When powerful leaders take death into their own hands to instill fear among the masses,
Death itself pushes back and creates a New Truth!
Ever since its inception in 2021, Hellbound bound us to a hellish journey into the pit fires of death, cult organizations, and mysterious supernatural creatures, culminating into one of the best South Korean dark fantasy horror series. In fact, it was one of the most-watched non-English series on Netflix, tailing behind Squid Game and All Of Us Are Dead. Hence, it was successful in gaining a 97% approval rating by Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews with an average rating of 7.90/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “Summoned by the devilish imagination of writer-director Yeon Sang-ho, Hellbound leverages its terrifying concept to thoughtfully explore human fallibility.”
Everything was radio-silent up until a TUDUM Event, where Netflix renewed a Season 2 for Hellbound in September 2022. It took at least a year for Netflix to announce its renewal for a second season putting the fans in a state of confusion on how a commendable show could end on a massive cliffhanger. This was followed by another round of silence before we got recent reviews on the development of Season 2.
So what caused the delay? What is the recent update every Hellbound fan is looming over? Are there any cast changes? And most importantly, when is Hellbound Season 2 coming on Netflix?
If you have been pondering these questions for a long time, look no further. We have answered them all for you here, so make sure you stay with us till the end.
Hellbound Season 2: What is the Recent Update?
For those of you who are clueless about the recent developments surrounding Hellbound Season 2 after the spectacular release of Season 1 back in 2021, on September 2022, Netflix announced a renewal for Hellbound Season 2 labeled “All Hell Breaks Loose Again.” Check it out yourself.
Well, well, it looks like the ‘resurrection’ theme will be the highlight of this season!
Thereafter there was absolute silence for several months, making us wonder about the future of the show. But we have an update that will lighten up your mood and provide clarity over when Hellbound Season 2 will reach us.
On 3rd August 2023, Netflix put ut at ease by announcing that Hellbound 2 is officially in production. Finally, we can make a better-affirmed prediction on its release date.
To make a better-informed prediction, let us view the release trajectory that Hellbound Season 1 followed. Filming for Hellbound began on September 17th, 2020, and came to an end on January 18th, 2021. A fourteen-month period was observed between the start of the filming date and its Netflix release. If we take the same time frame into consideration, it looks like Hellbound Season 2 will not reach Netflix in 2023 at all since production commenced only a few days ago.
Based on this, we predict the final release date of Hellbound Season 2 to be between late 2024 and early 2025 release! Sadly, the viewers need to sit tight and patiently wait for their beloved supernatural horror to return. Looks like it is going to be a while!
Hellbound Season 2: Why was the filming delayed?
Viewers are impatiently waiting on some answers from the production team surrounding the massive delay in filming for Hellbound Season 2, which is leading to an unnecessary lag in the release date. Looks like the answers to filming delays were genuine.
First off, there is a major cast change for Season 2. Yoo Ah is replaced by Sung Cheol for the lead role of Jung Jinsu. This development follows the confirmed arrest of Yoo-Ah by the South Korean police over his alleged illegal drug use. Recent updates show that he tested positive for illicit drugs, which breaches South Korea’s Narcotics Control Act rules. Before Soo was arrested, it was pre-supposed that filming for Hellbound Season 2 may have already begun. Following his sudden exit, they probably had to re-shoot the elaborate scenes with Sung Cheol. It is important to note that South Korean supernatural and horror series operate through a heavy production set which requires ample time and effort, so re-creating and filming may have taken a lot of time.
Another possible reason for the delay in filming may have been the after-effect of an announcement made by the creator of the show itself back in 2021 when Netflix renewed it for Season 2. Since it was based on the popular South Korean webtoon that goes by the same name, here is what the creators had to say about Season 2:
“Because “Hellbound” is based on the original webtoons, my partner Choi Kyu-Seok and I have decided that the story afterward 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. As you know, we have only just released “Hellbound” Season 1 and so we didn’t have any time to discuss that issue with Netflix. So I would say this is something we need further discussion on.”
