Copyright /FILM
You better sit down so HUNTR/X can show you how it's done ... in about half a decade. "KPop Demon Hunters" has cemented itself as the biggest pop culture phenomenon of 2025. It's a force so powerful that it seemingly made Netflix do the unthinkable and restart talks with AMC Theaters to screen its movies, on top of breaking box office records, Netflix viewership records, and even decades-old Billboard records alike. A sequel was a no-brainer, with the only thing missing being a finalized deal between Netflix and Sony (which owns the rights to the property). Now, however, Bloomberg is reporting that such a deal has finally been made. So, the good news is that HUNTR/X is doing a reunion tour. The bad news is that "KPop Demon Hunters 2" will take a while, with the sequel reportedly being eyed for a 2029 release. Yes, that's right, four years after the premiere of the original movie, meaning this will be the second "KPop Demon Hunters" film to arrive in the same year as a James Cameron "Avatar" sequel. For now, there's no word yet on whether "Kpop Demon Hunters" directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans will return for the follow-up, nor any updates on what to expect in terms of the film's cast. "There are always side stories, and there are things we've thought of while making this one," Kang explained earlier this year with regard to a potential sequel. "There are a lot of questions that are answered but not fully. I think there are a lot of pockets that we can explore." While neither Netflix nor Sony has commented on this news just yet, it's no mystery why "KPop Demon Hunters 2" is going to take some time. Animation in general takes extra time, of course, but this is still a Sony Pictures Animation production via Sony Pictures Imageworks. This is the same studio that is currently doing VFX work on such massive films as "Project Hail Mary" and the next live-action "Spider-Man" movie, along with animation on 2026's animated basketball movie "Goat." Of course, Imageworks is also responsible for a little movie titled "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse." You know, the movie that was originally meant to be released in March of 2024 before being delayed twice and getting a June 2027 release date. And since that film is obviously a huge priority for Sony, there's simply no way Imageworks animators can work on the "Spider-Verse" and "KPop Demon Hunters" sequels simultaneously. Indeed, given that they're already deep into production on the next "Spider-Verse" installment, 2029 is probably the absolute earliest they could feasibly finish another HUNTR/X adventure. That's to say nothing of how severely underpaid and overworked Sony's animators reportedly are, much less how many times they have to rework the same movie to please their executive overlords. This is really a symptom of a larger issue plaguing the animation industry (and also the VFX industry), one that Japanese anime has been dealing with for years. There is simply a shortage of animation studios and available animators, particularly for a project this size. Sony is not going to merely hand over this sequel to another studio, and Netflix does not have the in-house capacity to handle a venture of this size, so fans will have to wait until 2029.
