Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraube moderates a Q&A with Devil May Cry’s creator and showrunner Adi Shankar and voice actors Johnny Yong Bosch and Scout Taylor-Compton.

The Netflix adaptation of Devil May Cry offers a fresh take on the demon-hunting duo Dante and Lady, combining 20 years of material into a cohesive cinematic universe.

In this interview, Shankar reveals why the show took 7 years to make, what it was like working with Studio Mir, and voice actors Bosch and Taylor-Compton share insights on the creative process, recording sessions, and emotional depth in the upcoming episodes.

At Collider and Netflix’s early screening of Devil May Cry, Episodes 1 and 2, our own Steve Weintraub sat down with the creator, showrunner, and executive producer Adi Shankar (Castlevania) and lead voice actors Johnny Yong Bosch (Akira), who voices Dante, and Scout Taylor-Compton (Halloween), the voice of Lady for an exclusive Q&A session.
The series is Shankar’s adaptation of the Capcom video game franchise that gives fans a new look at demon-hunting Dante (Bosch), as well as Lady (Taylor-Compton), Vergil (Robbie Daymond), and more. According to Shankar, who confidently penned all the scripts and sent them over to Netflix, “the gift of hindsight” allowed him to explore the world in a fresh way, where he could “look at 20-plus years of material and alchemize it.”
Check out the full conversation in the video above or in the transcript below for more on why the show took seven years to put on-screen, what it was like working with the “Nike” of animation, Studio Mir (The Legend of Korra), how bands like Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, and Evanescence have responded to the show, and tons more.
Why ‘Devil May Cry’ Took Seven Years From Concept to Screens

“Just keep doing it over and over and over and over again until it’s tight.”

COLLIDER: What I love about this, and I want to give a huge thank you to Netflix for it, is that it’s very hard to watch Netflix television in group settings, and it was just awesome to hear everyone laughing and sharing in this communal experience. So, thank you, Netflix, for letting us screen these episodes early tonight.
ADI SHANKAR: I really modeled this show after the Hollywood summer blockbusters from between 1998 and 1999, and in 2003 and 2004, so movies like Underworld, Mission: Impossible, and Bad Boys—movies that were crowd pleasers. I didn’t grow up in America. I would watch them in theaters and these American blockbusters would don the cultural conversation in any freaking country I lived in, and I missed that. So, I modeled it after that, so this was actually super gratifying watching it in a theater.
Adi, I have to bring up, you’ve been working on this for a very long time, and it’s finally here. If we’re keeping track, you started talking about it in 2018 before COVID, and now here we are so many years later. What does it mean to you to have such a positive reaction and to finally have this coming out?
SHANKAR: I don’t really have words. It’s kind of surreal and overwhelming. I’ll probably be able to have a diatribe about it at some point, but right now I’m just kind of in the moment.
For people who are wondering, what did take so long to get this to screens, besides, obviously, I can see the quality is there.
SHANKAR: Well, seven years sounds like a long time, but I announced that I was doing this towards the end of quarter four of 2018. We only started outlining it right away, but top of 2019. I spent a lot of time in the outline phase. I’m like, “Just keep doing it over and over and over and over again until it’s tight, and then let’s get into scripts.” Because it gets harder to course-correct in the scripting phase, so the outline phase lasted, like, almost a year. Then, during that time, I was finishing post on a TV show I created for Netflix called The Guardians of Justice [Will Save You!]. It’s like a Superman kills himself on TV because he’s depressed show, and Batman has to figure out why he did it—spoiler alert. So, I was working on that through the process, and then 2019 was outlining, 2020 was scripting, and then I got a call saying Captain Laser Hawk [A Blood Dragon Remix], which was the last show I released in 2023, got greenlit. So, that went into production, but I was working on this all throughout the process, throughout the time. So, we finally started production on Devil May Cry in December [2021].
This ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Star Had Reservations About Netflix

“Dude, don’t ask the studio for notes.”

