Mira and/or Zoey
Given her dual identity and her connection to Jinu, Rumi was the perfect focal point for the first film. But Mira and Zoey clearly have more to offer than just being supporting characters. If Rumi’s main arc has more or less finished, it’s time to let a new member of Huntrix take the lead.
Obviously, a shift in focus will change the balance of the story, as Mira and Zoey have very different personalities than Rumi. But that could allow KPop Demon Hunters 2 to have a new tone. Will we get a darker story, with Mira coming to grips with her band’s even greater fame? Will Zoey allow her exuberance to get the best of her, forcing her to clean up a mess she didn’t intend to make? Whatever the direction, we’d love to see Zoey and Mira become more than just backup singers.
The Other Acts
Part of KPop Demon Hunters‘s magic stemmed from its ability to work a high-stakes spiritual battle into the world of pop music competition. To pull off something on such a cosmic scale, Kang and Appelhans had to narrow their focus to just two acts, Huntrix and the Saja Boys. They could only gesture toward the existence of other KPop performers.
The sequel is the perfect time to let us see (and hear!) some other groups in the KPop Demon Hunters universe. Maybe we see Huntrix go on tour with an act that has nothing to do with the demon hunting side of things, leading to new hijinks. What if they get paired with a traditionalist act who wants to dethrone Huntrix while rejecting Rumi’s new sympathy for demons? There’s clearly a lot of room to expand in this universe.
No More (But No Less!) Bobby
Voiced by Ken Jeong, Huntrix’s nervous manager Bobby was a highlight of the first film. He always brought welcome comic relief to the story, and stole every scene he was in. However, animated films have a bad habit of taking a likable side character and pushing them to the forefront in the sequel (see: Mater in the Cars movies and Olaf in Frozen).
KPop Demon Hunters 2 cannot do that with Bobby. They have a perfectly good side character already, one who works great with less than ten minutes of screen time. Putting more attention on Bobby not only takes up space that could be used for other acts or Rumi’s mother, but it also stretches Bobby beyond his limits, turning him from a welcome distraction and into an annoyance.
