Helluva Boss

Helluva Boss is an American adult animated musical black comedy web series created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. It revolves around the misadventures of the employees of I.M.P., a company in Hell that offers hitman services in the realm of the living. The pilot was released on YouTube on November 25, 2019, before the series premiered on October 31, 2020 on YouTube.

Set in the same fictional universe and a spin-off to Hazbin Hotel, the show is produced by SpindleHorse. The first season was released exclusively on Medrano's YouTube channel. The second season premiered on July 30, 2022. A spin-off short series titled Helluva Shorts was also released in April 2024. In April 2025, it was announced that the third and fourth seasons will be released on Prime Video first, subsequently releasing on YouTube a month after. A reimagining of the pilot, titled "Mission Zero", was released to Prime Video on September 10, 2025, alongside a re-release of the first two seasons, all of which are fully uncensored. "Mission Zero" was released to YouTube on October 25, 45 days after its Prime Video release. The third season is set to be released in two halves, with the first premiering on October 14, 2026, and the second half in 2027.

Premise

The series follows the employees of I.M.P. (Immediate Murder Professionals), an imp-run assassination company in Hell that offers hitman services in the realm of the living, on their many different jobs. The members of I.M.P. include Blitzo Buckzo (his first name being pronounced as "Blitz"), the boss of the venture, along with weapons specialist Moxxie, powerhouse Millie, and Blitzo's adopted daughter/receptionist hellhound Loona. With the help of an ancient book obtained from Stolas, a Goetic demon of Hell, they access the human world to complete their tasks on order from souls in Hell.

The show features a different cast of characters and a different storyline than Hazbin Hotel, another show created by Medrano, despite taking place within the same universe. As Medrano described it, while both shows share the same setting, Helluva Boss follows "characters and societies that already exist in Hell", with the main focus being on interpersonal relationships between characters, while Hazbin Hotel is about redemption and consequences.

Voice cast

Main

• Brandon Rogers as Blitzo Buckzo, Loopty Goopty, and additional voices
• Bryce Pinkham as Stolas
• Richard Horvitz as Moxxie, Crimson, and additional voices
• Vivian Nixon as Millie
• Erica Lindbeck as Loona and a performer on the song "A Spooky Kind of Love"

Recurring

• Alex Brightman as Fizzarolli "Fizz" and "Robo Fizz"
• Barrett Wilbert Weed as Octavia and the performer of "My World Is Burning Down Around Me"
• James Monroe Iglehart as Vortex "Tex" and Asmodeus "Ozzie"
• Cristina Vee as Verosika Mayday
• Norman Reedus (season 1) and Edward Bosco (seasons 2–present) as Striker
• Erica Luttrell as Agent Two and Kendra
• Vivienne Medrano as Keenie, Deerie, and additional voices
• Jinkx Monsoon as Martha, Vikki, Rita, additional voices, and a song vocalist
• Morgana Ignis as Sallie May and additional voices
• Kesha Sebert (seasons 1–2) and Rochelle Diamante (seasons 3–present) as Beelzebub "Queen Bee"
• Harvey Guillén as Vassago
• Jack Plotnick as Ghostfuckers musical announcer, a song vocalist, Yogirt, and Mr. Wrigglers

Guest

Episodes

Production and release

In June 2019, Medrano stated that she was working with Erica Lindbeck, Brock Baker, and Brandon Rogers on a "new project". The pilot of Helluva Boss was cast by voice actor Kellen Goff and voice directed by Medrano and Rick Zieff. Lucas Bermudez of Screen Rant attributed the success of Hazbin Hotel as the sole reason for Helluva Boss being greenlit. At some point, Rogers asked Jinkx Monsoon to voice a character in Helluva Boss, but Monsoon wanted to voice "stock characters" instead, so she did so, voicing various background and one-off characters in the show's first season.

On November 25, 2019, the pilot was released on Medrano's YouTube channel. Medrano contributed her writing and animation skills to the episode. Writing production for more episodes began in December 2019, with 8 episodes ordered. The company Horseless Cowboy assisted Medrano with voice work during the first season, with Richard Horvitz and Medrano voice directing. In August 2020, the recording for season 1 was completed, and Lucas Bermudez of Screen Rant predicted that more episodes of Helluva Boss would be released to YouTube "as a web series" because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On October 31, 2020, the first episode of season 1 was released. In the episode, Rogers and Horvitz return as Blitzo and Moxxie, and while Lindbeck returns as Loona, she is replaced by Vivian Nixon as the voice of Millie. Baker was replaced by Bryce Pinkham as Stolas. Guest stars of the episode include Monsoon, Mara Wilson, and Maxwell Atoms.

On January 31, 2021, the third episode of the series was age-restricted by YouTube. In response, the entertainment site Newgrounds offered to host an uncensored version of the episode and promote it with "a front page banner", something which Medrano expressed interest in. The episode's age restriction was lifted the next day, and was later removed.

