Diabolical
Main cast
Jason Isaacs
Aisha Tyler as Nubia
Don Cheadle
Kumail Nanjiani
Awkwafina as Sky
Kieran Culkin
Seth Rogen
Evan Goldberg
Christian Slater
Justin Roiland
Andy Samberg
Kenan Thompson
Chace Crawford as The Deep
Ilana Glazer
Eliot Glazer
Giancarlo Esposito as Stan Edgar
Kevin Smith
Ben Schwartz as Simon
Elizabeth Shue as Madelyn Stillwell
Antony Starr as Homelander
Simon Pegg as Wee Hughie
Michael Cera
Youn Yuh Jung as Sun-Hee
Nasim Pedrad
John DiMaggio as Groundhawk
If you go to South London, you’ll hear the word “diabolical” used fairly often, but it’s not quite the same as it is in North America. It’s used as a noun, but rather than evil or insidious, it means “godawful” or “disgusting” as in, “Fuck me, the food at that place is diabolical.” A Yank might use the term to describe Homelander. A Cockney would use it to describe Butcher’s dog, Terror. (OK, I like Terror, but like all fans of The Boys, I’m in urgent need of immediate psychiatric intervention.)
It makes the question, “Will I like Diabolical?” an easy one to answer. If you liked The Boys (either Garth Ennis’ comic or the Amazon TV series, then yes, you will like Diabolical. If you found the originals diabolical (either translation works here) then you may as well stop reading now. I’m wasting your time.
If you don’t know, proceed with caution. There are no neutral stances on Garth Ennis’ creation. Either you love it (and I do) or you hate it.
Diabolical is an animated version, not of the series, exactly (Billy Butcher and Wee Hughie only appear in one of the eight eps and the rest of the Boys not at all) but of the world of The Boys. Vought Chemical and Compound V play significant roles in all eight eps. Compound V, when injected, creates or enhances superpowers to any Tom, Dick or Harry who wants them. The result is a lot of super “heroes” who aren’t well suited to the task. Plus of course, supervillians, some of whom pose as superheroes.
It’s gleefully demented and violent, and because each episode has its own animation style and writing, and they are all stand-alones, the tone and mood vary wildly, from an oddly touching story of an old man trying to cure his wife’s pancreatic cancer to … well, think of Bugs Bunny on meth.
Because they are stand alone, I went ahead and pinched the description of each episode from the Diabolical Wiki . They’re brief, about 12-15 minutes each, and you can view the entire series in a bit under two hours.
Now on Amazon Prime. Enjoy. It’s diabolical. Heh heh heh.
| Episode | Summary | Airdate | # |
| Laser Baby’s Day Out | Laser eyes plus a cute baby equals an evisceration machine that will melt your heart. Before burning it out of your chest. With her laser eyes. | March 4, 2022 | 1X01 |
| An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents | The title says it all and kinda gives away the ending. Let’s just say it’s cathartic and messy. | March 4, 2022 | 1X02 |
| I’m Your Pusher | Ripped from the pages of the original THE BOYS comics – Billy Butcher, with Terror in tow, terrorizes a narcotics supplier into spiking a certain supe’s fix. | March 4, 2022 | 1X03 |
| Boyd in 3D | Social media is a dysmorphic lens that warps how we view ourselves and others and numbs us to what’s truly important in life. This is about that. | March 4, 2022 | 1X04 |
| BFFS | Inject Compound V and get superpowers. Drink compound V and uh – this happens. | March 4, 2022 | 1X05 |
| Nubian vs Nubian | Divorce is complicated. Divorce with a kid, even more so. Superheroes getting divorced with a kid who’s determined for that NOT to happen? There will be blood. | March 4, 2022 | 1X06 |
| John and Sun-Hee | Put on your crying face for this one as an elderly man risks everything to cure his wife’s inoperable cancer. | March 4, 2022 | 1X07 |
| One Plus One Equals Two | Even a great American hero like Homelander had to start somewhere. | March 4, 2022 | 1X08 |