Image Via The WB

For all three of you, I love learning about the behind-the-scenes of making anything, so what would surprise people to learn about the making of Devil May Cry?
SCOUT TAYLOR-COMPTON: That you’re in a booth by yourself, and you never met the other actor until today. So, hey, man! You killed it.
JOHNNY YONG BOSCH: Who are you again?
TAYLOR-COMPTON: The one that’s going to kick your ass.
BOSCH: Yeah, that is wild, actually.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: We just met today for the first time.
It’s crazy. Adi, the first season is eight episodes. How did you decide on eight? Was it ever going to be six? Was it ever going to be 10? How did it get figured out?
TAYLOR-COMPTON: His outline.
SHANKAR: Yeah, the outline was just eight.
I’ve spoken to a lot of showrunners, and they talk about how the studio will say, “We’re going to give you—this is a made-up number—$5 to make your first season, and you need to figure out how many episodes you want. But if you want to do more episodes, you still have $5.” So, there’s that element of how many do you want to make.
BOSCH: Well, we got $8.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: You got $8?!
Again, I want to point out the $5 was a made-up number.
SHANKAR: I don’t think that was made up, bro. I think there’s some trauma you need to unpack. We’ll unpack it with you right here. What’s wrong, bro?
I got a lot of issues, but too much for tonight.
SHANKAR: You know I’m here for you.
This is an offline conversation, but, yes, I need hugs.
SHANKAR: I feel like it’s a podcast conversation.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: This is great.
But was it ever going to be another number?
SHANKAR: No, I just went like, “It’s eight.” I just make decisions and go with it.
That’s the power of being a showrunner.
SHANKAR: But I did stuff like that before I was a showrunner. I just kind of make decisions, and…
TAYLOR-COMPTON: People listen. Whoa!
The thing is, with Netflix, they might have also said, “We want six, we want 10.” But I want to ask about Netflix. What were they like as a partner? Do they give a lot of notes? Were the notes they gave like really good?
SHANKAR: They’re amazing as a partner. I’m not just saying that because we’re here and they’re watching. They’re phenomenal. This entire dream of adult animation… We need a better word for it because part of me, when I say it out loud, I’m like, “Ehh.” We just need a new word. It sounds terrible.
I agree with you. “Adult animation” sounds like you’re making heavy metal or something, something with adults.
SHANKAR: Yeah, I feel a little judged by myself, which is the worst kind of judgment. Sorry, what was the question?
Netflix, and what they were like.
SHANKAR: They’re amazing! This entire adult animation thing purely exists because of Netflix.
Listen, I think with animation right now, so much amazing stuff is being produced, especially at Netflix, like Blue Eye Samurai.
SHANKAR: You were asking about if they give you notes. The way the process works is I just emailed them all the scripts, and I was curious. Then they were like, “Wait, what?” They were like, “You just did it all?” I’m like, “Yeah.” And they’re like, “Well, what if we don’t like it?” And I’m like, “Then we can talk about it.” Then I got a call a week later, like, “No, no, this is really good!” I’m like, “Okay, cool,” and then I actually asked for notes. I actively ask for notes because I want notes. I want to make it better. So, I had to be like, “Yo, give me some notes,” and then I got amazing notes. Then I told…
BOSCH: “Screw your notes!”
SHANKAR: No, I actually told my best guy friend, “Hey, I keep getting great notes from Netflix. I asked them for more, and they sent me even more great notes, and it helps me, like, sculpt the thing.” And he’s like, “Dude, don’t ask the studio for notes.” The best friend’s James Van Der Beek, so I’m actually just gonna throw him under the bus. He’s funny. He sat me down—he’s like a big brother to me—and he’s like, “No, you can’t do that.” And I’m like, “No, I think these are just great notes, bro. I’m gonna keep asking for notes.”
Adi Shankar Had Over 20 Years of Material to Craft a ‘Devil May Cry’ “Cinematic Universe”

“We’re meeting younger versions of them than we would have met in the games.”

