The Boys Presents: Diabolical Review: An animated spin-off that is ridiculously funny and gory in equal parts

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

The Boys Presents: Diabolical Cast: Andy Samberg, Awkwafina, Simon Pegg

The Boys Presents: Diabolical Creator: Simon Racioppi, Garth Ennis

Streaming Platform: Prime Video

The Boys Presents: Diabolical Stars: 3/5

If there's anything that we have learnt from Marvel's What If, Star Wars' Visions, it's that there are multiple ways to present superhero stories and while the conventional one may be saved for the movie and series formats, there's a whole new world of storytelling that can be explored through animated shows and a new addition to these is a spin-off of Prime Video's The Boys titled The Boys Presents: Diabolical. While this spin-off doesn't fall into the category of MCU ad Star Wars' aforementioned shows, in terms of its genre, it's closer to Invincible which is also an adult animated series. 

For The Boys fans, the new animated spin-off offers merely a familiar setting and recurring appearances from the superheroes but the original storylines for all eight episodes revolve around the premise of the lead characters in the story being exposed to Compound V, which gives them their superpowers but the end results for each of them turn out to be gory. The anthology series consists of all eight episodes having a different storytelling format and the episodes range between 12 to 14 minutes. 

The ideation gone behind the making of the show is beyond impressive and while not all episodes land, as well as the writers, would have hoped they would, most of them end up being an entertaining ride. From Baby's Day Out themed episode to a Black Mirror inspired storyline, each episode brings out a unique commentary. The superpowers covered in the series range from being as disgusting as talking poops to other creepier stuff. The show mainly tries to shift the focus on how humans injected with Compound V turn out to become their own villains. The R-rated elements in the show are the ones that will certainly take you back. The good thing about this spin-off is that it seems to have something for everybody and hence it will not only be appreciated by The Boys fans but also the rest who can enjoy the show's humour and creative vision. It promises cheap laughs for those not hoping to dig too deep into this superhero universe although some gags are less slapstick and more on the wittier end.

Among the eight episodes, there are some that absolutely stand out and one of them is Eliot Glazer and co-creator Ilana Glazer's story titled Boyd in 3Drevolving around a couple obsessed with social media who become responsible for their own downfall after overusing Compound V to promote their social media popularity by altering their appearances.

For those who enjoy gore, there are two episodes that show lots of bloodshed ad guts flying out in the air, which happen to be the one with a baby who shoots lasers and ends up slicing everyone around and another one that has a self-explanatory title itself which says An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents. This episode co-written by Justin Roiland has a Rick and Morty hangover and it truly indulges itself in the killing scenes where each super uses their power to finish their family. 

ALSO READ: The Boys Season 2 Review: Karl Urban & Jack Quaid's series is bloodier, brutal and brilliant

One of the reasons why Diabolical turns out to uniquely entertaining is because of the talented writers and voice actors who have come on board for it. With varied animation styles and hilarious dialogues, the eight episodes promise an absolute fun ride.  Awkwafina does a fabulous job of making the episode BFF an absolute hoot with her voice acting as well as writing. Another celebrity whose work stands out in the series is also Andy Samberg who has written the show's most emotional episode, John and Sun-Hee that features voice acting from Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung.

Those hoping to find some answers related to The Boys' Season 3 in this spin-off will be disappointed because this one is for pure guilty pleasure. Co-produced by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Garth Ennis, the show doesn't seem to have a goal per se and hence might even feel scattered while bingeing as a whole set but give attention to each story and you will realise it has a lot of interesting dimensions to it. The Boys Presents: Diabolical without a doubt feels like a freebie that's handed out for fans who are eager to watch Season 3.