The Boys Is Getting An Animated Anthology Spin-Off Called Diabolical

One might say that "The Boys" are back and they're looking for trouble. Amazon's ultra violent and no-holds-barred series has risen to immense popularity on the major streaming service, taking a hilariously satirical approach to superhero media and presenting many of its all-powerful beings as the unhinged, sociopathic, and deeply disturbed individuals they likely would be in a world that closely resembled our own. With season 3 of the series already wrapped, Amazon has further taken advantage of the widely positive response to the series by greenlighting a live action spin-off set at "America's only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes." Fans can now prepare themselves for even more adventures taking place in the universe of "The Boys," this time in the form of a new animated series.

By far one of the biggest strengths of "The Boys" is its ability to play the role of the little guy by taking aim at the two major superhero franchises dominating the market, DC and Marvel, and remove some of the overly reverent luster that fans have a tendency to foist upon them. One downside — other than the awkward optics of being produced by one the world's largest conglomerates itself, of course — is the fact that it has started to unironically follow the exact same "franchise or bust" trends that have plagued its much less self-aware kin. That trend continues with the announcement of "Diabolical," the news of which came down during Amazon Prime Video's online Comic-Con Experience 2021 panel.

According to Variety, this series will run for a total of 8 episodes and promises to push the limits even further than "The Boys" has to this point ... which is saying a lot, coming from the series that blew up a beached whale and featured the Superman-analogue Homelander falling head over heels for his white supremacist girlfriend, Stormfront. Announced personally by "The Boys" star Karl Urban, who plays jaded tough-guy Billy Butcher, executive producer Eric Kripke also released a statement, saying:

"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."

The big appeal for this series will be the addition of quite a few big names who will be contributing stories for these episodes, running the gamut from Awkwafina, Garth Ennis, Eliot and Ilana Glazer, Simon Racioppa, Justin Roiland and Ben Bayouth, Andy Samberg, and Aisha Tyler. "The Boys" producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will also be writers on this spin-off show, revealing their inspiration for "Diabolical" with their wry statement that, "Ever since we saw the animated film 'The Animatrix,' a series of short animated films set in the universe of 'The Matrix,' we've wanted to rip it off. Today that dream has come true."

Amazon didn't announce a release date, but you can check out the full announcement video for "Diabolical" below.