Image via Netflix

Devil May Cry has been around since 2001, and there have been a lot of video games, comics. There’s been a lot of material. How did you decide what you wanted to focus on in the first eight episodes?
SHANKAR: My process is completely intuitive, so I just kind of go with things as soon as I see them. So, any answer I’m giving is me intellectualizing and reverse engineering a purely intuitive process. I just kind of want to preface that. So the first game, Devil May Cry in 2001: You have five mainline games. You have a reboot, you have a bunch of manga, you have a pachinko machine, a wonderful anime from 2007, you have live stage shows, but the truth of the matter is, these were all a series of retcons. So, every time a new game came out, it was a retcon. What I had was the gift of hindsight, where I could just look at 20-plus years of material and alchemize it, or—I came up with a new word today—cosmic editing. I got to cosmic edit.
At the end of the day, Dante is still Dante, Lady is still Lady. These are the characters from the games, yet we’re meeting younger versions of them than we would have met in the games. So, I’m not really changing anything. I was just really almost like an archeologist, excavating and pulling out this blueprint that was always there and bringing it to the surface to make it a cohesive, cinematic universe.
Johnny, I have an individual question for you that doesn’t have to do with Devil May Cry. Your resume is crazy. It’s a crazy resume, but I read, and I could be wrong, that the first voiceover thing you did was Akira. Is that true?
BOSCH: No, the first was Trigun—Vash. The second was Akira.
When you were doing Akira, did you have any idea what it was and what it meant to so many people?
BOSCH: Yes, I did, and it was scary, but also really cool. It was one of those things that I did know it, I had seen it. That was back when it was called Japanimation. I just remember it was something so different and unique. I was really just drawn to it, the animation, the style, and I just loved it. I was super excited to be a part of it. I remember doing an interview for the DVD, and I was like, “Oh, I loved it. It’s so awesome!” I had so much energy that that’s all they showed of my interview. Just that. Because the rest of it sucked. It was just me just being so amped up for it. I just loved being a part of that.

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One of the things about voice recording is I’m always curious, what is it like in the days leading up to you doing a lot of vocal work in a booth? Are you purposely trying to conserve your voice? Are you drinking a lot of tea with honey? Are you doing anything, or is it like, “No, let’s just go into the booth and let’s see what happens?”
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Going to a con, drinking a beer. No, there’s not really any prep for me anyway.
BOSCH: I did prep for this. Again, there’s so much material, so I went through a ton of it. I even redubbed DMC 3 on my own just to kind of play with different versions. I imitated, then I adjusted, like, three or four different ways. I just wanted to see, “How can I adjust this phrase or whatever he’s saying to mean something else?”
TAYLOR-COMPTON: I didn’t want to get in my head, man. I didn’t want to go and look up Lady and look at the games. I’ve been a part of a franchise that was portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, and took on that role. I’ve already kind of been in that world, so I didn’t want to compare myself. I just trusted that Adi chose me for a reason, for what I brought to it, so I just wanted to stay in my own headspace with it.
BOSCH: I think it’s a good choice, though. You did excellent.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Oh, thanks!
SHANKAR: Totally.
BOSCH: Those of you who are familiar with the games, Lady changes. So, it’s better that you gave this real raw, just what was on the pages.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Yeah, it was really from Adi’s amazing work on the script. I mean, I got her instantly. I truly felt her just reading it, like so emotional, so raw, so strong. Fucking badass.
SHANKAR: This version of the character was developed with you in mind.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Every time you say that, it makes me emotional.
The Mighty Morphin Story of How Adi Shankar Cast ‘Devil May Cry’

“I’m a frog.”

