KPop Demon Hunters has become a global phenomenon since emerging as the surprise animation hit of 2025. Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans' movie is Netflix's most-watched content ever, even if Swapped has now taken the record for the most daily views for an animation. It went on to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
Despite the movie's ostensibly dark theme (it's about hunting demons, after all), the action adventure has an upbeat tone with its high-energy pop soundtrack and playful humour. Sure, it's no Swapped, and it enters into some serious themes, helping it appeal to older audiences too, but it's a family-friendly movie at heart. It turns out that originally that wasn't going to be the case.
The upcoming KPop Demon Hunters art book (see below) delves into the visual development of the movie, but it turns out that the broader concept was originally very different in tone. Co-director Maggie Kang has revealed in an interview with Deadline that the initial idea was “dark, adult, and very violent”.
However, six months into development, Sony Pictures Animation President Kristine Belson thought that KPop Demon Hunters could be "bigger" and had “franchise potential”. She suggested making it more family friendly and bringing in a co-director.
The idea was initially to find another Korean director, but after a year seeking a candidate they chose Chris Appelhans, who isn't Korean, but had strong credentials after animating Wish Dragon and is married to a Korean woman.
Interestingly, Sony still ended up deciding against a cinema release form the movie, instead releasing it to the world with Netflix. That's often been deemed a lack of faith in the movie's potential, but it actually turned out to be an astute move. KPop Demon Hunters' momentum grew gradually through word of mouth. It's hard to imagine that it would have achieved the same success in cinemas without a very big marketing budget behind it.
I'm now intrigued as to what KPop Demon Hunters would have been like if Sony had stuck with the original tone. Just how dark would it really have been? Are we talking something more like Helsing, or Blood The Last Vampire?
Sony made the right decision commercially, with KPop Demon Hunters now destined to become a franchise. A darker, perhaps bloodier movie would not have had that mainstream success, but it could have become a cult classic among older animation fans.
Could a more adult movie still be possible? The voice actors behind the girl band HUNTR/X seem to hope so based on what they've said about their hopes for the KPop Demon Hunters sequel.
In an interview with Collider, Arden Cho, who voices Rumi said she'd like the sequel to explore whether there are other half-demons like Rumi and to dive deeper into her relationship with Celine. “Does Celine accept Rumi? We don't know. Does she have a family? We don't know,” she said.
Ji-young Yoo, who voiced Zoey, said she would like KPop Demon Hunters to go back in time, envisioning a sequel set during the Japanese rule of Korea between 1910 and the end of World War II, a dark period of mass killings and discriminatory practices.
"I don't know if that would be like a family movie,” she admitted. “I think it would be a very, very serious movie, but I would be very tuned in for that era of KPop Demon Hunters. That would be our Andor,” she added in reference to the 2022 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story prequel series.
Netflix has greenlit a KPop Demon Hunters sequel with Kang and Appelhans maintaining creative control. In the Deadline interview, Maggie said the sequel would be “fresh, surprising, and original.” I doubt that will mean going back to the original darker concept, but perhaps there could be room for an adult offshoot to expand the series?
We're likely to have to wait until 2029. In the meantime, there's the comic and art book (see below). Also see our KPop Demon Hunters art tutorial.
Creative Bloq is now easier to access than ever before with our on-the-go app, which brings you all the content you know and love from our website, but in a super-streamlined design.
Download the Creative Bloq app for iOS
Download the Creative Bloq app for Android
