It seems like every animated feature these days stacks its cast with celebrities for the sake of star power, and thanks toThe Boys Presents: Diabolical, that practice may have finally found its ideal use. As a bonus, it looks as though the big names involved seemed to have as much fun recording for it as audiences enjoyed watching it.
The Boys Presents: Diabolicalis an animated anthology series that serves as a spinoff to Amazon Prime Video’sThe Boys. But as wacky and unhinged as the side series may seem, it’s actually an important part of the overall story and even provides someessential backstory for Homelander, the main show’s villain. With so much stock put into the spinoff, it makes sense that the folks in charge would put a similar amount of effort into its presentation.
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Diabolicalemploys an impressive array of animation styles, with each episode featuring a different studio, similar to howStar Wars: Visionsworked with various anime companies. But along with the visual aspect, a lot of work also went into the audio: namely, the voice acting. Now, Prime Video has released a behind-the-scenes look at the recording process for the series, and it may surprise some viewers. Sure, watching a voice acting session is always a genuine treat, but some people may be caught off guard when they realize just who was behind some of their favorite roles in the spinoff.
The video shows off clips from a number ofDiabolicalepisodes, giving unfamiliar viewers a glimpse at the wide array of animation styles at work. Several actors are shown, including a good chunk of stars fromThe Boyslike Giancarlo Esposito (Vought CEO Stan Edgar), Dominique McElligott (Queen Maeve), and Chace Crawford (The Deep), among others. But along with them are some big names whom some may not have expected, such as Don Cheadle, Simon Pegg, and evenan appearance from Seth Rogenbefore his rather impactful recent cameo onThe Boysproper.
Diabolicalmay seem like a fun little side bit at first, but much likeThe Boysitself, it hides some deceptively deep themes and poignant references. However, unlikeThe Boys, it’s also a little more focused on the wacky nature of its medium, which shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who immediately recognizesRick and Mortycreator Justin Roiland’s animation stylein his respective episode.
As previously mentioned, however, it does provide some crucial context for some of the events in the main series. So anybody who hasn’t seen it yet might not want to sleep on it. There’s a lot to be said for the power of animation, and somehow complementing the cartoonishly over-the-top nature ofThe Boysis one such point in its favor.
The BoysandThe Boys Presents: Diabolicalare both available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
