Is The Boys: Diabolical canceled? Showrunner explains what actually happened

Simon Racioppa says there are still lots of great stories to tell in The Boys’ world

The Boys returns for its fifth and final season on April 8, but the franchise isn't going away anytime soon. There's a third season of the spinoff Gen V in the works, along with the prequel Vought Rising and The Boys: Mexico. One offshoot of the hit superhero satire that apparently won’t be continuing is the animated anthology is The Boys: Diabolical, which franchise-runner Eric Kripe said had been canceled in a 2025 interview.

However, in a recent interview, The Boys: Diabolical showrunner Simon Racioppa told Polygon that his series wasn’t technically canceled — there just wasn't ever a plan to make more of it beyond season 1.

“It was always supposed to be a single one-off. It was basically done,” Racioppa said in an interview for season 5 of his other animated superhero series, Invincible. “We did it in 10 months, just basically as something to give the fans something to watch because the main series was delayed because of the pandemic and nobody knew what was happening.”

Released in 2022, The Boys: Diabolical spanned a wide range of tones and animation styles in its eight episodes. The Boys comic writer Garth Ennis took another crack at the franchise he started, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg paid tribute to the Looney Tunes, and Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland co-wrote an episode. Racioppa’s explanation of the show’s fate paints a different picture than Kripke, who told The Wrap in October 2025 that he wanted another season of Diabolical.

"I don’t think there’s going to be a Season 2 of Diabolical," Kripke said. "It’s not for lack of us pushing. I think ultimately the viewer numbers weren’t there to justify a second season, sadly. Although, we love it and Simon [Racioppa], the showrunner, would be game to do it, but we haven’t gotten a go ahead on that."

Racioppa is co-showrunner of Invincible, which kicks off its fourth season on March 18, but he’d still like to return to The Boys: Diabolical.

“We have ideas,” he said. “There's certainly lots of space. Like Invincible, there's lots of great stories to tell in that world, but there's nothing I can announce about that right now, unfortunately.”