[UPDATE] Adi Shankar Was “Unhappy” With ‘Devil May Cry 5’ Because It Took Spotlight Away From His Netflix Series: “I Thought The Franchise Was Dead; I Thought I Was Bringing This Thing Back”
Contrary to the genuine hype most fans felt about *finally* receiving a new series entry, Netflix’s Devil May Cry showrunner Adi Shankar has admitted that he was genuinely upset with Capcom’s decision to make Devil May Cry 5, as he believed his animated adaptation would have received a bevy of praise for reviving what he thought was a “dead” franchise.
Shankar, who many may also recognize as the showrunner behind Netflix’s Castlevania and Captain Lawerhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix adaptations, confirmed his frustrations with Nero, Dante, and V’s big adventure during the May 13th episode of his Ask Adi Anything podcast.
Therein, having been turned to the subject of Devil May Cry‘s green-lighting by the episode’s guest, current All-Elite Wrestling reigning champion Kenny Omega, Shankar took a moment to regale his fellow Capcom aficionado with the animated series’ production origin story.
[Time Stamp: 1:51:53]
“You know, I actually went into Capcom not to get DMC,” he told Omega. “I had a meeting with Capcom and their guy [Senior Licensing Director] Taki Enomoto was there – He’s a very very sweet gentleman. He’d been there for a very very long time – his translator, other people in the room. And they’re like ‘We want to work with you, you’re very talented,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh thank you, thank you.’ Then I say, ‘I want to do Dino Crisis.'”
“They’re like, ‘Why Dino Crisis?’ he continued. “And I’m like, ‘Cuz it’s sick.’ And then they’re whispering and then they’re like looking at how I’m dressed – like a DMC character – and they’re like ‘What?’
“They’re looking at me, they’re looking at my dress, and they’re like, ‘We feel like you’re a better fit for Devil May Cry‘,” said Shankar. “And I go, ‘Okay, yeah.’ Because in my mind, Devil May Cry was a [Shankar at this point makes a hand gesture suggesting that DMC was a ‘bigger property].”
From there going slightly off-topic with a discussion regarding Shankar’s own rankings of Capcom titles (for the curious, he believes Street Fighter to be the studio’s “crown jewel IP”), the showrunner ultimately admitted that when it came to deciding which franchise to adapt, he had to “ignore the numbers.”
“Monster Hunter, you’re absolutely right, numbers-wise eclipses everything,” he told Omega. “But I’m passionate about Devil May Cry. I love this thing and I love this niche thing and now I can take it and hopefully blow it up to a point where I can expand it and there’ll be more of it.”
At this point, Shankar then revealed to his guest that when he agreed to helm the Netflix adaptation, he not only outright “didn’t know that there was a Devil May Cry 5 coming out”, but upon learning this news, he “got actually unhappy” about the entire situation.
“So, I signed the deal, and I’m like ‘Yeah, great, I’m doing it!’,” recalled Shankar. “And then they’re like, ‘Good news! We have Devil May Cry 5 coming out!'”
Asked by Omega if his frustrations stemmed from him “hoping to play it before doing your adaptation?”, Shankar then clarified, “No – I actually thought the franchise was dead.”
“This was my thing,” he explained, proceeding to give a very revealing look at his own creative motivations. “I thought I was bringing this thing back, and so I was like, ‘Oh! This is a modern f–king thing! This is ongoing? Then I should have done Street Fighter [which he likewise believed to be a ‘dying franchise’ when he signed on to Devil May Cry in 2018]!”
Interestingly, despite his apparent displeasure with Devil May Cry 5, Shankar still opted to use its themes for both Nero and Vergil, Devil Trigger and Bury the Light respectively (though bizarrely, he opted to use the former’s as Dante’s theme).
An ‘okay at best’ series on its own, but a genuine insult when compared to its source material, the first season of Shankar’s Devil May Cry is now streaming on Netflix – and sadly has already been confirmed to be receiving a Season 2.
[UPDATE – May 28th, 2025: Following this article’s publication, Shankar accused BIC of “fabricating quotes” because he disagreed with out read of the situation.
In turn, I, the author of this piece and the Editor-in-Chief of this website, responded with the relevant excerpt from his podcast and explained that while I found it entirely fair that I may have misread his intent, I did not commit one of the most heinous deeds possible in the world of journalism.
After spending the next day retweeting the handful of people who seemed to lock into his specific intent, Shankar engaged me in a Direct Message conversation via Twitter, wherein he asked me to explain how I came to the conclusion I did.
After doing so, Shankar admitted, as I had argued, that while he may have meant one thing, the public’s unfamiliarity with the exact ins-and-outs of his communication.
However, when given the floor to provide us with his side of the story, Shankar not only took to outright ignoring us, but also dodged any further questioning by sharing his statement to the public – without even tagging us or sending it to us directly to bring it to our attention.
In service of honest reporting, Shankar’s latest statement can be found below. However, I will not be editing this article’s headline or publishing a full follow-up until Shankar publicly retracts his false accusation of ‘fake news’ and chooses to engage with me directly in the capacity of a fellow professional.]
More About:Video Games