Summary
Update 20:32 BST 25/05/25: Adi Shankar has reached out to clarify his comments on the podcast and explain what he meant. Shankar said, “So when I said I was “unhappy,” I wasn’t criticizing the game. I was reflecting on the shift in what I thought I had signed on to do. I thought I was helping bring something beloved to me back from the dead. Instead, I realized Capcom was already revitalizing it as a full-blown AAA franchise. As a DMC fan, that’s a win”.You can read the full statement on his Twitter.
Netflix’sDevil May Cryshowrunner Adi Shankar revealed in a recent interview that he thought the series was dead when he signed on for the adaptation, and was very surprised whenDevil May Cry 5was revealed.
AsDino Crisis,Dead Rising, and Onimusha fans are all more than aware of,Capcomhas a long list of beloved series that it frankly doesn’t use enough compared to heavy-hitters like Street Fighter,Monster Hunter, andResident Evil. Perhaps the biggest franchise that we’ve not seen anything from in recent years is the king of character action games - Devil May Cry.
Although it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a new entry for Devil May Cry,the series has still seen a bit of a resurgence this year thanks to the first season of the Netflixadaptation that released a few months ago.While the Netflix show had someverymixed receptionfrom long-term fans, it was still nice to see Dante again after so long.
Devil May Cry Showrunner Wasn’t Happy To Hear About Devil May Cry 5 When Working On The Netflix Show
As pointed out by Bounding Into Comics, Adi Shankar recently sat down to talk with AEW’s Kenny Omega as part of his podcast.While talking about how Devil May Cry came to be, Shankar notes that he initially wanted to do a Dino Crisis adaptation (“because it’s sick”) before being told by Capcom that they thought he was a better fit for Devil May Cry.
Shankar then says that once he’d signed up for Devil May Cry,Capcom told him that Devil May Cry 5 was actually in development, something that he was “actually unhappy” to hear. When asked by Omega is this is because he wanted to play it before his adaptation, Shankar admitted that he was unhappy because he thought “the franchise was dead” and that he was bringing it back like he did with Castlevania.
This was my thing. I thought I was bringing this thing back, and so I was like, ‘Oh! This is a modern f***ing thing! This is ongoing? Then I should have done Street Fighter. - Adi Shankar
After finding out that Devil May Cry was in fact alive and getting a new entry shortly after signing onto a Netflix adaptation, Shankar notes that he thought he should have doneStreet Fighterinstead, since he also believed that to be “dying”. Of course, thatwould have had the same result since Street Fighter 6 was well into development at that point.