So, it looks like the creators immersed in some elaborate digital art to structure Season 2 for quite a while before materializing them into scripts and filming them.
Another reason why there could have been a possible delay in the filming for Hellbound Season 2 is because the creators were bound to other important Netflix projects, such as an adaptation of Parasyte and a new zombie horror series.
But now that Season 2 is officially in production, we can expect new updates on characters, plotlines, and first looks in due course of time up until its release. Be sure to look into this space regularly for such updates.
Hellbound Season 2: Cast Changes and Who Will Return?
With the official initiation of production for Season 2, Hellbound has updated viewers on the major cast changes and a few new faces who have joined the bunch. Starting with the confirmed cast who will be reprising their roles for Season 2,
- Kim Hyun-joo
- Kim Shin-rok
- Lee Dong-hee
- Yang Ik-joon
- Lee Re
- Moon Geun-young
- Cho Dong-in
Netflix series HELLBOUND is coming back with Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Shin-rock, Lee Dong-hee, Yang Ik-june, and Lee Re. pic.twitter.com/OdzsMbKEln
— Golden (@netflixgolden) March 2, 2023
Moreover, the creators confirmed the cast promotion of Kim Shin Rok from a supporting role to the main cast for Hellbound Season 2.
Additionally, creators have confirmed two new faces joining the Hellbound family who are Yang Dong Geun and Im Sung Jae.
As we already know Yoo-Ah is being replaced by Sung Cheol for Season 2 following the former’s controversial arrest in South Korea recently.
Season 2 will again be directed by Yeon (Train to Busan and Peninsula) and co-written by Choi (creator of the celebrated webtoon Songgot).
Hellbound Season 2: Expected Plot
Although no official synopsis for Hellbound Season 2 has been released by the network, we can do the guesswork and say Season 2 will take charge from where Hellbound Season 1 left us- at the throes of a massive cliffhanger that can alter the whole direction upon which the series is based. Post the announcement for renewal, the creators revealed that they will be filling the ink into the webtoon digital copy first, and then materializing the plot for Season 2. Considering the production for Season 2 is already in the works, we can expect the webtoon entry to be complete.
If you are curious about what Hellbound is about and are impatient for Season 2 to come out, you can read the first six parts of the webtoon here. Beware, the scripts are written dangerously close to the ones drawn in the webtoon. If you do not want spoilers, we suggest you skip the webtoon and wait it out for Season 2.
The overview of the series reads, “People hear predictions on when they will die. When that time comes, a death angel appears in front of them and kills them.”
Let’s elaborate on this.
* Spoiler Alert*
Hellbound is a South Korean supernatural horror series that is shrouded in supernatural creatures, religious fanaticism, blind faith, and social order conjectures.
It follows events where mysterious supernatural creatures appear and take the so-called sinners to hell! The interesting development is observed when a church called The New Truth self-appoints themselves as condemners who feed the fear of individuals like dementors. Upon the mystical appearance of these supernatural creatures and their taking people to hell, The New Truth answers public prayers by saying that only the sinners from among the people are being punished by God and are being condemned to hell.
It is only through awareness, less indulgence, and conscious living can citizens escape this fate. To make matters more severe, they captured the act of sinners being condemned through recordings and then used these recordings on public forums to instill unbridled fear in the masses, which led them to blindly follow the path of Th New Truth. They even went as far as to pick out the sinners and set death decrees for them on when and where they would die.
An interesting branching of the sector from the main tree, The New Truth, was seen in the formation of a sub-cult called Arrowhead. They were an extremist, sin-punishing group that resorted to violent means to punish the so-called sinners. Basically, they decided to take matters into their own hands.
While The New Truth resorted to preventive methods to decree sinners, they never participated in curing them. In fact, they had no intention of curing them. All they wanted was unwavering power to make the masses shiver with a single sentence. They liked controlling and leading these blind people into the dark. Arrowhead, on the other hand, were self-proclaimed sin-washers. They take matters into their own hands to see if the supernatural creatures actually got through with punishing the sinners. Otherwise, they would do it themselves.
