‘The Boys’ showrunner confirms ‘Diabolical’ animated episode is canon

Amazon’s The Boys just released an animated spinoff, with a lot of side-material, but now showrunner Eric Kripke has confirmed the last episode of The Boys Presents: Diabolical is canon material.

The finale is canon, yeah. I thought [writer Simon Racioppa] did such a good job with it. I don’t think we had any specific plans going in for it to for sure be canon. But he did just such a good job writing that watching it, I was like, ‘this is for sure what happened.’ There is a certain amount of background setup of really understanding the relationship between Homelander and Black Noir and giving us a deeper understanding before Season 3.

Kripke made the comments to Variety in an article published yesterday about the animated project. This show featured a number of new stars for The Boys world like Andy Samberg and Awkwafina. Its finale had big returning players with Antony Starr (Homelander), Giancarlo Esposito (Vought’s Stan Edgar) and Elisabeth Shue (Madelyn Stillwell). It looked at what happened when Homelander first joined the Seven, showcasing his early rage and dishonesty.

Kripke also hinted another episode, titled “An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents” would have some impact on the coming adventures of Karl Urban’s Billy Butcher and the bunch, too. It features characters with ridiculous powers like a speaker for a head which can only play music from Hootie & the Blowfish, Kripke has said some of it will become important in ways audiences won’t expect.

“There’s this kind of unexpected tie-in between [it] and Season 3. But in a way that I won’t give away. There is a connection.”

We’ll find out in a few months. Aside from the main show and this spinoff, another is in development. It is said to center around college-aged superheroes and will serve as a parody of the X-Men – with a team called The G-Men.