Why KPop Demon Hunters will not be adapted into live-action

The creator of the biggest success in Netflix history is opposed to it.

A priori, we are only beginning to see the KPop Demon Hunters on our screens.

Given the worldwide success of the animated film, Netflix should launch a vast license around the three singers/fighters, in order to ride the success of what is the platform’s biggest success to date.

But if there’s one thing we won’t see, it’s Mira, Rumi and Zoey in the flesh. No question of seeing KPop Demon Hunters go from cartoon to live action.

Maggie Kang, the creator, told the BBC that she categorically refused any live action adaptation. And she explains:

“There are so many elements of tone and humor that are made for animation. It’s really hard to imagine these characters in a live-action world. That would be too anchored in reality. For me, that wouldn’t work.”

This is a very clear position.

Especially since alongside the Netflix tidal wave, KPop Demon Hunters exploded the musical charts of the Billboard charts, with four titles simultaneously in the top 10 of the Hot 100 – a historic first. And the girls from the real/fake group Huntr/x have already started singing live.

But co-director Chris Appelhans shares the same position as his comrade:

“One of the great pleasures of animation is creating characters with impossible qualities,” he confides. “Rumi can be a goofy comedian, sing, do a spinning kick a second later, then fall from the sky. That’s the magic of animation.”

And to add: “I remember many live-action anime adaptations, and most of the time it seems stuck, breathless.”

In short, if KPop Demon Hunters will certainly have a sequel and variations, the saga should not be – for the moment – remade with real actresses.