Image via 20th Century Studios

I was wondering how you picked the voice cast.
SHANKAR: Story time. So, in 2015, I dropped a really violent, R-rated Power Rangers short film.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: It blew up the internet.
SHANKAR: Joseph Kahn directed it. And for, like, a year, everywhere I went, random dudes would come up to me and be like, “Bro, bro, bro.” So I just assume it’s this beloved thing and I’m, like, untouchable and I’m awesome. So then I get an invite to go to a Power Rangers convention and to speak, and I’m like, “Yeah, totally. I’m in.” Then, like, three weeks later, a friend of mine was like, “Wow, you’re really brave for going to this convention.” I’m like, “Brave? What? What do you mean?” She’s like, “Go read the comments on the Facebook thing.” I go and read, and people are mad. I realized this is like the hardcore Power Rangers fan base, like people who just love Power Rangers and didn’t like that I subverted it and had the beheadings and all sorts of crazy, violent stuff. So, I’m going through the comments and I’m just like, “Oh my god, I’m going to be trapped in a convention center with these people. This is terrifying. What do I do?”
So, I reached out to, Jason David Frank, who’s since passed, but he was the Green Power Ranger. I’m like, “Hey, man, I’m coming to this convention and I’m supposed to speak, and everyone’s not happy about it. Do you think you could come up on stage with me and kind of intro me or something, just to let the audience know I’m cool and I’m a fan?” And he goes, “Yeah, no. You’re on your own, bro.” I’m like, “What the fuck?” So, I’m freaking out.
So, I show up to this thing because I’m not one to back out of situations, but in my mind, if you’re a pro wrestling fan, I’m thinking I’m John Cena going into ECW One Night Stand like, like boos and people throwing things at me. So, I show up to the event and the the coordinator was like, “You’ve got a green room. I just wouldn’t leave if I were you.” I’m like, “What? What is happening?” So, I’m tripping out. I’m like, “What is about to happen?” And then, Johnny, who I literally never met, walks in with Steve Cardenas, the Red Power Ranger, and they’re like, “Hey, man, we’re coming on stage with you.”
Everything I said that day was stupid. I just spoke nonsense and gibberish, and then Johnny and I hung out later that night, and we spent about an hour and a half dissecting his line from the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, where he said, “I’m a frog.” And as we were talking, he morphed into Dante, and then I knew. Then, six months later, I sent someone to his house with the outline for the show, but I didn’t tell him that he was going to be Dante.
BOSCH: A guy shows up—sunglasses suit, briefcase—and I’m like, “What is going on here?”
SHANKAR: I have a flair for the theatrics, or I did. I no longer. COVID changed me. And Scout and I actually acted in a film together in 2014, and I based the Dante/Lady dynamic on mine and Scout’s dynamic during that movie. I got very good reviews, by the way, as an actor. Just wanted to point that out.

Image via Netflix

TAYLOR-COMPTON: [Laughs] You did great!
SHANKAR: But I was miserable the whole time. Imposter syndrome. I’m like, “What am I doing here? I’m with serious actors.” Anyways. I’m a “let’s use voice actors” person. Look, we’ve got amazingly talented voice actors. Let’s use amazingly talented voice actors, not non-voice actors. That’s my M.O.. So, we just went through person after person, and it was just exhausting, and no one was nailing it. Finally, I emailed the casting director and I’m like, “Look, just go out to Scout Taylor-Compton. Immediately, it was just like, “Yeah.” I mean, obviously she’s going to nail it because literally there are lines in the script that she said to me, so of course she would nail it.
“There Are a Lot of Stories” Left to Tell With ‘Devil May Cry’

“This is a living, breathing world that now exists within me.”

Image via Netflix

When you were figuring out the show, how much were you thinking about, and how much does Netflix ask, “Do you have a plan for Season 2 or 3,” and how much was it like, “I want to make a kickass first season. We’ll worry about Season 2 if we get to make it?”
SHANKAR: Well, I don’t think in terms of seasons or anything like that because those are formats. I’ve talked so much about, like, I don’t understand the difference being a movie and a TV show. It’s just length. I mean, I get it, but I also don’t get it. To me, this is a living, breathing world that now exists within me, and you can point to any character, anyone in the background, and I can tell you everything about them. So, it just kind of exists, and there are a lot of stories there. Does that make sense?
100%. What do you guys want to tease about Episodes 3 through 8 without spoilers?
BOSCH: More action.
I am shocked by that answer.
BOSCH: More Lady and Dante.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Yeah, baby!
BOSCH: More White Rabbit, more demons.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: It also gets emotional, guys. There’s a lot of heart in this show. That was very attractive to me when I read the material, especially with Lady. I was like, “Wow, she’s not just a one-note badass bitch.” There are so many layers to each of these characters. They’re going through their own journey and then they go through their own journey together.
SHANKAR: There’s so much tragedy in this franchise, and that is the basis of a lot of what comes next. So, without spoiling anything…
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Our favorite episode as a unit is Episode 6.
SHANKAR: Yeah, Episode 6.
BOSCH: Yeah, it’s six.
SHANKAR: I’m just excited to share the rest of it with you. I’m sad we had to cut it off at two.
Honestly, no BS, if I could watch more episodes on a movie screen, I would. It looks so good.
Studio Mir Is the Nike of Animation

“I had to quickly adjust to this speed and scale very quickly.”

