The creator discusses his new adaptation of the popular Capcom game, where a young, insanely good demon hunter with a sweet tooth fights sinister forces trying to open the portal between the human and demon realms; series debuts April 3 on Netflix.
Just in time for Easter, the gates of hell have opened.First, they murdered his family.
Then, set fire to his favorite diner.Demon Hunter Dante is properly pissed and ready to take on the hordes from the underworld… after he finishes his ice cream sundae.One’s got to stay cool when facing hellfire.
Thus begins the first episode of Adi Shankar’s newest animated series,, premiering today, April 3, on Netflix “As a fan of the original games, I knew these characters were iconic for a reason,” shares creator and producer Shankar, previously known for and .“I wanted to explore them in the youngest versions of these characters we’ve ever seen.But, at the same time, I didn’t want to alter them to the point where they were completely unrecognizable.” In this animated adaptation of the popular Capcom game first released in 2001, sinister forces are at play looking to open the portal between the human and demon realms.
In the middle of it all is Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch), an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds is one half of a broken gemstone that hangs around his neck.Check out the trailer for , produced by Studio Mir, now on Netflix: He may have a sweet tooth, and a mug shot of him picking his nose, but Dante knows how to wield his weapons – from swords to firearms – and dodge bullets.He’s a killing machine with a killer body and doesn’t take himself too seriously.
That is, until things get very serious.Like his twin brother seemingly coming back to life kind of serious. “In this show, you’re seeing Dante become the dude you know,” says Shankar, who developed the series with ’s Alex Larsen.“He’s in the process of figuring it all out.
This is a guy with limitless potential, but he’s not training.He’s playing Dance Dance Revolution.In the games, Dante not being serious can be pretty fun.
But, in this story, when he’s still figuring out who he is, it’s to his detriment he views these fights as a game.” Shankar wanted his adaptation – which includes not only 10 video games but also light novels, manga and a 2007 animated series – to be a discussion piece when it came to Dante as a character.He didn’t want an all-powerful demon hunter who was sure of himself and his abilities.He wanted to write about a young kid, dealing with grief, still trying to find his place in the world while being insanely good at killing demons. “I wanted to do for Dante what Christopher Nolan did for Batman,” notes Shankar.
“I wanted to take this game character and drop him in the real world.I approached it as an early 2000s summer blockbuster, like , and , which do have these over-the-top action sequences.But it wasn’t that much about capturing the experience of playing games as it was capturing the characters and the essence of those characters.” He adds, “A lot of times, protagonists are essentially just one note.
Rambo, Blade, even the Clint Eastwood and John Wayne characters, are these badass guys who are just one thing.And that creates a feeling of safety for an audience.is terrifying until you realize that you’re playing as an overly powerful guy who can take down all these monsters.
I wanted to skew away from that.” Starting with a younger version of Dante also influenced the set design, color and lighting of the show. “An idea that didn’t make it into the show was it being set at night with a very dark, very gothic, very moody atmosphere,” shares Shankar.“But that just didn’t fit.It would be difficult to do, but also it wouldn’t make sense tonally because we’re experiencing the youngest version of Dante ever and he doesn’t really know who he is and setting the whole show at night with it being overly gritty and overly moody would have boxed Dante in a bit too much.
And if you look at movies like and , which are more strictly gothic, they tend to be more cult than mainstream.” While his previous animated project was about expanding the language of animation and gaming, leaning into the experimental nature of multi-medium storytelling, was something Shankar wanted to feel more accessible to the public. “I got into this industry because of my obsession with when I was a kid and that’s what prompted me to move to America,” explains Shankar, who was born in India and moved to the US by himself at the age of 16.“I was like, ‘Wherever this has been made, I need to go be a part of that energy.’ But then, when I got there, I realized there was this weird blue-collar bias where animation was not seen as real art.At least, not by the general public at that time.
I could have made a more niche horror show that appealed to a sliver of fans.But I wanted to bring in people who think of animation as just cartoons they’re not into.My entire agenda is to take animation and blow it up.” He adds, “I think we’ve done that.
I hope we’ve done that.Honestly, I’m nervous.I’m totally freaking out.” If the view count garnered by Netflix’s released clip of ’s opening credits is any indication, Shankar has certainly made impressive headway on his goals.
The video has received 3.5 million views in just the last two months and the official trailer has 2.2 million views after just three weeks.But, in true Shankar fashion, Episode 6 of still has some animation surprises in store for those who decide to stay on this wild ride. “ beautifully straddled that line where you're kind of weaving in and out of different esthetics and tones and color palettes,” notes Shankar.“That's what I try to capture here, the feeling of a vast universe.
And I just wanted it to be cool.” Music was a big part of the cool factor for , which features tunes from rock bands like Rage Against the Machine and Papa Roach, as well as metal artists like Limp Bizkit. As one of the mercenaries says in the second episode of the series, “This guy’s got taste.” “A lot of the music in the show was what I was listening to coming up with the outline,” says Shankar.“I even tried to put it into the deal with Netflix right off the bat.” The opening credits song, “Rolling” by Limp Bizkit, was initially the song Shankar had in mind for a movie he wanted to make over a decade ago which was, in his words, “ on a bridge, and with everyone wearing pink.” Though that movie hasn’t seen the light of day, Shankar knew he had to work the song into . “I was always a fan of that genre of music,” shares Shankar.“While everyone was listening to Dave Matthews, I was listening to new metal.
Not being from America and experiencing American pop culture to the degree that I did, I was naturally drawn to the more aggressive, rebellious stuff.And this show is set in the late 90s, early 2000s.So, the music had to fit the time period.
Dante is a young guy in this world and he’s definitely listening to this music.” In the wake of ’s release, as critics and viewers begin to make their opinions on the show known, Shankar says that right next to his nervousness is an undoubtable excitement.“I guess nervousness and excitement are the same,” he says.“Animation, like new metal, is rebellion as well and I’m just grateful that Netflix has allowed animation to expand.
is an attempt to expand the audience for animation through emotional depth and inherently cool characters.And, hopefully, by expanding that audience, we create more opportunities for people within animation.” Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime.She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment.
Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
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