Daniel Dae Kim Reacts to ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Frenzy: ‘Surprised in the Best of Ways’

Daniel Dae Kim
Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images for Prime Video

Everything’s coming up KPop Demon Hunters. The Netflix animated musical film was released in June and became the sensation of the summer for its array of bops, top-notch animation, comedy, and story strength.

The movie follows Huntr/x, a group of — you guessed it — K-pop-singing demon hunters who use their music to maintain a barrier against the creatures that used to prey on humankind… until one begins losing her voice due to a dark secret, just as the demon leader forms a boy band group to combat them and unleash his minions upon the world once more.

The reception to the film has been overwhelmingly positive, and actor Daniel Dae Kim, who voiced a character in the film and is also bringing his own bit of Korean storytelling to the small screen soon with the spy thriller Butterfly, was delighted to see its success.

“Anytime you do a project, when it hits the culture in a way that KPop Demon Hunters has, you can’t help but be surprised,” he told TV Insider while discussing Butterfly (see more on that right here). “I never expect my projects to do what that movie has done, and so I’m surprised in the best of ways.”

Continued Kim, “I’m really happy for the directors and the creative team because they worked really hard on it, and I’m also happy that it’s just one more piece of evidence that Korean culture is traveling and that there is now a broader acceptance of who we can see as heroes and what kind of stories that we can tell, and the fact that you have like eight, nine, 10 year olds singing all of the songs tells me that the future looks bright.”

KPop Demon Hunters, Netflix

Butterfly, series premiere, August 13, Amazon Prime Video