Adi Shankar, producer on Netflix’s excellent Castlevania series, sat down with IGN Japan to discuss one of his next projects, an animated adaptation of Capcom’s action-heavy Devil May Cry franchise. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like there’s any room for Chris Pratt in the voice cast.
“I can confirm that Vergil is in it, as well as Lady, and of course Dante as well,” Shankar revealed before jokingly adding, “I can also confirm that Chris Pratt won’t be voicing any of the characters.”
Pratt first gained attention portraying lovable doofus Andy Dwyer on NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation prior to taking on the role of Guardians of the Galaxy hero Peter “Star-Lord” Quill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and becoming a mega-star in the process. More recently, Pratt turned heads when it was announced that he will be playing both Mario and Garfield in upcoming films based on the respective properties, which for the last week has put him at the center of one of social media’s most popular memes.
While some may kid that these two iconic roles going to an American actor are acts of Italophobia (Garfield’s love of lasagna makes him an adopted son of the boot), others say they’ve got reasons to be wary of Pratt’s involvement. Despite his protests to the contrary, Pratt belongs to a church with ties to a notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ organization, for starters, and once described Hollywood as not making enough room for stories about white men which, lol my dude. It’s also totally valid to just be sick of seeing his face everywhere.
In any case, it sounds as if work on the Devil May Cry series is going smoothly, Pratt-less though it may be.
“The entire [Capcom] team, both from the management side and the creative side, have been so incredibly supportive and gracious,” Shankar told IGN Japan. “[Devil May Cry producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi] has been wonderful. It’s seriously a joy to work with Capcom.”
Devil May Cry will be eight episodes long, but Shankar’s story treatment is meant to span multiple seasons. Apart from the involvement of important characters like Dante, Vergil, and Lady, however, little is known of specific plot details. A release date is still forthcoming as well, but seeing as Shankar only mentioned having the scripts ready at this point, it might be some time before we hear more on that front.
Other video game-related projects on Shankar’s horizon include animated adaptations of Assassin’s Creed, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Hyper Light Drifter, and Far Cry 3 spin-off expansion Blood Dragon, which also means Chris Pratt has several more opportunities to get on the producer’s good side.