Long-time gamers will surely recognize classic titles like Devil May Cry and Resident Evil. The video games, each developed by Japanese game company Capcom, offer a similar blend of hack-and-slash combat, post-apocalyptic imagery and off-the-walls action set-pieces. The two IPs have also been developed into numerous sequels, films and other standalone adaptations over the years. While these projects have inspired generations of fans since their creation, the latest iteration of Devil May Cry is turning heads, and opening up questions about possible connections between the two cinematic universes.
For those that don’t know, Netflix recently released a Devil May Cry series, which offers multiple tenuous connections to the Resident Evil franchise. In order to understand how these two brands are connected, we’ll have to take a quick look back at the inception of both projects, and walk through the future of each.
The Creation of ‘Devil May Cry’
In case you’re not up on your video game history, Devil May Cry originated as a 2001 action-adventure game for the PlayStation 2. The story of the game centers on a demon hunter named Dante, who holds a lifelong grudge against the otherworldly creatures who have killed his family. After meeting a woman named Trish, Dante embarks upon a quixotic journey to take down his arch nemesis, the demonic lord Mundus. The story is loosely inspired by the famed Italian poem “Divine Comedy,” and makes use of some of the poem’s naming conventions, imagery and dramatic themes.
Resident Evil, on the other hand, first launched on the original PlayStation in 1996, and follows a team of mercenaries as they run and gun their way through hordes of zombies. Though Devil May Cry has always been compared to Resident Evil due to its subject matter, gameplay style and shared development studio, it may come as a major shock to learn that the first DMC game was originally developed as a fourth installment in the Resident Evil franchise. Apparently Capcom execs tasked production designer Hideki Kamiya with outlining a script for the forthcoming game. Somewhere along the line, it was determined that the demon-slaying storyline and lore wouldn’t mesh well with Resident Evil‘s zombie slaughtering roots.
Despite this incongruity, the folks at Capcom fell in love with Kamiya’s ideas, and Devil May Cry entered into development shortly thereafter. As a result of this origin story, the DMC franchise has always served as a sister story to Resident Evil, though their lore has never properly crossed over in any mainstream adaptations.
Netflix Drops a Major Lore Bomb
The new Devil May Cry series on Netflix is the latest in a long line of IP adaptations. While the story takes a number of creative liberties (and adjusts the plot of the original video game to better fit an eight-episode structure), it largely maintains the same story beats that played out on PS2 screens across the world back in 2001. Eagle-eyed viewers at home have taken note of a few significant pieces of lore strewn throughout the show, however, which seem to suggest that a Resident Evil crossover is entirely possible. The most concrete lore drop came in episode three, when Dante conversed with his peer Enzo. During the exchange, Dante quips, “This has got to be the second worst job you ever gave me.” Enzo replies with a smirk, asking, “Oh, you mean after the Raccoon City job?”
Those familiar with Resident Evil will immediately clock this easter egg, as Raccoon City is a key location where many of the original games took place. The fictional Midwestern metropolis is the global headquarters for the evil Umbrella Corporation in the Resident Evil canon, making it ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Depending on how you receive this line of dialogue in the new Devil May Cry series, it could imply that Enzo sent Dante to Raccoon City to complete a demon-slaying mission. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily confirm that the titles take place in the same universe, and may just be a one-off line inspired to appeal to die-hard fans. Either way, it’s the first concrete evidence to suggest that Dante exists in the same universe as Chris Redfield and company, and has the potential to spark a major crossover event down the line.
Are All the ‘Devil May Cry’ Games Connected?
Even if the Raccoon City reference was placed to intentionally perk the ears of super-fans, the DMC franchise has a history of splintering its narrative into non-canon events. Not only have the games never fully connected with Resident Evil, some of the games don’t even connect with each other. 2008’s Devil May Cry 4 was famously retconned out of the franchise canon shortly after its release, after significantly changing the lore and world-building of the previous three games. Upon release, DMC 4 was intended to serve as a prequel to DMC 2, though both games were effectively rewritten within the narrative of 2019’s Devil May Cry 5. Furthermore, several projects in the franchise have splintered off into their own non-canon timelines, almost in the same vein as Marvel’s What If series.
The most popular game to fit this description is 2013’s DmC: Devil May Cry, which was intended to reboot the entire franchise. Though some fans enjoyed this release, many felt that it strayed too far from the original’s gothic setting and straightforward tone. The game is characterized by its complete redesign of Dante, and its use of social commentary, which is a bit out of the ordinary for the IP. Needless to say, some gamers were not enthused, and even Hideki Kamiya himself weighed in with negative responses to the adaptation. Luckily for fans, Devil May Cry 5 reset the canon timeline for Dante and company, and managed to please critics and fans alike. The 2019 outing even managed to take home the Future Division award from the Japan Game Awards, marking a return to form for the DMC trademark.
What Is the Chronological Order of ‘Devil May Cry’?
If you’re feeling a bit confused after reading the above description, you’re not alone. A simple Google search of the Devil May Cry games will return dozens of Reddit threads from longtime fans who still haven’t pieced together the official order. In a nutshell, the storyline of the video games plays out from 3, 1, 2, 4, 5, with DmC: Devil May Cry existing in an entirely alternate universe. The events of game five reset game four to take place after Devil May Cry 2, though this won’t be evident on a playthrough of the fourth installment alone. It’s all a bit cerebral and difficult to map, though luckily you aren’t required to play every game in the franchise in order to understand the story or enjoy the experience.
If you grew up playing Devil May Cry 1, you should still be able to boot up the old PS2 and enjoy it for the masterpiece that it is. Likewise, brand new players should be able to grasp the story and character dynamics from a playthrough of DMC 5 alone, without needing to dig through decades of backstory to catch up. Any way you slice it, Devil May Cry is an age-old tale of one man’s rage against a demonic cabal of evil creatures, which stands on its own across multiple mediums. Those interested in catching more Devil May Cry media should be sure to check out the newly released series on Netflix if they haven’t already, since it delivers the story with sleek animations, engaged voice actors and even a few Resident Evil easter eggs for long-time Capcom fans.
