On February 17, 2005, game director Hideaki Itsuno brought to life a monumental video game named Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening to the PlayStation 2. And twenty years later, on April 3, 2025, Netflix released a show inspired by it called Devil May Cry. While it may have received mixed reviews, it returns to us this spring with Season 2. If you want to join the hype, then don’t worry. I watched Netflix’s Devil May Cry, so you don’t have to. I’ll even give you my thoughts, and you can decide if it’s worth a watch.
So load your pistol, and get ready to say “jackpot,” because we’re jumping into the cutthroat world of devilhunting. Just beware of the spoilers ahead.
Main plot
Devil May Cry follows Dante, a wisecracking young devil hunter who was born to the demon knight Sparda and the human woman Eva. After demons slaughtered his mother and brother, Dante developed a huge hatred for demons and became a devil hunter. But everything changes when the U.S. government and various demons start vying for his family heirloom. Now Dante must face an invasion from hell, strong enemies, and the ghosts of his past if he wants to keep the world safe.
Key characters
Dante
After demons slaughtered his mother and brother, Dante developed a huge hatred for demons and became a devil hunter. Armed with nothing but his sword, gun, and a chipper attitude, Dante prefers to live life with his feet kicked up. But everything changes when the US government and various demons start vying for his family heirloom. Now Dante must face an invasion from hell, strong enemies, and the ghosts of his past if he wants to keep the world safe.
Mary Ann “Lady” Arkham
Mary, aka Lady, is a more modern devil hunter employed by the U.S. government. Her father obsessed over proving the existence of demons. But once demons slaughtered her family, Mary developed a seething hatred towards the entire species. To her, the only good devil is a dead one. It doesn’t matter if you’re only half demon; you’re still a monster to her. But is that always true? She’ll have to find that out herself.
White Rabbit
The mysterious antagonist of season one, White Rabbit, is a menacing demon with a ruthless mindset and one goal: to get revenge for his brethren. But that’s not all to this wicked hare. Under that dapper coat and sharp intellect lies a deeply broken man. Once, he was a boy trapped in hell, but he found a family and sought to free his family from the toxic air. But when they came to earth, all they received was a hostile ambush from Mary and her employers, DARKCOM. This left him with a thirst for revenge, and so he began his rebellion.
Vergil
One of the most important characters who haunts the story as it treks on, Vergil is Dante’s twin brother. Even though Dante saw him and their mother burn to ashes, he feels that Vergil is out there somewhere. After all, how else would White Rabbit get hold of Vergil’s necklace? Vergil may not make many appearances, but he remains a vital character. But that doesn’t remain true for long, but we’ll get back to that later.
William Baines
The Vice President of the United States and the leader of DARKCOM, he protects the human realm with an iron fist. Like Mary, he only cares about ending demonkind. Unlike her, he makes no compromises. To him, the greatest enemy of the world’s order is a bleeding heart. It doesn’t matter if he has to invade hell; he’ll do it without hesitation.
Summary
Season 1 follows Dante and his start in the world of devil hunting. With help from his info broker, Enzo, he takes contracts hunting devils. But things take a turn for the worse when he gets mixed up in a war of demons vs. humans. If he wants to save the world, he’ll have to take on the US Military and the demonic invaders. In a fight to the finish that sees him team up with some unlikely allies, he eventually puts an end to the war, but even after all he’s done, he’s not done paying for the sins of the demons. The US Military Facility imprisons him and stashes him away for the next step in their crusade against demonkind.
Review: the games vs the show
Devil May Cry is a rather interesting watch. As a show on its own, it’s very fun to binge, and Dante is a charismatic main character. The action is pretty good, and the plot is very interesting. If the show is so great, then what’s the problem? Why are the reviews so polarising?
You may remember I said Devil May Cry 3 was the inspiration. If you expected a one-to-one adaptation of the games, then I’m sorry to say you’ll be disappointed.
Rather than a story of refugees, the game focused on Dante and his relationship with his demon heritage. Rather than a stone-cold soldier, Lady in the games was a devil hunter focused on stopping her father, Arkham.
Dante, in the games, was always an immature kind of guy, and rather than sarcastic Dante, was always someone who made time to deliver cheesy one-liners and had the swagger of an early 2000’s anime protagonist.
But it’s not all bad; the White Rabbit is an interesting antagonist, brought in from the Devil May Cry manga. There, he never had a real story and, more so, served as a mysterious demon. The show significantly expands on him and turns him into a tragic villain whose hatred of humanity stems from his experience with its cruelty. And while the anime drops the gothic tone of the games, its more modern tone does a decent job of modernizing Devil May Cry.
So, is it worth a watch?
I myself grew up with the game version of Dante, the man who fought a gang of demons while eating a slice of pizza. I expected something closer to the games when I first heard of the Devil May Cry show, so I’m disappointed with many of the changes. But after I took a step back, I found it to be a good show with its own story to tell, but I will say, the choice to lean into sci-fi and abandon Dante’s original arc was hard to get on board with.
At the end of the day, it depends on what you expect from this show. Do you want to experience classic Devil May Cry? Then look somewhere else. But if you want an action show with a fascinating take on demon-human dynamics with a charming protagonist, then you can check out Devil May Cry on Netflix
And now that you’re caught up, join the brothers and Lady in Season 2 as they fight the demon spawns from hell. And if that’s not your cup of tea, then don’t worry, Netflix has more animated shows to check out.