Although it is a fictional endeavor, the story is deeply rooted in the facade of a horror sequence. It also reflects real-world problems that we see in government politics. Either way, we can attest to the fact that Hellbound has made a spectacular entrance into the supernatural horror genre.
Before we dive deeper into what we can expect from Season 2, let us take a look at the episode run-down for Hellbound Season 1. This will give you a better grasp of the crux of the series and the premise on which Season 2 will pick up.
S1.E1 ∙ Episode #1.1
November 19, 2021
Horrified bystanders watch as otherworldly beasts chase down and kill a man in broad daylight. Jung Jinsu declares that only sinners are sent to hell.
S1.E2 ∙ Episode #1.2
November 19, 2021
The New Truth offers a sizable payment to Park Jungja, a condemned woman, in exchange for the right to live-broadcast the moment her fate is decided.
S1.E3 ∙ Episode #1.3
November 19, 2021
Addressing a stunned world, Jinsu preaches righteousness. Detective Jin Kyunghun searches for his missing daughter. The Arrowhead targets Min Hyejin.
S1.E4 ∙ Episode #1.4
November 19, 2021
Bae Youngjae follows his co-worker to a fishing dock, where he witnesses a terrifying sight. The Prophet Angel appears in an unthinkable place.
S1.E5 ∙ Episode #1.5
November 19, 2021
A despairing Youngjae tracks down a man who he thinks might have answers. The New Truth catches wind of a mysterious organization with its own agenda.
S1.E6 ∙ Episode #1.6
November 19, 2021
With detrimental information hanging over its head, The New Truth scrambles to protect its power by preventing the public from learning the truth.
Now that you have an idea of where the Season is heading let us have a look at a few premises on which Season 2 will explore:
Resurrections
This was revealed in the final few seconds of the finale ashes, and remains of Park Jung Ja came together and resurrected the woman. The sinner was condemned to hell. Are resurrections a correction by God himself to bring back people who didn’t deserve to go to hell? Or was it something even more sinister? Is there a bigger player behind all this that the New Truth is not aware of?
Through this resurrection, one thing is clear. If this becomes a regular occurrence, the public who had blind faith in The New Truth will likely retaliate, questioning them about the resurrections. It makes sense! If they committed a sin and were banished to hell, why are they being resurrected?
Since we see the role of Jong Jinsu getting reprised, it means the Chairman will, in all possibilities, be resurrected. Who knows, he might even announce a New Gospel?
Either way, the new season will bring in an element of challenge to the authority of The New Truth and debunk their concept of sinners and the punishments which should follow through. Maybe the resurrected group (if there are any) will work together to take down The New Truth and expose their lies to the public.
Toughie Lives
Toughie, the baby, survives even though he, along with both his parents, is marked for hell. The parents sacrifice their lives to save Toughie, and when the Arrowhead leader tries to take matters into his own hands by killing Toughie, the supernatural creatures kill the leader! This means Toughie survived.
This completely goes against the ideals of the New Truth! What will it mean? Will there be an explanation for Toughie’s survival? Or is God playing a part in this?
Either way, Season 2 will dive deeper into the mystery of the resurrections and challenge the order and fear that was initially put in place by The New Truth!
Hellbound Season 2: Episodes and Viewing Details
Although no official announcement has been made on the episode count for Hellbound Season 2, we can expect it to be 6 episodes, much like its parent season, with an average episode run-time of 40-45 minutes. All the episodes will release all at once on Netflix at the same time that Season 1 is released, which is 3:00 AM(ET).
Make sure you have a Netflix subscription to access Hellbound Season 2 when it drops.
Hellbound Season 2: Official Trailer
While we are not in possession of an official trailer for Hellbound Season 2, we urge the fans to stay patient since it usually releases one to two months before the release of the official season. We will update you on this as soon as we get news!
Here is the official trailer for Hellbound Season 1 instead, which reads, “Unearthly beings deliver bloody condemnations, sending individuals to hell and giving rise to a religious group founded on the idea of divine justice.”
Stay tuned to Web News Observer for more updates on Hellbound and your other favorite series.