‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Creator Maggie Kang on the Global Hit No One Saw Coming

2026-02-20

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“KPop Demon Hunters” is the brainchild of Korean-Canadian animator Maggie Kang. It’s Netflix’s biggest-ever film and follows Rumi, Mira and Zoey, members of the girl band Huntrix, as they battle to save the world from dark forces. As you’ll hear, Kang grew up loving Korean pop music long before it was globally cool and forged a Hollywood career on films including “The Lego Ninjago Movie” and “Kung Fu Panda 3.” In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Kang explains how she had always hoped a story about Korea would...

As you’ll hear, Kang grew up loving Korean pop music long before it was globally cool and forged a Hollywood career on films including “The Lego Ninjago Movie” and “Kung Fu Panda 3.” In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Kang explains how she had always hoped a story about Korea would one day come her way. But it never did, so she came up with her own.

Kang is in the middle of a life-changing moment. Her movie has already scored wins at the Golden Globes and the Grammys, and now all eyes are on the Oscars. The extraordinary thing is that no one expected “KPop Demon Hunters” to be such a smash hit. Husain asks Kang what it’s been like adjusting to all the attention, and of course whether there’s a sequel in the works.

03:06 - “A global phenomenon”
04:17 - The screaming fans
05:01 - The movie theater screenings
06:49 - Pitching “KPop Demon Hunters”
09:27 - Living between two cultures
12:04 - Growing up as an “outsider”
16:34 - Kang’s first animation book
17:16 - “I liked to draw”
18:21 - Recording the voiceover, over and over
20:11 - The story of “Golden”
21:39 - Rumi, Mira and Zoey in “Golden”
23:00 - Waiting for “the tingles”
25:25 - “We kinda worried it was a little cheesy”
27:27 - Helping the world find Korean culture
29:30 - Choosing the title for a “kooky” movie
34:20 - A message from Kang to the fans
34:48 - “There’s a sequel, surely?”
35:14 - Live action “KPop Demon Hunters”?
37:01 - “I’m still very grounded”
37:22 - Diving back into the sequel?
38:00 - “Wow! You are going to the Oscars!”