Image via Netflix

I actually want to ask you about Studio Mir, who animated. Talk a little bit about working with them because they did such a good job with this.
SHANKAR: Fabulous, fabulous. First of all, their body of work before this is amazing. They don’t really need an introduction, I feel. But the stuff I’d done before felt like indie movies, very bespoke indie movies. This felt like Nike coming to me and being like, “Yo, you’re going to make a shoe and we’re going to mass produce it.” Did that make sense? It was cool. I had to quickly adjust to this speed and scale very quickly. Just the turnaround because the train is moving so freaking fast, that took a little getting used to.
What does that actually mean? Does that mean you need to constantly be delivering scripts or approvals?
SHANKAR: Everything, because everything is a decision. So, it’s not just approvals. It’s literally decisions. I’ll just give you an example. We have these little flashes of young Dante. I made a choice to have them be really freaking cute, the kids. When you’re in adult mode, you’re fine. You’re badass. When you’re a kid, really cute, and you have, like, huge eyes and cartoony. One of the things I’m tackling thematically with the show is this idea that we all spend our adulthood chasing what we lost as children. It’s like, at some point, something got taken from you as a kid, and that created a fracture that altered your destiny. Now, as an adult, you are trying to regain what you lost as a kid. So, that’s one expression of that idea. The kid is cute, the kid is innocent.
For people who don’t realize, Kevin Conroy does a voice in this. It’s one of his last things, and he voices VP Baines. Can you talk a little bit about getting to work with Kevin? I’m also curious, Kevin passed in November of 2022. When did he record the voice?
SHANKAR: He recorded it right before he passed. So, he was done, and then I woke up to a text message. It was pretty jarring. I mean, there’s nothing I can really say other than he is a legend. He is a giant. Not just as a voice actor, as an actor-actor. I mean, I’ve been on set with Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, Mark Wahlberg—this was the only time I was intimidated.
A lot of us, in fact, I would argue everyone in this theater has heard his voice in something.
SHANKAR: Well, it was also his eyes. It felt like he was seeing through me. Like, “Oh no, he’s seeing through me. Fuck.”
Your Favorite Bands From the 2000s Are “Super Stoked” for ‘Devil May Cry’

“A lot of this show is my memory of Devil May Cry and the world I existed in in 2001, when I was playing the game.”

Image via Bryson Roatch

If someone has never played Devil May Cry, what is the game they should start with?
SHANKAR: Way to tell me you’ve never played Devil May Cry.
Listen, unless it involves the buttons A and B, I have not played it.
SHANKAR: So Frosty doesn’t believe in video games.
That is an absolute lie. I don’t mean to put myself in this, but I’m so busy watching movies and TV that I’ve given up video games and. The other problem is, like, I give credit to anyone who can put in 100 hours. I just don’t have that bandwidth. I like the old Mario or Zelda. I’m a very simple video game player.
SHANKAR: Angry Birds.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: Yeah, I was going to say that!
I was going to actually say Animal Crossing, but go on.
SHANKAR: So, if you’re a casual gamer, I would say start with Devil May Cry 5. If you want to immerse yourself in where the franchise began, Devil May Cry 1 PS2. And for you, Frosty, I will personally mail you a manga and a light novel. How about that?
Sure. Johnny, which one do you do you want to recommend if you’ve never played Devil May Cry? You’re very involved in the video games?
BOSCH: I’d say [Devil May Cry] 4 and 5. I like the guy Nero.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: I wonder why.
I definitely want to touch on Limp Bizkit for the opening song. How did that come about?
SHANKAR: I’ve wanted to use “Rollin” for many, many years. In 2011, I was trying to make an action movie, live-action. It was Die Hard on a bridge—that was the concept—and the whole time I was imagining it with “Rollin” playing, and “Rollin” would be the trailer song, and people laughed at me. But yeah, I’m just really into nu metal. But really, a lot of this show is my memory of Devil May Cry and the world I existed in in 2001, when I was playing the game. So, that was the music I was listening to. It was baked into the script, right at the outset. I was like, “This is the story, here are the scripts, and here are the songs I need.”
BOSCH: Yeah, it was written in.
TAYLOR-COMPTON: And the bands are equally as excited being a part of it. I mean, we just got invited to go to the Papa Roach concert and I went the other night and they were ecstatic that their song is being used in Devil May Cry. They were talking about the trailer drop and everything. And Evanescence, they’re equally as stoked.
SHANKAR: Yeah, Amy Lee’s super stoked.
Devil May Cry Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix now.

Devil May Cry

Release Date

April 3, 2025

Network

Netflix

Writers

Alex Larsen

Johnny Yong Bosch

Dante (Voice)