “References being The Matrix, Underworld, Bad Boys, Equilibrium — I could go on, and on, and on. But I wanted it to feel like a Hollywood blockbuster, and, really, I wanted the audience to experience Devil May Cry in that mold.”
The show’s cast includes Johnny Yong Bosch (who fans of the game will recognize as the voice actor for Devil May Cry 4 protagonist Nero) as Dante, and posthumous performances from two legendary voice actions in Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series) and Tony Todd (Candyman, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle).
Studio Mir is no stranger to the animated video game adaptation. The studio was also behind 2021’s DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, as well as the recent animated adaptations of Watchmen, the excellent X-Men ‘97, and the return of Babylon 5. This is also another big swing for Netflix’s which has struck television gold several times, mining video games as the basis for new shows. Arcane and Castlevania have been some of the streamer’s biggest hits over the last decade.
Devil May Cry is the latest in TV’s obsession with bringing video games to the small screen. Last year Amazon found big success bring Bethesda’s Fallout series to life. In 2023, HBO’s of The Last Of Us won numerous Emmy’s for its near shot-for-shot remake of Naughty Dog’s seminal PlayStation exclusive.
There’s no release date yet for Devil May Cry season 2 yet.But I’d expect a premiere no sooner than 2026.
