I'm So Glad KPop Demon Hunters' Original Plan Didn't Happen

The original plans for KPop Demon Hunters were so very different. Looking back, it’s pretty staggering to see why Sony missed out on the biggest film of 2025; KPop Demon Hunters dominated the year for Netflix, even netting Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. Now, in the buildup to the film’s one-year anniversary, director Maggie Kang is doing something of a “hurrah tour” as she celebrates its success and drops vague hints about KPop Demon Hunters 2, which is set to release in 2029.

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Kang has also revealed the much darker version of KPop Demon Hunters that was originally planned. According to Kang, Sony started development in 2018, and the first version was “dark, adult and very violent.” Six months into pre-production, Sony Pictures Animation President Kristine Belson said she thought the film had “franchise potential” and recommended KPop Demon Hunters be reworked into a more traditional, family-friendly film. The rest, as they say, is history.

KPop Demon Hunters’ Original Version Could Still Have Been a Good Film

Looking back, there may be a self-conscious nod to Kang’s original KPop Demon Hunters in the film itself. In one memorable scene, the Huntr/x girls dress in combat leathers as they prepare to “kill Saja.” It’s quickly subverted into comedy, because the impractical leathers stick to the ball slide they’re forced to go down, and it now feels somewhat meta. In that moment, we’re seeing the Demon Hunters as they could have been; and what we actually got is, quite clearly, so much better. The scene takes on a whole new meaning after Kang’s comments.

At the same time, though, the original KPop Demon Hunters may well have still been a great film. The adult animation space is host to some absolute classics, especially on Netflix; think Arcane, Castlevania, and Devil May Cry. It’s easy to see how elements of this version could have played out, with the demons played for horror, the Saja Boys battling Huntr/x in brutal head-to-head combat, and perhaps a more intense relationship between Rumi and Jinu. This could still have been a phenomenal movie, and Castlevania‘s example suggests it could easily have still become a franchise. It’s almost intriguing to imagine a “what if” scenario.

The Final Version of KPop Demon Hunters Is So Much Better

Kristine Belson was clearly right, though. KPop Demon Hunters is an animated masterpiece, and no “what if” could ever match what we actually got. Kang subsequently partnered with Chris Appelhans, and the two clearly shared the same vision: a fantasy epic with deep characterization that’s also true to Korean mythology. The result was absolutely breathtaking, with the KPop music enhancing the film in the best possible way. There’s a sense in which KPop Demon Hunters feels like old-school Disney, where the songs are seamlessly integrated into the character arcs.

It’s impossible to overstate how successful KPop Demon Hunters has been. It’s Netflix’s most-watched movie ever, and became the first Netflix title to break 300 million views. The soundtrack was a hit on the Billboard 200, generating more than 3 billion global streams by August last year, and Huntr/x became one of Spotify’s biggest acts. Netflix has struck high-profile franchise partnership that should mean we have a steady stream of new KPop Demon Hunters releases to keep things running until the sequel is ready, and there’s even a global tour.

For Netflix, the timing couldn’t possibly have been better. Stranger Things Season 5 brought the streaming giant’s flagship TV show to an end, leaving a $1 billion gap in Netflix’s budgets. KPop Demon Hunters served as a welcome reminder there’s so much more to Netflix than just Stranger Things, creating so many new opportunities and partnerships. And there can be absolutely no doubt the “dark, adult and very violent” version would have been significantly smaller.

It also wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good. KPop Demon Hunters is a rare thing; an animated masterpiece that’s pretty much impossible to improve. That’s why the film has a 91% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a staggering 99% audience score. It’s well-made, wonderful artistic, and deeply loved by viewers. Kang’s original idea may well have still been good, but there’s absolutely no way it would have been preferable, and I’m so glad Kristine Belson and Maggie Kang made that call. Even if Belson’s confidence does make it rather amazing to realize Sony made this part of their Netflix deal, letting the streamer benefit from their masterpiece.

What do you think of the much darker iteration of KPop Demon Hunters that almost became a reality? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!