As the first episode of Devil May Cry begins, there is a violent heist at a Vatican City museum. The thieves shoot multiple guards and begin stealing artifacts before they’re confronted by the White Rabbit (Hoon Lee). The thieves think they should kill the Rabbit who says there’s no need for that. The White Rabbit believes Americans are the most dependable of the species. Anything they don’t understand they shoot, bomb, or burn without hesitation. One soldier thief questions how the White Rabbit knew how much they were being offered. The Rabbit reveals he’s the one who offered it. He breaks a case and retrieves the Force Edge setting off an alarm. Rabbit explains it’s the sword of the demon knight Sparda. He says Hell has always been the true heart of human religion. They can curb the worst of their savageries only through the collective fear and hatred of his world.
One thief tells White Rabbit that he still needs to pay Rampart for this operation. The White Rabbit kills them. Then, he finds himself surrounded by guards. White Rabbit says they stand together on the threshold of the age of the Demon. The world is about to become much larger. White Rabbit sets off an explosion. On the street, a woman drops her purse and her baby is kidnapped. The baby, Ellie, vanishes and returns. She goes into the alley to retrieve the baby’s rattle and is attacked. Dante (Johnny Yong Bosch) arrives to help the woman. Once Dante takes care of the monsters, he tells the woman there have been other attacks in the area and his client hired him to look into it. He explains he’s a demon hunter. Dante finds out that Ellie is a demon. The woman attacks him to prevent him from killing the baby. After the intro, a news report shows the first image from last night’s Vatican City bombings.
A news anchor (Erica Lindbeck) explains that the bombings have shocked the world. She goes on to say it appears the suspect has wings on his back. On television, a man talks about the radical left using the bombing to suggest America should step down as “global policemen”. Another man argues the suspect was using Russian technology. A radio host complains about the government and corporatists wanting them to blame the Russians. He claims this was a strike against God carried out by a sophisticated network of terrorist demons. A late-night host (Jon Gries) laughs at that idea. President Hopper is given a briefing about the attack. Dr. Fisher (Zeke Alton) is one of the foremost theoretical physicists in the world. Fisher insists the creatures were demons. He tells everyone about demon DNA. Fisher says they’ve discovered an interdimensional rift that acts as a bridge between the two universes.
It has been blocked for millennia by a field of quantum interference. Natural disruptions sometimes create portals. These portals aren’t stable enough to accommodate larger, more complex molecular structures. As a result, the big demons are stuck on the other side. Fisher says he works for DARKCOM. A man rushes in with a video of the White Rabbit who tells them to find the hunter to catch the rabbit. The Vice President says it’s no longer a matter of religion. Now, it’s science. The Vice President says the word of the Lord has been proven beyond dispute. The Holy War is here. They believe they need to find the demon hunter to find the White Rabbit. Demon hunters are captured so they can be brought to the Vice President. Dante goes to the diner for his usual. The waitress gives him a phone number. A truck is thrown through the window. Dante rushes to save everyone. A demon who looks like Dante’s brother comes in and attacks him.
Dante realizes it’s the demon baby from earlier. The captive demon hunters are questioned. One of them mentions a talking bunny. The Vice President wants a name. Enzo Ferino (Chris Coppola) is tracked down moments later. He’s taken captive and taken back for questioning. Enzo says the Rabbit wanted some demons on the west side clipped. The Rabbit wanted Dante and he wouldn’t take anyone else. Dr. Fisher suspects Dante is the hunter the Rabbit was talking about. Dante is recorded as going AWOL from five separate jobs because he got bored. Meanwhile, the demon demands the amulet from Dante. The demon eventually takes the amulet, but Dante manages to disable the demon and take it back. The demon tells Dante that he doesn’t know what he is. The demon turns into a bat and flees. Enzo says he heard a rumor about demons being too powerful to cross over. Instead, they learned how to project their consciousness into the human world and possess stuff.
Enzo suspects the White Rabbit is a possessed kid’s toy. He soon learns they’ve already sent a team to get the White Rabbit and there was only one survivor. Enzo is asked about the Sword of Sparda. He explains that Sparda took it upon himself to protect humanity by casting a spell creating a wall between the realms. It was the power of his sword and a magic amulet that let him do it. Dr. Fisher realizes there is a slot for the amulet on the sword. The amulet is a transmitter. Each half generates one half of the signal. Sparda’s sword is the decoder. If the sword and amulet were brought together, the wall would cease to exist. Civilization would be overrun. The Vice President says they won’t let it be. He’s convinced this is DARKCOM’s purpose. The Rabbit already has one amulet piece and could be close to getting the other. Anders (Benjamin Abiola) joins them moments later.
Anders says the Rabbit already knows where the other amulet is. He tried to get it back but his plan failed. The Rabbit was going to hire someone for a setup job. Vice President Baines (Kevin Conroy) realizes he’s talking about Dante.
Devil May Cry Review
The opening episode of Netflix’s Devil May Cry was a mixed bag with some good points and some low points. The visuals look good for the most part and most of the voice actors have done well with their roles. The story is fairly weak though. They managed to shoehorn in modern politics in a series about demons and whatnot.
The first few minutes were fine enough until we got the television and radio hosts babbling a bunch of political nonsense. Was this really the show to push any type of agenda? Those scenes added next to nothing to the story, but it seems that’s a requirement for modern television at the moment.
Dante isn’t particularly strong or even present at the moment. The series seems to be about everything except Dante. It’s really unfortunate, but it’s like Netflix learned nothing from its Resident Evil adaptation which was nothing like the source material. At this point, the best thing about the opening episode was the gore.
The visuals won’t be able to make up for the generic script, but there’s still time for this to develop into something bigger and bolder. The opening episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Devil May Cry can be found here. Find out how to support our independent work at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion at the forum.