The Boys Presents: Diabolical is an animated series for adults from Amazon Studios based on The New York Times best-selling comic “The Boys” by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. It is a sort of spin-off of the live-action series of the same name. During a recent roundtable interview with Simon Racioppa, Executive Producer of The Boys Present: Diabolical, he talked to us about what it was like telling these unique stories, what went into putting together a team and what it means for the overall storytelling of The Boys universe.
The series will be available exclusively on Prime Video on March 04, 2022.
Interview with Simon Racioppa
Simon Racioppa is the same executive producer who brought us the popular animated series “Invincible”. Which is also based on a comic book series of the same name. Both shows really push the envelope on what animated storytelling looks like. Check out the interview here.
The Boys Presents: Diabolical
The Boys Presents: Diabolical will feature an eight-episode animated anthology that gives us tons of unseen superhero violence and unbelievable V-driven insanity. You’ll find episodes that take us through Homelander’s first mission, and it will introduce you to new characters who live in a home for kids who didn’t get the A-list superpowers. There is even a nod to Butcher and Hughie in the style of the original comics. The animation goes from adorable and nostalgic to quickly being grotesque and over the top. It pushes the envelope for violent animated series but it’s done in ways that are smart, clever, and funny.
The creative team behind this series aims to give us a world within The Boys’ universe. Stories that we may have seen in the comic books, original stories, and expansion on stories brought to life in the live-action series. Included in the team of creative are some of the best writers and voice actors in the industry like Awkwafina, Seth Rogen, Andy Samberg, and Aisha Tyler as well as Garth Ennis, Eliot Glazer, Ilana Glazer, Evan Goldberg, and more.
Each episode features a unique animation style. Simon Racioppa stated that was a decision that was made early on. “That was probably like a Day Two conversation on the show. Initially, it was, do we do all one style like the Simpson or Invincible, or do we do different styles for every episode. Which is much more difficult, especially on our schedule. Just because instead of because instead of having to design something once you have to design it eight times”. He goes on to talk about how difficult it is to find the right people to compose eight different episodes and goes on to say “We knew it was going to be an incredible amount of extra work. But as we started to talk about the script and the ideas we had for the series, it didn’t seem like there was any other way to do it properly.”
The series is smart, clever, violent, and even at times disgusting. Each episode is brought to us by a different creative team and is different in animation style. Each story is surprisingly emotional. They leave you thinking about the consequences of living in a world where people try to manufacture Supes. Although some of the storylines are absolutely wild and could never happen, equally some of them paint a picture of what could actually happen if an evil pharmaceutical company was out there experimenting on people. If you were a fan of The Boys, Invincible series, or The Legend of Vox Machina you’ll most likely like this show. This show is not for the squeamish and not for children.
Two of the most episodes were “John and Sun-Hee” which was created in an Animation Style inspired by Korean drama and horror. It was written by Andy Samberg and directed by Steve Ahn. The storyline stays with you days after and pulls at all heartstrings. It is both heartbreaking and terrifying.
When we asked Racioppa if there were any storylines from this animated series that he would like to see translated into the live-action, Racioppa told us “I mean, there are some yes. It depends how far you want to push it. I would love to see John and Sun-Hee, because i feel like thats a story, thats an episode that really could exsist in the world of the mothership. It could just be a story that we dont see on the mothership but it happened in the margins of the main show. So i’d love to see that. I think that would be really incredible to see.”
Another really great episode we think would make a great translation into the live-action series is “Boyd in 3D”. This short was inspired by the animation style was inspired by French comics and animation. It was written by Eliot Glazer and directed by Naz Ghodrati-Azadi. It is relatable to what many people experience in the world of social media influencers and the pressure that comes with it.
In the short called “I’m Your Pusher”, the animation style is an homage to the original The Boys comics. One thing that was particularly cool about the casting was that Simon Pegg voices Hughie in one of the episodes. Pegg’s likeness was used as the inspiration for Hughie in The Boys comic book series. Pegg also plays Hughie’s father in the live-action series. When asked about what it was like finally getting Simpon Pegg into the role of Hughie, he told us ”
The Boys Presents: Diabolical will stream exclusively on Prime Video on March 4th.
