An indie YouTube cartoon about imps in Hell landed an Amazon deal
Helluva Boss follows a small firm of imps in Hell who sneak into the living world to carry out hits ordered by damned souls. Vivienne Medrano put it on her own YouTube channel, paid for the art partly through Patreon, and later brought it to Prime Video without giving up final cut.
The show is a spin-off from Medrano's Hazbin Hotel, set in the same universe but with its own cast. She has said Hazbin is about redemption and consequences, while Helluva Boss sticks with characters and societies already living in Hell and centres on how they get along. Its company, I.M.P., is run by Blitzo, whose name is pronounced Blitz, with the weapons expert Moxxie, the muscle Millie, and Loona, a hellhound Blitzo adopted who works the front desk. They reach Earth using an ancient book borrowed from Stolas, a Goetic demon.
The pilot appeared on November 25, 2019, and the series proper launched on Halloween 2020. One critic at Screen Rant credited the success of Hazbin Hotel alone for getting it made. By October 2020 the two pilots together had passed 65 million views, and Animation Magazine called the show an overnight sensation. Early in 2021 YouTube age-restricted its third episode; the site Newgrounds offered to host it uncensored with a front page banner, and the restriction was lifted the following day.
Production had its snags. The first season finale slipped so badly that the team moved on to season two, which began on July 30, 2022, and the missing finale finally came out in June 2023. Voice roles shifted over time too: Norman Reedus voiced the hitman Striker in the first season before handing over, and Kesha's Queen Bee passed to Rochelle Diamante. Medrano has said she planned a set story of four seasons.
In April 2025 Amazon MGM Studios joined as co-producer, putting uncensored versions of the first two seasons on Prime Video and giving it seasons three and four first, with YouTube getting episodes 45 days later. The first half of season three is due on October 14, 2026. Critics have praised its songs and animation, and its main cast includes several queer characters.
Source: Helluva Boss