In September 2021, Medrano spoke on a virtual stage at the Animation Exposé of the Ottawa International Animation Festival about creating Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. She was joined by Bryan Dimas, the associate producer of development at Warner Bros. Animation and co-director of a group called LatinX in Animation.

In February 2022, the official Helluva Boss Twitter account stated that the season one finale would be out "soon" but that it was taking longer than expected, and noted that season two was in production. On June 3, 2022, the Helluva Boss Twitter account released an update after the final episode of season 1 was delayed, and the series would instead be moving forward with season 2. The original season 1 finale was released a year later on June 24, 2023. The second season premiered on July 30, 2022. The series has included celebrities such as Kesha, Norman Reedus, Mara Wilson, Alex Brightman and others as guest stars.

On March 27, 2023, the show was confirmed to be renewed for a third season, in active production. On May 25, 2023, Medrano stated that the series was planned to be "a very set 4 season story". On July 31, 2023, VivziePop posted titles for the upcoming episodes for season 2 on Twitter.

On April 26, 2024, a spin-off short series of Helluva Boss titled Helluva Shorts was announced at LVLUP Expo, with the first short being released on the same day.

On April 25, 2025, at Level Up EXPO 2025, it was announced that uncensored Helluva Boss episodes of seasons 1 and 2 would be available on Amazon Prime Video from September 10. Additionally, Prime Video will host seasons 3 and 4 of the show, with future episodes coming to YouTube 45 days after airing on Prime Video. Amazon MGM Studios was also announced to be joining SpindleHorse to produce the series. Medrano expressed that she was grateful to Amazon for the opportunity and what it "means for the continued rise of indie animation". The A.V. Club also reported that Medrano and SpindleHorse would retain "full creative control and final cut on the series". ComicBook.com later reported that Rochelle Diamante would be taking over the voice role of Beezlebub from Kesha.

The third season is set to be released in two halves, with the first premiering on October 14, 2026, and the second half in 2027.

Soundtrack

On July 24, 2025, it was announced that Atlantic Records would distribute the soundtracks of Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel to streaming and vinyl, releasing on September 10.

Singles

LGBTQ+ representation

Helluva Boss has various LGBTQ+ characters, specifically Moxxie, who is bisexual, and Blitzo, who is pansexual. Another character, Stolas, is gay. The episode "The Harvest Moon Festival" introduced the character Sallie May, Millie's sister, who was confirmed on the show's official Twitter account to be transgender, and by her voice actor to be lesbian.

In June 2024, the official Twitter account for the series shared an image for Pride Month which featured—among others—Asmodeus, Verosika, Blitzo, and Beelzebub wearing or holding the colors of the pansexual pride flag; Loona and Moxxie wearing clothes with bisexual pride flag colors; Stolas, Fizzarolli, and Andrealphus wearing the colors of the gay men's flag and gay pride flag; Octavia and Mammon wearing clothes with asexual pride flag colors; and Sallie May wearing clothes with lesbian pride flag colors while sitting on a trans pride flag.

Reception

Helluva Boss was met with critical acclaim for its animation, characters, voice acting, songs, and humor. In December 2019, in an article about the current state of adult animation, CBR animation critic Reuben Baron stated that, while the pilot episode of Helluva Boss has garnered "warranted criticism" because of its "edgy" humor, it is still a "clear labor of love from an animation standpoint". Another reviewer, also for CBR, Morgan Shaunette, described the series as "underrated", said that it is a "twisted take on the workplace comedy", and called it a "helluva strange ride". Tito W. James' of Comicon.com stated that demons having access to a portal that connects to the human realm "adds a new dynamic and is ripe for narrative potential". Jones also said that he was impressed with the quality of the series and stated that "other animated adult comedies should take notes".

Zoe Dumas of MovieWeb argued that the series has "emotionally complex" characters, a talented and musical voice cast, and "outstanding" animation. Dumas also argued that the series is "more episodic and character-driven" than Hazbin Hotel, while complimenting the latter. Joshua S. Mackey for Into praised the series for having "three different queer main characters".

Fandom

Animation Magazine reported that the pilots of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss had been, collectively, viewed over 65 million times by October 7, 2020. It referred to Helluva Boss as "wildly popular" and an "overnight sensation". Others called the series a "YouTube hit".

In February 2021, Medrano told Insider that Helluva Boss remains independent of Hazbin Hotel, stating she intends to keep it that way "as long as the audience wants to keep seeing it", adding that she has "a plan for where the story goes and ends". It also states that she has "carved out a niche for adult animation on the platform". In 2023, scholar Ben Mitchell described the series as "sensationally popular" and an effective use of Patreon to subsidize the show's art "through monthly tiered payments". Zoe Dumas of MovieWeb described the series as a "wild success" with a "superb voice cast".

Awards and nominations

See also

• Modern animation in the United States
• Adult animation by country
• List of adult animated television series List of adult animated television series of the 2020s
• LGBTQ themes in Western animation
• List of animated series with LGBTQ characters: 2020–2024

Notes

Primary sources

In the text, these references are preceded by "†":

External links

• onYouTube
• atIMDb