The Boys Presents: Diabolical: Release Date, Cast, And More

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Super-powered babies mowing down SWAT teams, a Homelander prequel origin story, and all the usual kind of mayhem that fans have come to love from "The Boys." These are just a few of the treats that await viewers of "The Boys Presents: Diabolical," an animated spin-off of Amazon's popular and grossly entertaining riff on superheroes, villains, and all the poor, everyday, non-powered souls caught in between them. Superheroes are obviously enjoying their heyday at the moment, thanks in large part to the runaway success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Warner Bros.' DC Universe doing its best to catch up. But with so many years of straightforward dominance, it was only natural that this "genre" (so to speak) would finally receive something of a pushback. Zack Snyder did the best he could while playing around in the DC sandbox, but now the battle to strike a new sort of superhero tone has moved to the small screen with efforts like "Invincible," HBO Max's "Harley Quinn" and "Peacemaker," and "The Boys."

This more punk-like attitude will perhaps best be represented by "The Boys: Diabolical." The animated series looks like it'll come out swinging with absolutely no holds barred whatsoever, delivering even more of the hard-edged thrills popularized in the original series. With the premiere date fast approaching, it's high time that those potentially interested in the show brushed up on everything they need to know about the upcoming show.

Fret not, superhero fans. Viewers have gotten used to tuning in to Amazon Prime Video for new episodes of "The Boys" and, as you'd expect, the same will hold true for "The Boys Presents: Diabolical." The spin-off series will debut on the streaming service for subscribers on March 4, 2022. In a noticeable change from "The Boys," which aired every new episode in weekly installments spread out over several weeks, all eight episodes of "Diabolical" will be made available for streaming at the same time. This actually hearkens back to the debut season of "The Boys," which similarly premiered the entire season simultaneously in order to drum up positive word of mouth all at once. In that light, it stands to reason that the creative team would take the same approach for the first season of "Diabolical," in case fan demand leads to the possibility of even more animated adventures in the future, set in the world of "The Boys."

"The Boys Presents: Diabolical" has been described as an anthology series, featuring eight total episodes ranging from 12 to 14 minutes each. The animated project comes with months worth of fanfare after its surprise announcement in December of 2021. As creator Eric Kripke said in a statement at the time:

"Surprise! We're almost finished with eight episodes of our animated series, 'Diabolical.' We gathered together some incredible creators and we gave them one rule... just kidding, there's no rules. They blew the doors off it, delivering eight completely unexpected, funny, shocking, gory, moist, emotional episodes. You think 'The Boys' is nuts? Wait till you see this."

Each episode covers an entirely different aspect of the terrifying and frankly unpleasant-looking universe of "The Boys." Intriguingly, every episode has been carefully calibrated to its particular subject material, adding a neat visual range to the entire series that promises to have something for everyone. A "Rick and Morty"-influenced episode will adopt the familiar animated style of the beloved comedy series, another will take inspiration from "Korean drama and horror," and yet another will be "Inspired by French comics and animation." You can find the complete list of episode titles and their particular animated niches here, but something tells us this will make for a varied and entertaining watch regardless of how much you know about it going in.

Just because the series is animated doesn't mean Amazon isn't pulling out all the stops for "Diabolical." Though you might be tempted to think that it won't be able to compete with the star-studded cast of the original live-action series (which boasts Karl Urban as Billy Butcher, Jack Quaid as Hughie Campbell, Erin Moriarty as the "Supe" named Starlight, Karen Fukuhara as Kimiko, and much more), many of those big names will return to reprise their roles and lend their voice to their respective characters throughout the animated series. Viewers can expect to see (hear?) fan-favorite cast members such as Antony Starr as Homelander, Elisabeth Shue as his disturbing mother figure/quasi-love interest, Chace Crawford's Supe called The Deep, and Giancarlo Esposito as Vought CEO Stan Edgar. As for newcomers to the franchise who fans will undoubtedly recognize, those a slew of famous faces that include Aisha Tyler, Awkwafina, Andy Samberg, Ben Schwartz, Don Cheadle, Eliot Glazer, Jason Isaacs, Justin Roiland, John DiMaggio, Kenan Thompson, Kieran Culkin, Kevin Smith, Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Cera, Nasim Pedrad, and Simon Pegg.

In terms of the behind-the-scenes talent, "The Boys Presents: Diabolical" looks to be as loaded as it is up-front. Created by "The Boys" producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the pair have also written the scripts for the series in addition to their producing duties. Awkwafina, Andy Samberg, original comic writer Garth Ennis, Eliot Glazer, and Aisha Tyler are only a few of the A-list names receiving writing credits for various episodes in the series. On the director's side of the equation, the stacked lineup includes plenty of veterans from the world of animation. Giancarlo Volpe ("The Dragon Prince") leads the pack with two separate episodes under his directing eye, with various other names stepping up for the remaining episodes. Crystal Chesney-Thompson ("Disenchantment"), Derek Thompson ("Phineas and Ferb"), Parker Simmons ("DC Superfriends"), Madeleine Flores ("Star vs. The Forces of Evil"), Steve Ahn ("Star Trek: Prodigy"), Naz Ghodrati-Azadi ("Madagascar: A Little Wild"), Jae H Kim ("Scooby-Doo"), and Matthew Bordenave ("Moonbeam City") round out the other directors.

What do you get when you let some of the most maniacal minds in entertainment today write their own animated shorts set in the world of 'The Boys'?

You'd get 'The Boys Presents: Diabolical,' an eight-episode animated anthology series that plunges elbow-deep into the unseen crevices of superhero violence audiences have devoured — and emerges with a fistful of insanity.

From Homelander's first mission/mistake and a home for kids who didn't quite get the A-list superpowers, to Butcher and Hughie in the style of the original comics, 'The Boys Presents: Diabolical' has something for everyone — everyone who enjoys blood-drenched but also shockingly emotional television.

It's cartoons with the safeties off!