KPop Demon Hunters’ New Animated Short Should Start a New Trend Before the Sequel

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Originally created by Sony Pictures Animation, KPop Demon Hunters ended up on Netflix after Sony wasn’t sure it would do well in theaters. This turned out to be a big mistake for Sony, but a huge win for Netflix, as the animated musical became a massive hit when it premiered in 2025. To take advantage of the film’s popularity and catchy songs, Netflix did something unusual: they organized sing-along showings in actual movie theaters, combining the convenience of streaming with the excitement of a theatrical event. Not surprisingly, because of the film’s huge success, Netflix has officially approved a sequel and is also planning several spinoffs to expand the story and world of KPop Demon Hunters.

The team behind KPop Demon Hunters is dedicated to making the sequel as impressive as the first, but that means fans will have to wait until 2029 for it. This long gap is a concern because the K-pop world moves quickly, and the series could lose its popularity. Luckily, a recent promotion with McDonald’s might offer a solution. Netflix created short animated videos featuring the main characters—Rumi (voiced by Arden Cho), Mira (voiced by May Hong), and Zoey (voiced by Ji-young Yoo)—visiting McDonald’s as part of a “Battle for the Fans” event. Although these videos are essentially ads, they show how short, new stories can keep fans engaged between movies.

KPop Demon Hunters Should Release Short Films to Keep the Franchise Alive

Short, animated videos are a great way for brands to stay relevant without the huge expense of making a full-length movie or show. Studios can create quick, standalone scenes focusing on characters or small details of their world to keep fans interested between major releases. This approach also lets creators reuse existing digital materials and settings, reducing production costs and giving the community new content to discuss and share.

Short-form videos could be really helpful for a franchise like KPop Demon Hunters, which depends on the engaging personalities of its stars. These videos could show what the characters are like behind the scenes – things like daily life or training sessions. We saw a glimpse of this with The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, which gave fans a personal look at Miles Morales’s inner thoughts while they waited for the next installment. However, this approach hasn’t become common practice yet, even though it’s a great way to keep a series relevant and in people’s minds.

The long wait for KPop Demon Hunters 2 isn’t unusual – it’s becoming typical for big-budget movies and TV shows. Avatar: The Way of Water came out thirteen years after the first Avatar, which is a huge gap – long enough for other entire movie series to start and finish. We’re seeing this in television too, with popular shows now often taking two years or more between seasons. This is because making these projects depends on when big stars, filming locations, and special effects teams are available. Since these long production times seem unavoidable, releasing short, standalone scenes – focusing on minor characters, small details, or world-building moments that didn’t make the final cut – is a smart move. It’s relatively cheap to produce, keeps fans engaged, and gives the creative team a chance to work on something smaller without a lot of pressure.

DC Studios is experimenting with a similar strategy with Krypto Saves the Day!, a series of animated shorts for YouTube. These shorts, launching after the Superman movie in 2025, star Krypto, Supergirl (played by Milly Alcock)’s super-powered dog, in lighthearted, non-canonical adventures. They’re designed to connect the Superman and Supergirl storylines leading up to the Supergirl movie release on June 26, 2026. The shorts are inexpensive to produce, have a different feel than the main films, and are a way to keep Krypto relevant between big movie releases without needing a large-scale production. A similar approach would be easier to implement for KPop Demon Hunters because that franchise already has an established animation process and voice actors.

KPop Demon Hunters is currently available to stream on Netflix.

Should more animated movie series release short films between their big sequels? Let us know what you think in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!

https://comicbook.com/movies/list/5-questions-we-really-need-to-see-answered-in-kpop-demon-hunters-2/embed/#

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2026-04-10 20:12