KPop Demon Hunters Producers Want a Spider-Verse Style Expansion in Sequel
Rumi is going to follow the lead of Miles Morales for its follow-up.
Perhaps even more than its excellent voice acting or its double platinum soundtrack, KPop Demon Hunters is special because of its animation. Distributed by Netflix by produced by Sony Animation, KPop Demon Hunters uses the same engine as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, giving it a dynamism that matches its high mythology story and its spectacular musical numbers.
As they start devising a sequel to KPop Demon Hunters, producers hope to follow Spider-Verse in a different way. According to Sony Animation heads Kristine Belson and Damien de Froberville, they want to expand the world in the same way that Beyond the Spider-Verse went even bigger than its predecessor. “It’s just like Spider-Verse,” de Froberville said of KPop Demon Hunters to Hollywood Reporter. “The world is so rich — the world of the demons and the pop star [element], what happened to Jinu. There’s so much we could expand into.”
That expansive approach is the exact opposite of what directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans did with KPop Demon Hunters. Working from a screenplay they co-wrote with Danya Jimenez and Hannah McMechan, Kang and Appelhans focus narrowly on not just the vocal trio Huntrix, but specifically lead singer Rumi (Arden Cho). Raised after her mother’s death by the hunter Celine (Yunjin Kim), Rumi has been taught that all demons deserve death, a belief shared by her bandmates Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo). However, Rumi herself is a half demon, a secret that becomes harder to hide as they approach the Golden Honmoon, the moment that could allow humans to banish all demons forever.
That narrow focus on Rumi’s struggle and her attraction to Jinu, the former human turned demon who leads competing group the Soja Boys, allows viewers to stay engaged with the story without being overwhelmed by its world-building.
But de Froberville is right: there’s a lot to unpack in the world of KPop Demon Hunters. Most obvious is the tradition of demon hunting and the demon’s ruler Gwi-Ma (Lee Byung-hun). The movie gives just enough backstory to Gwi-Ma and the demons to make Rumi and Jinu complex characters, but we don’t really know much about how demons came to be so hated. And then there’s the issue of Rumi’s parents and Celine, as the film only gestures toward their story or the history of hunters.
Beyond just the potential for storytelling, Belson and de Froberville can also look at the success of Across the Spider-Verse for inspiration. That movie left fans not only wanting more of protagonist Miles Morales, but also more of the new characters it introduced, especially Hobie Brown a.k.a. Spider-Punk.
Of course, that leads to a problem that Belson and de Froberville will have to face, the same one plaguing Spider-Verse. It takes a long, long time to make these animated movies, and fans get impatient. When Hollywood Reporter observed that even 2029 seemed too early for a sequel, Belson agreed. However, she did assure fans that directors Kang and Appelhans will get right to work on it… as soon as the Oscar campaign is done. “There’s been a lot to tend to in terms of the award campaign,” Belson admitted.
Which is another way that KPop Demon Hunters follows the critically-adored Spider-Verse movies. And if awards hype is what needs to happen to get a sequel, for both Kpop Demon Hunters and Spider-Verse, then it’s all worth it.
KPop Demon Hunters is now streaming on Netflix.