Gaming & Comics

'The Boys Presents: Diabolical' offers new perspectives of Supes and Vought International, but is it canon? According to Eric Kripke, 1 episode definitely is.

Published on March 12, 2022

TL;DR:

• Eric Kripke confirmed The Boys Presents: Diabolical finale is canon.
• Prime Video’s animated spinoff offers insight into Homelander’s backstory.
• Diabolical could tie into The Boys Season 3.

The Boys Presents: Diabolical debuted on Prime Video at the beginning of March, telling new stories set in the world of the main series. The animated episodes feature appearances from The Boys characters fans know and love. But is The Boys Presents: Diabolical canon? Eric Kripke confirmed that at least one episode is.

Eric Kripke confirmed ‘The Boys Presents: Diabolical’ finale is canon

The Boys Presents: Diabolical mostly focuses on characters fans have never met before. However, major players like Billy Butcher, Hughie Campbell, Homelander, and even The Deep make appearances throughout the animated spinoff.

The Diabolical finale even takes a deep dive into Homelander’s backstory, showing fans what he was like when he first joined Vought. And those wondering if Homelander’s animated history is canon now have an answer.

During an interview with Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke confirmed that Simon Racioppa’s installment is, in fact, canon in The Boys universe:

“The finale is canon, yeah. I thought [Simon] 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 just did such a good job writing and directing it, that watching it, I was like, ‘This is for sure what happened.’”

Kripke is right that episode 8 makes sense in the context of who Homelander is in the present-day story. What does this installment tell us about his early days at Vought?

The ‘Diabolical’ finale delves into Homelander’s backstory

The Boys Presents: Diabolical finale takes place in the past, so it’s easy to see how it could be considered canon. The episode, dubbed “One Plus One Equals Two,” takes viewers on Homelander’s first mission with him. The whole thing goes pretty poorly. In typical Homelander fashion, the Supe manages to kill more people than he saves.

However, Homelander gets away with it thanks to Black Noir. Noir is supposed to be supervising Vought’s newest hire, but the most mysterious member of the Seven helps Homelander cover things up. It’s interesting to see this dynamic between the two characters, especially since Noir is such an enigma in the live-action show.

And while Diabolical may not come up in The Boys Season 3, the new episodes could build on this relationship between Homelander and Noir.

How the animated series could tie into ‘The Boys’ Season 3

Although The Boys Presents: Diabolical finale is canon, it’s unlikely to have much bearing on season 3 of the main series. Unless Homelander reflects on his past actions — or the show returns to this moment in live-action — the mission probably won’t be mentioned again.

What’s more likely is that the third season will expand the relationship between Homelander and Noir, especially now that most members of the Seven are at odds with one another. Homelander knows Starlight is a traitor, and he no longer trusts Maeve. The rest of the Supes have been killed or fired, leaving Noir as the only person he can count on. And knowing both are terrible people, that’s a terrifying prospect.

It’ll be interesting to see if the series leans into this when it returns. After three seasons, we’d certainly like to know more about who Noir is behind the mask.

The Boys Season 3 premieres on Prime Video on June 3, 2022.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLTEmqusoJWawW%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGTBqbGMm6ayq12otbDD0a6lp52iYrCwusWiqaarXWZ6przIrKadnV2ks26wyJqZqKSZmK6tecisZJyZnqS7b7TTpqNo