After ‘Devil May Cry’ Season 2, Adi Shankar Is Ready to Bring Another Legendary Gaming Icon to Animation
Adi Shankar recently shared what’s next for Devil May Cry Season 2, and it sounds like a whole new ride. He calls the first season the “gateway drug,” but says the second season will switch things up completely. “Season 2 is going to be different, stylistically and tonally, from season 1. Virgil is a big, very important character. It’s essentially a new show,” he explained.
Shankar is setting big goals for Season 2. He wants to beat the success of huge animation hits like Arcane. His bold vision? “I want to show up to a tank fight with a water balloon and destroy the tank. Because that’s cool.”
But Shankar isn’t stopping there. He’s also turning his attention to another legendary video game character: Duke Nukem. Recently, he bought the rights to Duke Nukem, not the gaming rights, but the overall property, from Gearbox.
His plans for Duke Nukem are as fearless as the character itself. “It’s a middle finger to everybody,” Shankar said. “When Duke Nukem blew up, a bunch of people sat around trying to turn it into a brand, when it’s just a middle finger. Duke Nukem can’t be made by a corporation, because the moment a corporation makes Duke Nukem, it’s no longer Duke Nukem. I don’t intend on having anyone tell me what to do on this one.” Shankar clearly wants to keep the character raw and true to its rebellious spirit.
More than just reviving classic games, Shankar wants to change how people see American animation. He believes it’s stuck in the past, mostly thought of as kids’ stuff, while Japanese anime has taken the cool, grown-up space. “I’m trying to make animation cool in the way hip-hop became cool. The way Kanye changed fashion. The way Virgil Abloh changed luxury,” he says. He wants American animation to feel fresh and adult, mixing the energy of old Saturday morning cartoons with modern, mature storytelling.
His vision has already made waves with hits like Castlevania and Captain Laserhawk on Netflix. Now with Devil May Cry Season 2 and Duke Nukem on deck, Shankar is ready to shake up animation even more. He wants his projects to be bold, different, and to change how people think about cartoons in the U.S.
From a childhood moving between countries to dressing like his own animated hero at WWE shows, Shankar is all about reinvention and breaking the rules. In his own words, “I’m making American animation f*ck*ng cool. That’s what I’m doing.”
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