South Korean drama is all the rage right now off the back of mega-hits Parasite and Squid Game, so it’s no surprise to see yet another one climbing the ranks of Netflix’s top ten chart.
Hellbound is based on a webtoon (recently translated into an English-language graphic novel) and imagines a terrifying possible future where people begin receiving proclamations of their impending death.
As if that weren’t bad enough, the mysterious entity giving out the decree also grimly informs them that their soul will suffer in hell for eternity, creating a dystopian society governed by radical religious cults in the process.
The first season of Hellbound featured several different protagonists across its six-episode run, some of whom have scope to continue their stories in a potential second season – if Netflix decides to make one.
If you’re keen to find out more about the future of Hellbound, read on for all the details we have so far.
Will there be a Hellbound season 2?
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Netflix is yet to announce whether Hellbound will return for a second season, but there’s reason to be hopeful that the series will continue on.
Like Squid Game before it, Hellbound has accumulated a dedicated audience all over the world, with the recently launched Netflix Top 10 website revealing it is one of the service’s most popular shows in 71 different countries.
At the time of writing, the series has reached number three here in the UK, while it has reached the top spot in 12 other markets, including Hong Kong, Nigeria, Jamaica, Thailand and its native South Korea.
Given that Netflix is paying particularly close attention to its growing South Korean output and that Hellbound ends on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it return.
Watch this space for more updates as they arrive.
Hellbound season 2 cast: Who could return?
The first season of Hellbound unfolded from the perspective of several different characters, some of whom didn’t make it to the series finale alive.
In terms of who could return for a potential follow-up, we’d say that Kim Hyun-joo is a likely candidate to reprise her role as lawyer-turned-badass Min Hye-jin, who proved herself to be a true force of nature in the final chapter.
We might also see more from Yang Ik-june as police detective Jin Kyung-hoon, who was a main character in the first three episodes of the series but disappeared halfway through, leaving his fate uncertain.
It’s a safe bet that Kim Shin-rok would reappear as Park Jeong-ja, who made a shock return at the tail-end of the finale, after being brutally murdered and banished to hell live on camera for all to see.
Her unexplained resurrection begs a lot of questions (read on for more on that).
Hellbound season 2 plot theories
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The biggest question that Hellbound will have to answer in a possible second season is how Park Jeong-ja has returned from her gruesome death and condemnation at the hands of the demonic monsters rampaging across South Korea.
As we know, the New Truth’s theory that these beasts are sent by God to punish the sinful is based on no evidence whatsoever, but rather a lie dreamt up by late cult leader Jeong Jin-soo – who was himself (secretly) banished to hell.
That said, we can’t entirely rule out that the terrifying entities are satanic in nature, but if so, it’s unclear how someone such as Jeong-ja could free themselves from their grasp and return to the mortal world.
Likewise, the Hellbound ending marked the first time that someone had evaded the attack of the monsters, as parents Bae Young-jae and Song So-hyun sacrificed their lives seemingly in exchange for that of their newborn child’s, who had received the decree days after being born.
Whatever the answers end up being, one thing is certain: the hard-and-fast rules set out by the New Truth are rapidly being exposed as bogus, meaning the power dynamics in this dystopian future could soon shift drastically.
Is there a Hellbound season 2 trailer?
Unfortunately not. There’s still no confirmation that Hellbound will even return for another season on Netflix, so don’t expect to see a trailer or any other footage for quite some time.
Hellbound is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.