Villainous (Spanish: Villanos) is a Mexican animated television and web series produced by Animated Imagination Studios for Cartoon Network and Max. It was created by Alan Ituriel, a veteran of the animation industry in Mexico.[1][2] It is based on a 2012 web series of the same name which Ituriel had previously created and was initially picked up by Cartoon Network Latin America as a miniseries of ten one-minute episodes for the Cartoon Network Anything app (further episodes, along with a series of specials, were released later).[3][4] The series is co-produced by Cartoon Network (through its Latin America Original Production unit) and A.I. Animation Studios.[5] The series has since expanded onto a media franchise consistent of books and tie-ins.
On October 11, 2021, Ituriel's Animated Imagination Studios revealed that the series would be released on HBO Max Latin America and Cartoon Network Mexico, and premiered on both platforms on October 29, 2021.[6][7] The series premiered on Max in the United States on May 23, 2023.[8]
On May 15, 2025, it was announced that an exclusive web series spin-off entitled Villainous: Ties of Thieves (Spanish: Villanos: Lazos de Ladrones) was in production, set to be released in late 2025.
