Adi Shankar, the creator of the recently released Netflix animated adaptation of Devil May Cry, clarified his comments about being “unhappy” with the Devil May Cry 5 release.
On his YouTube channel during a discussion with AEW wrestler Kenny Omega, Shankar revealed that he was “unhappy” about Capcom developing Devil May Cry 5 and releasing it in 2019.
He said, “I’m passionate about Devil May Cry. I love this thing and I love this niche thing. And now I can take it and hopefully blow it up to a point where I can expand it and there’ll be more of it.”
“And I didn’t know there was a Devil May Cry 5 coming out,” he continued. “I got actually unhappy when they-. So I signed the deal and I’m like, ‘Yeah! Great! I’m doing it!’ And they’re like, ‘Good news! We have Devil May Cry 5 coming out.”
Omega then asked him, “Were you hoping to play it before doing your adaptation? Is that what you’re saying?” Shankar replied, “No, I actually thought the franchise was dead. … This was my thing. I liked Dino Crisis. And I thought I was bringing this thing back. And I’m like, ‘Oh this is like a modern f***ing thing. Like this is ongoing? Then I should have done Street Fighter.”
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Despite Shankar noting he was unhappy because he thought the Devil May Cry franchise was dead and he would no longer get the chance to revive it with Devil May Cry 5 coming out, his comments were picked up by Bounding Into Comics who ran with a headline titled “Adi Shankar Was “Unhappy” With ‘Devil May Cry 5’ Because It Took Spotlight Away From His Netflix Series: “I Thought The Franchise Was Dead; I Thought I Was Bringing This Thing Back”
Shankar responded to this article writing, “This headline is false. Fabricating quotes is not journalism.”
Bounding Into Comics then shared the clip of Shankar’s comments from the above YouTube video and wrote, “Hi Mr. Shankar! The quote was taken directly from your podcast, as relayed by you at the 2:03:22 mark. If you'd like to offer clarification on your statement, we'd be happy to publish it in full! Please let us know!”
X user foothumb responded, “Does he speak about DMC5 ‘taking the spotlight away from his Netflix series’ after this somewhere in the podcast? Because he may have a problem with the assumption that headline makes, not the actual things he said. He can be unhappy a new game was coming out because he prefers mining abandoned franchise ideas and creating new things with them and it may have nothing to do with ‘taking the spotlight away from his show’. So if he so much as insinuates what your headline says, I’d show a clip of that too. Otherwise, your headline is drawing a conclusion he didn’t actually make and that’s likely his problem.”
Shankar replied with clapping hand emojis.
Now, in a lengthy post to X, Shankar clarified what seemed obvious to most people that he was talking about being unhappy that he lost the chance to revive Devil May Cry with Devil May Cry 5 doing that instead.
He wrote, “At the time, the DMC franchise had been dormant for years (DMC4 was 2008). Then DMC5 was announced, and suddenly people were congratulating me—assuming the value of the IP I had acquired had skyrocketed. It had, I barely had to pitch DMC, every studio in town wanted it. But I didn’t come into this as a business move. This wasn’t about flipping a hot property. It felt like buying a house on a quiet street because you love the view… then a shopping mall opens across the road. Sure, it raises the value—but it also changes the entire vibe. I’m an OG DMC 1 fan. I don’t love sudden change. And in that moment, in 2017, I wasn’t even sure I’d like DMC5. I ended up loving it. The RE Engine look initially threw me, but the game was excellent.”
Then specifically referring to his “unhappy” comment, Shankar stated, “So when I said I was ‘unhappy,’ I wasn’t criticizing the game. I was reflecting on the shift in what I thought I had signed on to do. I thought I was helping bring something beloved to me back from the dead. Instead, I realized Capcom was already revitalizing it as a full-blown AAA franchise. As a DMC fan, that’s a win.”
“As a producer, it made me reevaluate how I use my time and energy,” he continued. “I don’t chase massive IPs. That’s what everyone else in Hollywood does. I go after personally meaningful titles— and projects that might never get made unless I use my leverage in Hollywood to push them through. That’s why I chose Devil May Cry in the first place. I loved it and I wanted it back.”
“When I saw DMC was thriving again, at the time, I wondered if maybe my energy would’ve been better spent resurrecting a property from Capcom that actually needed my help—like Dino Crisis, Darkstalkers, or God Hand,” he added. “Rich worlds I love that have been ignored for too long. I wanted to give the spotlight to worlds that need a boost.”
“And when I joked that I ‘should have done Street Fighter,’ I didn’t mean I regret making DMC,” he declared. “I meant that if I were choosing between AAA mega-IP, I might as well go after the biggest. But that’s not who I am. I routinely turn down ‘giant’ titles. I focus on the specific stuff I genuinely care about. Hope this clears things up.”
What do you make of Shankar’s clarification?
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This guy acts like he would have saved DMC with his series. That didn’t even happen with either Blood Dragon or Castlevania. He’s an annoying hipster contrarian and wish he would leave the industry be. I don’t want him anywhere near stuff like God Hand.
The title of the article is correct - an accurate analysis of what Shankar's saying. He wanted to hog the spotlight so that his propaganda draws in more fans. What this egomaniac is crying about is getting negative attention - he can't handle that. Remember - he lied about not demonising the US and Christianity in his awful series, while anybody with eyes could tell this was the case.