Arguably the most anticipated moment of The Boys Presents: Diabolical will be the chance to finally hear Hughie Campbell voiced by his real-world inspiration.
Speaking to Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke discussed what it was like bringing in The Boys creator Garth Ennis to write an episode of the animated anthology series and getting actor Simon Pegg to play the part. “That was a real blast, because we all started as just huge fans of the original The Boys,” Kripke remarked. “So to be able to animate an original story from that world in Garth’s style, to have Butcher without a beard, to have Jack From Jupiter, all these different characters, to bring in Simon Pegg and to have finally Simon Pegg be Hughie, as the fans have been waiting for since that book came out — that was one of my favorite things, too. Really letting him create the original version of The Boys.”
One of eight shorts revealed during The Boys Presents: Diabolical‘s official trailer, Ennis’ episode “I’m Your Pusher” sees Billy Butcher (Jason Isaacs, replacing Karl Urban) threaten a local drug dealer to spike the drugs he sells to superheroes. The episode’s source material faithfulness was praised by original comic artist and series executive producer Darick Robertson as Diabolical‘s “cherry on the sundae,” explaining how “finding out that not only were they making an episode, written by Ennis himself, and basing it on my original comic book designs in an effort to essentially bring an issue of our comic to the screen, but they even have Simon Pegg doing the Scottish accented voice of Wee Hughie, which for both of us, is massively cool.”
In The Boys comics, Robertson deliberately modeled Hughie’s likeness after Pegg, then best known for his roles in Edgar Wright’s TV show Spaced and 2004 horror film Shaun of the Dead. While the TV adaptation ultimately cast Jack Quaid as its live-action Hughie, Pegg, who declined the role due to his older age, made a cameo in Season 1 as Hughie’s father Hugh Sr.
Alongside Pegg and various celebrity voices, Diabolical will also see multiple actors reprise their roles from The Boys, including Antony Starr as Homelander, Chase Crawford as The Deep, and Elizabeth Shue as Vought International’s Madelyn Stillwell. The episodes will borrow from a variety of animation genres, ranging from classic Looney Tunes style to Korean horror to Rick and Morty.
The Boys Presents: Diabolical premieres on Prime Video Mar. 4. Meanwhile, The Boys will return for Season 3 on June 3, though there has not yet been any word on when its trailer will drop.
Source: Variety
About The Author
