Maggie Kang, creator and co-director of Netflix animation KPop Demon Hunters, has opened up about the behind-the-scenes of the project's creation.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, and moving to Toronto as a child, Kang shared that after a decade of working in Hollywood, she wanted to create something close to her culture, and the country's demonology was the first thing that caught her attention.
"So the idea of demons naturally led to demon hunters, a group of really incredible women who fight demons; but the idea needed something else, so I started to think about other Korean things, and K-pop was added in," Kang explained.
She explained that after the K-pop twist, the project just naturally transformed into something spectacular and musical.
Furthermore, she also credited k-pop industry as a whole for being a "huge selling point for the movie".
Kang also explained how "mudang", Korean shamans, have been using music to ward off evil for hundreds of years, so it was a natural step that the lady hunters would use music to fight off the demons.
She also highlighted how important it was for her to make the lead strong Korean women, admitting, "I saw an opportunity with our female characters to show a different kind of female superhero that I felt like I wasn't seeing – messy and silly and funny, women who eat a lot and are just real and have struggles and flaws."
Kang previously shared hopes for a sequel but did not share any details on the topic.
Furthermore, she mentioned a short film is in the works, although it is being created within a training programme, so is not led creatively by her.
Produced by Sony Animation for Netflix, KPop Demon Hunters has become the streamer's most watched original title ever.
Its track Golden from the soundtrack has topped the US Billboard and UK charts for several weeks.