Fan theories may play a surprising role in KPop Demon Hunters 2. Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters became one of 2025’s biggest surprise hits, with its infectious blend of action fantasy and K-pop songwriting lovable enough to make it a bona fide global sensation.
One of 2025’s best movies may have only been released in June, but the story is already set to continue. The streaming platform is officially working on a sequel, although no release date is set yet. The follow-up was announced at the end of August following discussions between Sony and Netflix.
ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan recently interviewed Chris Appelhans and Maggie Kang, who helmed the first film and are assumed to direct the second installment. While details on the sequel are under wraps, the directing duo was asked if they have a favorite fan theory that they have read. They answered, with a surprising tease about how theories might impact the sequel.
Chris Appelhans: Oh gosh. There was this one fan theory. I mean, it might’ve been that it was 4:00 AM and I was still on TikTok, but I got all emotional reading it.
Maggie Kang: Really?
Chris Appelhans: It wasn’t a fan. It was a fan fiction where they were actually, Rumi dies on Juju, and the finale is this poetic hallucination. It was like her spirit showed up or something. Whoever came up with it, it was very moving. It was like somebody copied and pasted it into a TikTok comment. It’s this long ass paragraph. And I was reading, like [miming wiping tears from his eyes] “What’s happening? I need to go to bed.”
Maggie Kang: Yeah, I read that too. That’s pretty crazy. There’s a few… don’t want to talk about some of them [because it’s] like, “Ooh I’m gonna use these.” But there’s some ones that I find interesting.
I think it’s also because there’s a lot of reuse of assets that happen, like characters and props, and a lot of fans are making these connections like, “Oh, this person is this person,” or “This prop is this,” and it’s fun to see that, but we’re like, “Oh, that was really just a budgetary thing.” I was like, “Oh, that’s cool. Yeah, we did that purposely.”
As is clear from its success, KPop Demon Hunters has found a massive audience, reaching viewers of all ages with its musical fantasy story. Naturally, theories and fan fiction stories about HUNTR/X quickly become a big part of this IP beyond Netflix.
With that in mind, the directors’ comments don’t necessarily mean that the story will, in general, be dictated heavily by theories or fan fiction from the audience. If anything, theories that naturally align with the creative team’s overall vision for the world they have created could help inspire the writers’ own choices.
It’s also key to take into account that, even if a sequel wasn’t always planned, the creators likely had ideas in mind for Rumi, Mira, and Zoey beyond the events of the first film. Still, it’s fun to imagine that audience members, key to the franchise’s success, may have some impact on its future stories.
From Appelhans and Kang’s comments, it’s clear that they are appreciating their audience and keeping up with what viewers are saying and theorizing. It will definitely be fascinating to see if the sequel takes some theories into the next story.
As the KPop Demon Hunters cast return for the next film, it will also be fun to see how the creators expand this franchise and where they will take the iconic trio. Hopefully, more story details on KPop Demon Hunters 2 will emerge sooner rather than later.
KPop Demon Hunters is streaming on Netflix.
- Release Date
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June 20, 2025
- Runtime
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96 minutes
- Director
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Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang
- Writers
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Hannah McMechan, Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang, Danya Jimenez
