Yeon Sangho, the creator of ‘Hellbound’, details plans for Season 2

Netflix’s latest genre offering from Korea, dark sci-fi thriller “Hellbound,” doesn’t waste any time in getting straight to the action. In the first minutes of the pilot, giant, billowing demons — think The Hulk meets an evil Michelin Man — erupt into the heart of Seoul to torture and scorch to death one of the damned members of the public.

It is literally a damnation. In an alternate reality, angels will appear before people who have done wrong to warn them about their imminent death. Demons will arrive on Earth in order to impose a brutal death sentence. The New Truth is a cult-like group that supports the supernatural arbiters justice led by Jeong Jin-soo.

“Hellbound”Yeon Sangho is perhaps best-known for his zombie thrillers. “Train to Busan”(2016) “Peninsula” (2020). The former live-action film — starring Gong Yoo as a father shepherding his daughter to safety amid a zombie apocalypse — was preceded by animated prequel “Seoul Station”The same year, the book was also published.

Similarly, “Hellbound”It began as a 2-part animated film, then was extended to become a webtoon for Naver’s Korean digital platform. This was a useful proof of concept for a live action series, which was eventually commissioned by Netflix. The current season of the show is the streamer’s top non-English language series globallyJust ahead of that OtherKorean TV sensation “Squid Game”In third place

In an interview with VarietyYeon, who is accompanied by a translator from Netflix, discusses the origins. “Hellbound,”He teases a third installment of his zombie trilogy and plans to continue with season 2. “Train to Busan” “Peninsula.”

Please tell me about the process involved in converting the webtoon and animated film into a live-action production.

The first animation was made in 2002. The webtoon began two years later on Naver with Choi Kyu Seok as co-creator. The process of creating and planning the cartoon was a very exciting one. “Hellbound,”We did discuss the possibility of creating a live-action series. But, the webtoons began. [stream]on the platform, as I was actually filming the film “Peninsula.”We had only been talking about it before. [a live-action series], but after [the webtoon]When I first started on the platform and it was a great platform, Netflix began to talk with me about creating a live series.

“Hellbound”It is an intriguing meditation on the nature of good and evil. Is there any societal or local commentary? What was your personal resonance?

As Kyu-Seok, my partner, and I planned and thought about the story and created the process, we imagined a universe where supernatural things could happen. So [there are]Demonstrations and prophecies were followed by thoughts about what would happen in the supernatural or created world. We brainstormed every idea we could think of and then tried to select from them, thinking. “What can we bring together to create into a single storyline?”You see the characters in “Hellbound”They are grounded. They’re people you see in the real world. We wanted to ensure that nothing in this universe reminded you of what happened in real life. These two methods were used to create a world that felt real and convincing. It was almost as easy as a simulation.

The show features a variety of protagonists. At half-way, we see a significant time jump, during which we follow a new protagonist. Was this your reasoning?

We set out to create a world similar to hell and that is created by people who cannot tolerate uncertainty. This story was also meant to demonstrate how society looks when there are multiple convictions. To do this, we had to have several characters with multiple convictions. That’s how I came about having a number of protagonists.

What do you think of the similarities to? “Squid Game,”However misguided they may seem, They were both produced within months of each others and touch on morality in a very interesting way.

Personal enjoyment was what I had “Squid Game”I enjoyed it very much. The show’s vision, which was a genre drama, felt very real to me. There were many points that I could relate to. Both shows have entertainment elements. And as for where those points lie within the show, it’s all different. That’s my opinion. “Squid Game”It was able resonate with many people. Also there’s that entertainment factor of drawing from childhood games as well. I agree. “Hellbound”These are also pieces that encourage active conversation between the audience. I think that’s where both of their entertainment factors comes from.

Some high-level, Korean-based genre TV projects have really made an international impact in the last year. Is there a reason for this trend towards genre programming?

Influencing one another is a way to develop culture. Hong Kong movies were very popular when I was younger in Asia. There were many genres, including noir, and some more witty ones. Japanese animation is also very popular in Korea. I was heavily influenced as a child by the great creativity from other countries. I believe this is what made me the creator I am today. As for the way that Korean content is so well received and loved by global audiences, I think it’s just that the level of trust that Korean content has gained in the past has accumulated one by one and layer by layer and it has hit a certain point where it’s now become an explosive impetus. It feels like we are riding the wave.

You’ve talked about wanting to expand your storytelling into a “Yeoniverse”-type world. This could be possible with Netflix in the near future. What are your plans for season two of Netflix? “Hellbound”?

I will say that it’s true, the process of working with Netflix was very enjoyable on my end. They very much agreed to and related to my creative vision, but they also created an environment where I didn’t have to think about anything else aside from focusing on my creativity in terms of distribution or when or how to release the series. Because “Hellbound” is based on the original webtoons, my partner Choi Kyu-Seok and I have decided that the story afterwards will be told first through the webtoon and, as for whether we would want to turn that into another live-action series, that’s something that we will need further discussion on. We have just released the webtoons. “Hellbound” Season 1 and so we didn’t have any time to discuss that issue with Netflix. This is an issue that we should have more discussion about.

“Peninsula”It was a huge success in Korea and internationally last year. Are you planning to make the zombie series a trilogy with a third live action installment?

While I think the zombie genre is quite traditional, it can also be very modern depending on how you approach it. Personally, I have some ideas for what might happen next. “Peninsula.” But as for whether I will create that into a film, it’s something that I do want to do. However, because there are a lot of productions that I’m working on currently, I’m thinking that I have to sort of organize the ideas and work on what I have to work on. Up until now I have been someone who’s been an individual creator. But these days I’m thinking that maybe I need to come up with a system in order to really bring all of my creative visions to life.

How about a TV-adaptation for something like “Train to Busan”? Are you thinking of doing that?

There are a lot of ideas I’ve been tossing around but I personally think that for “Train to Busan,”It would be great to see it continue as a series of films. The circumstances in Korea are not favorable for creating a series using Korean visuals. “Train to Busan” the film and also, you know, I have to work with … the distributor that we started on the original film as well. A film series is the best option, taking all these conditions into account.

This would be a specific example. “Train to Busan”A film or video within the “Train to Busan” “Peninsula” universe?

I would say that — in terms of that universe — they’ll all become related together. “Peninsula”A post-apocalyptic film focusing on car chases. The story that I’m thinking about after that would be closer to “Train to Busan,”The story will be told in a very small space. That’s something that I have in mind currently. So in terms of the genre, you could say that it’s between “Train to Busan” “Peninsula.”