K-Pop Demon Hunters almost looked wildly different – get a sneak peek at early art

KPop Demon Hunters has been a surprise hit for Netflix, becoming the most-streamed film or series on the platform, and it's still throwing up surprises. Fans have discovered early concept art for the movie, and, as is often the case with concept art, it looks very, very different from the final animation (see our feature what is concept art?)

The artwork was originally posted by Sony Pictures Animation way back in March 2021. It was posted again in February 2024 by VFX artist Matthew McDonald, who tweeted to say that he was excited to be working on a new project. He didn't name KPop Demon Hunters, but fans who unearthed the post made the connection.

The early KPop Demon Hunters concept art shows an interesting and very different art style from the glossy look we know from the movie. It shows a stylised, angular 2D image of the Huntr/x trio of Rumi, Mira and Zoey from behind in a stadium setting with their weapons hidden behind their backs and the Honmoon spying on them above. The girls' style and hair is also notably different from the movie.

Fans of the hit movie have started commenting on the post in jest, speculating about what Matthew's exciting project might be. "Wonder if it's gonna be golden," one fan wrote in reference to the fictional group's big hit. "They look like Hunters, maybe they're after some Demons? Would be rad if they were K-pop artists too," another person joked.

“Bet it'll flop,“ someone else wrote, perhaps echoing Sony's own reported lack of faith in the movie.

KPop Demon Hunters has been watched over 325 million times, vastly surpassing what almost anyone expected. It's even prompted a health warning. And to think that Sony Animations deemed it only worthy of Netflix – a mistake animation fans think the studio should avoid repeating with Genndy Tartakovsky's The Black Knight.

For more on the behind the scenes of the movie, check out the fun recordings showing animator Daniel Ceballos acting the character of Zoey. And if you're working on your own animation, see our guides the best animation software and the best laptops for animation.