HUNTR/X is coming back: Netflix confirms KPop Demon Hunters sequel with Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans returning

Netflix on Thursday announced thatKPop Demon Huntersis getting a sequel, with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans returning to write and direct.

The announcement arrives days before the original film heads into the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday with two nominations, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden.”
Released in June 2025, KPop Demon Hunters became Netflix’s most-watched title of all time, amassing more than 500 million views worldwide.

The scale of that number becomes clearer with context.

In the second half of 2025 alone, the film accumulated 481.6 million views, a figure that beat the combined total of the three previous films to lead Netflix’s biannual charts.

In the United States, the film racked up 20.5 billion viewing minutes, making it the most-streamed movie of 2025, and it charted on Nielsen’s Streaming Top 10 for 25 consecutive weeks.

Its music matched its viewership.

The OST became the first film soundtrack to place four songs simultaneously in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and “Golden” became the first K-pop song to win a Grammy Award.

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The animated film follows HUNTR/X, a K-pop trio whose members secretly use their music to protect humanity from monsters emerging from the underworld, blending music, supernatural fantasy and Korean folklore.

While details remain slim, it has been confirmed that Kang and Appelhans will return for the sequel, which also marks the first project for the pair out of a just-signed exclusive multi-year writing and directing deal across animation at Netflix.

Sony Pictures Animation, which produced the original, will produce the follow-up as well.

For Kang, returning to this world carries personal meaning.

She said: “I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters.

There’s so much more to this world we have built and I’m excited to show you.

This is only the beginning.”
Appelhans added: “These characters are like family to us, their world has become our second home.

We’re excited to write their next chapter, challenge them and watch them evolve, and continue pushing the boundaries of how music, animation and story can come together.”
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