KPop Demon Hunters was the surprise animation hit of 2025. Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans’ movie has become a global cultural phenomenon. It’s the most-watched movie ever on Netflix, and it’s now vying with Disney’s Zootopia 2 for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
Despite the ostensibly dark theme (the movie’s about hunting demons, after all), the action adventure has a light, upbeat tone overall with its high-energy pop soundtrack and choreography and playful humour. But could the KPop Demon Hunters sequel take things in a much darker direction?
KPop Demon Hunters saw the girl band HUNTR/X battle to protect humanity using music and dance to save the world from the demonic Saja Boys. While the story has a closure, Arden Cho, May Hong, and Ji-young Yoo, the voice actors behind the trio of Rumi, Mira and Zoey, have revealed their hopes for the sequel.
In an interview with Collider, Arden said she believed that the first movie left many questions to explore, including Rumi’s relationship with her mentor, Celine (she also revealed that she originally read for the character of Celine), potentially introducing more mature themes.
Arden said she’d like the sequel to explore whether there are other half-demons like Rumi who the singer could come into contact with. “We think she’s the only one, but she can’t possibly be,” the actor said.
She added: “Does Celine accept Rumi? We don’t know. Does she have a family? We don’t know. But we do know she has her girls; she has her friends.”
Most intriguingly, the trio also see potential to delve into past generations of demon hunters. For Ji-young, that could mean going back to the time of Korea’s Joseon dynasty (1392-1897). That would allow a sequel, or prequel, to explore pansori, a traditional form of Korean musical storytelling that began in the 17th century.
“I love Pansori, the traditional Korean singing. Ejae does her spin on that in the intro to the movie when you hear her almost wailing vocal, so I would love to see ancient dynastic Korea,” she said.
But Ji-young’s boldest idea for a KPop Demon Hunters sequel is that it could take place during the Japanese rule of Korea between 1910 and the end of World War II. That was a period of that saw mass killings and discriminatory practices against the Korean population, including the prohibition of Korean names and language.
“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.
We don’t know if Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans are also considering these ideas for, but I feel that the KPop Demon Hunters sequel does need a twist on the formula despite the original movie’s massive success. A darker movie exploring more mature themes could appeal to older viewers and provide a chance to build more lore around the KPDH world while continuing to explore Korean culture and history.
We’ll have to wait quite a while to find out. A KPop Demon Hunters sequel is tentatively expected for 2029. If you’re already getting impatient, take a look at the KPop Demon Hunters merchandise below, or create your own tribute with our KPop Demon Hunters art tutorial.
Also check out the KPop Demon Hunters art book.