Which Diabolical Shorts Are The Boys Canon? Plus New Parody Posters

When a spin-off show for The Boys begins with “The Boys Presents,” there’s no inherent reason to believe it’s not canon. Especially when many of the live-action performers reprise their roles as voices. However, the appearance of one short based more literally on the comics appearances of Butcher and Hughie, and featuring different actors, was the giveaway. It can’t all be canon to the same universe. But in a recent interview with Variety, showrunner Eric Kripke revealed that at least one of the animated Diabolical shorts is now considered canon…and more.

“The finale is canon, yeah,” Kripke told Variety. “I thought [writer Simon Racioppa] did such a good job with it. I don’t think we had any specific plans going in for it to for sure be canon. But he just did such a good job writing and directing it, that watching it, I was like, ‘This is for sure what happened.’” Said finale featured a key bit of Homelander’s backstory, helping to explain the beginning of his slippery slope moral decline.

RELATED: The Boys Presents: Diabolical Review – You Can’t Do That on TV!

And that’s not all. Justin Roiland’s off-kilter short, “An Animated Short Where Pissed-Off Supes Kill Their Parents,” will also prove significant. “Weirdly, even though it’s not at all canon, obviously, I’ll tease that there’s this kind of unexpected tie-in between Roiland’s episode and Season 3,” says Kripke. Unfortunately for fans, it will probably not be Boombox, the guy with a speaker for a head. Or, we imagine, the guy who emits ranch dressing from “down there.”

Meanwhile, the official The Boys Twitter account dropped some new character one-sheets in tribute to The Batman. Each features one of the team in the style of a different Batman movie. You can see them all in the gallery below.

What aspect of Roiland’s short do you hope might become canon? Let us know in comments.

Recommended Reading: The Boys Omnibus Vol. 1

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.