Adi Shankar has had success in adapting video games into animation, having worked on multiple seasons of Castlevania alongside Konami and Netflix, as well as with Ubisoft for Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix. More recently, he has been collaborating with Capcom on Devil May Cry, the first season of which launched on Netflix in 2025 to a largely favorable reception.
Now, with its second season, Shankar and team are delving deeper into the story of Dante and Vergil, as the two characters come to grips with their origins, the divergent paths their lives took following a family tragedy, and how their two perspectives shape them and the fate of a world that hangs in the balance. It also embraces Devil May Cry 2, the video game series’ most divisive entry.
Of course, with as much experience as Shankar has in taking video game source material and adapting it for animation, we would be remiss not to get his perspective on the latest high-profile announcement of a similar project: Sony’s adaptation of From Software’s Bloodborne.
Speaking to GameSpot, Shankar expressed excitement that video games are gaining more attention as sources of interesting storytelling that could work in other formats, but stressed that their success depends on not being swallowed up by the corporate machine and treated as just another intellectual property.
“It’s cool that the island that I’ve been kind of on … it’s not really growing because islands don’t grow, so it’s more like ships are emerging and they’re like, ‘Oh, I like this island,'” Shankar said of the rise in interest around adapting video games. “That’s cool. It’s an interesting kind of experience. I think to me, [adaptations are] a different thing. All my stuff is creator driven. Devil May Cry [is] very creator driven, right? Sure, it’s Devil May Cry, but it’s very much my version of Devil May Cry.
“Captain Laserhawk, sure it was Ubisoft’s IP, but it was me putting it into a blender and being like, ‘Oh, the assassin’s going to be a frog. And Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher will have no legs.’ I think the challenge with video games is a lot of the games were made by a handful of developers who then go on and do other things and then it becomes intellectual property owned by a corporation that then gets swallowed up by another corporation, merges with a third corporation and then gets swallowed up by a giant conglomerate somewhere, and then gets managed by a bunch of brand managers.”
Shankar’s main piece of advice to the companies involved is to “just hand it to the creator, hand it to the creatives and you’ll get something.” This, at least initially, seems to be something Sony is aware of to a degree, given that one of the key figures involved in the Bloodborne adaptation is Seán “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin, an avowed Bloodborne obsessive that is serving as producer.
In a video announcing the project, McLoughlin reiterated his passion for Bloodborne and earnestly expressed a dedication to getting it right and making it authentic. This, Shankar noted, looks like a step in the right direction, but comes with some questions nevertheless.
“The real question is how much control is [Seán] actually going to be given and is this a marketing stunt? Because the traditional system is crashing and burning–everyone knows that–but the creator economy and the influencer economy is a growing ecosystem that is professionalizing.
“The cynic in me goes, ‘Well, this is just an attempt to capitalize on the growing ecosystem,’ just like a few years ago [when] everyone was rushing to give producing deals to athletes,” Shanker said, likely referring to, among others, LeBron James’s involvement in Space Jam: A New Legacy and Hustle, and, more recently, Steph Curry’s collaboration with Sony on Goat.
“I don’t know what this basketball player knows [about how to] help produce a movie. They were giving athletes [these] things, but again, it was performative. So there’s a performative version of this and there’s the actual version.
“We’ll see, right? Because there’s one thing to be a producer, there’s another thing to be a producer, writer, showrunner, and have the complete corporate machine supporting your vision. Again, I know nothing about [the Bloodborne project]. I don’t know Jacksepticeye. I wish him well, and I think that is a step in the right direction.”
Sony Pictures’ Bloodborne adaptation is co-financed by Lyrical Media, with PlayStation Production and Lyrical Animation serving as co-producers. Lyrical Media’s animation division is reportedly focused on adult-oriented animated media, which suits the style and tone of Bloodborne. As of yet, it’s unclear when the movie will be released and if it will appear in theaters or go straight to streaming services.
Devil May Cry Season 2, meanwhile, arrives on Netflix May 12, with Johnny Yong Bosch as Dante, Robbie Daymond as Vergil, and Scout Taylor-Compton as Lady.
