Kieran Culkin Joins Family Guy as the Devil in New Halloween Special for Hulu

Kieran Culkin Is Headed to Quahog

San Diego Comic-Con just dropped one of the juiciest casting announcements of the year. Kieran Culkin — the Emmy-winning actor who made Roman Roy one of television’s most gloriously chaotic characters — is joining the cast of Family Guy as the literal Devil in an all-new Halloween special heading to Hulu later this year.

The announcement came during the Family Guy panel at Comic-Con, where showrunner Rich Appel revealed the details of two upcoming specials — a Halloween episode and a holiday Christmas special — both of which are part of Hulu’s growing slate of original animated event programming. And if you thought Stewie and Brian had already gotten into enough trouble over 24 seasons, just wait until they end up in Hell.

Happy Hell-o-ween: What We Know About the Halloween Special

Let’s be real — a show that’s been on the air for 24 seasons has to work hard to keep things fresh. But “Happy Hell-o-ween” sounds like exactly the kind of gonzo premise that Family Guy does best. Here’s the setup: Stewie and Brian, after 24 seasons worth of scheming, mischief, and morally questionable behavior, find themselves in Hell. That’s where they encounter the Devil himself, voiced by none other than Kieran Culkin.

Culkin’s Devil is described as sardonic, bored, and vaguely annoyed by the Griffin family’s chaos — which, if you’ve seen him in Succession, is basically Roman Roy with horns and a pitchfork. When Stewie and Brian inevitably annoy him, they somehow end up in charge of the underworld. You can already imagine where this is going: Stewie as the ruler of Hell is a comedic goldmine that practically writes itself.

The special is part of a broader push by Hulu to establish annual holiday specials for its animated lineup, following in the footsteps of what Fox did for decades with the Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes. This year, The Simpsons will also have fresh Treehouse of Horror content, Bob’s Burgers is getting its own exclusive holiday short for the streaming platform, and Futurama just got three extended specials greenlit. It seems Hulu is betting big on holiday-themed animation as a yearly draw for subscribers.

The Peter Clause: A Christmas Special Too

The holiday special, titled “The Peter Clause,” shifts the focus to Peter Griffin. It’s Christmas in Quahog, and Peter and the guys compete to become the town’s official Santa. Naturally, Peter loses — because nothing ever goes right for Peter Griffin — and he has to decide between processing his disappointment like a mature adult or, well, giving fans a memorable Family Guy episode. He chooses option two, which is the only correct answer for a show that has built 24 seasons on bad decisions.

These two specials join a growing lineup of exclusive animated content on Hulu, which has increasingly become the home for adult animation since Disney consolidated its streaming strategy. American Dad, another Seth MacFarlane creation, also continues its run on the platform, making Hulu the de facto headquarters for Fox’s animation block.

Why Kieran Culkin Is Perfect for the Role

Culkin has spent the last few years proving he’s one of the most versatile actors working today. His turn as Roman Roy on Succession earned him an Emmy and legions of fans who loved his ability to deliver cutting one-liners and emotionally devastating moments in the same breath. But he’s also shown comedic chops in projects like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and A Real Pain, where his timing and delivery turned even the most awkward scenes into highlights. And let’s not forget that he started as a child actor in Home Alone — voice acting isn’t a stretch for someone who’s been performing since he was a kid.

Voice acting for Family Guy is a particular kind of challenge. Unlike live-action where you have body language, facial expressions, and the full toolkit of physical performance to sell a joke, voice acting relies entirely on vocal delivery. The show’s rapid-fire joke structure and signature cutaway gags demand someone who can pivot from deadpan to manic in seconds, sometimes within the same sentence. Culkin has that range. His Devil sounds like it’ll be a mix of weary supernatural authority and barely concealed irritation — which is basically Roman Roy if he ran a cosmic bureaucracy instead of a media conglomerate.

Family Guy has always excelled at celebrity guest voice casting. The show has brought in everyone from James Woods (playing himself in a long-running recurring role) to Carrie Fisher, and Culkin joins a proud tradition of actors who’ve lent their voices to the Griffin family’s chaos. If the early panel descriptions are any indication, his Devil could become one of the show’s most memorable guest characters.

Hulu’s Animation Empire Keeps Growing

The Family Guy specials are part of a bigger picture: Hulu is aggressively expanding its original animation slate. Between the new Futurama specials (three extended episodes including a Christmas installment), Bob’s Burgers’ exclusive holiday short, and now the Family Guy Halloween and Christmas specials, the platform is positioning itself as the go-to destination for adult animation outside of Netflix.

This strategy makes sense. Animated specials are rewatchable, shareable, and have long shelf lives — people come back to “Treehouse of Horror” episodes decades later. If Hulu can build a similar tradition around its own original holiday specials, that’s a huge retention win for the platform.

Family Guy season 25 is expected to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ in 2027, with the Halloween and Christmas specials dropping later this year. Exact release dates haven’t been announced yet, but expect them to align with their respective holidays — Halloween late October, Christmas sometime in December.

Whether you’re a longtime Family Guy fan, a Kieran Culkin devotee who followed him from Succession, or just someone who loves watching animated characters get into increasingly absurd situations, these specials are shaping up to be some of the most anticipated animated events of the year. After 24 seasons, Family Guy is still finding ways to surprise us — and casting the Devil as a sarcastic former media executive feels exactly right for 2026.