A continuation of Netflix’s smash hit KPop Demon Hunters may be coming much sooner than anyone expected. The fantasy musical blockbuster following the K-pop girl group Huntr/x, moonlighting as demon hunters, has surpᴀssed all expectations, topping musical charts and continuing to break viewership records on Netflix.

This naturally led to an official KPop Demon Hunters sequel entering development. However, a KPop Demon Hunters short film тιтled Debut: A KPop Demon Hunters Story was just filed by the MPA Classification and Rating Administration, meaning we may see a prequel very soon. The short has been rated PG.

KPop Demon Hunters has reached 300 million views on Netflix, led an extremely successful weekend-long box office run, and is holding on to a 95% critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It is a likely frontrunner for the Best Animated Feature award at the forthcoming Oscars ceremony, and continues to dominate pop culture as a certified global phenomenon.

What Debut: A KPop Demon Hunters’ Story Means For The Franchise

ᴀssuming that the budding KPop Demon Hunters’ franchise is releasing this short film in the near future, it will make it that much more possible for the property to maintain its already remarkable momentum while fans await a proper sequel. In contrast, the “debut” тιтle suggests that the short film is a prequel focusing on Huntr/x’s professional debut.

The short was potentially reworked from elements cut from the feature film, explaining its quick turnaround. It could also be screened ahead of one of Netflix’s upcoming limited theatrical releases (which would likely result in those movies earning some extra money from people paying only to see KPop Demon Hunters).

Depending on the timeline, this also means that KPop Demon Hunters could be a contender for Best Animated Short at the Oscars in 2026. It is a certainty that fans will be thrilled to see any new content featuring Huntr/x, and that the release of Debut will keep people excited about KPop Demon Hunters and allow its worldwide domination to continue.

Our Take On Debut: A KPop Demon Hunters Story

We have spent a lot of time discussing what questions are left for KPop Demon Hunters 2 to answer following KPop Demon Hunters’ ending, as the world-building could benefit from another movie, and there are still many directions left for the story to go. Thus, a short film is the perfect format to explore Huntr/x’s past rather than their future.

They can’t do too much with Rumi (Arden Cho), Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), and Mira (May Hong) in this space when Rumi’s demon heritage must remain a secret, and fans are too invested in Huntr/x to do a feature all about the previous generation of hunters. Thus, the KPop Demon Hunters short is probably going to be a perfect, self-contained, lighthearted outing.