Saturday Night Live has a lot on the line as they get through their 51st season, but they may have hit on just the sort of thing they need. In the season 51 debut, the show had a skit dedicated to Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, which has been a massive hit for the streamer.
In the sketch, cast members Mikey Day, Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman, along with host Bad Bunny, are found chatting about KPop Demon Hunters. But these were far from being the showcases of the sketch, as actual Huntr/x voices EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami popped in for a cameo. In KPop Demon Hunters, EJAE does the vocals for Rumi (Arden Cho), Nuna handles Mira (May Hong) and Ami does Zoey (Ji-young Yoo). In the sketch, the group — appearing as part of Bad Bunny’s daydream _ performs a shortened version of “Golden,” which they are expected to perform in full for the first time on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday, October 7th.
KPop Demon Hunters is Netflix’s biggest hit to date, even going past the streamer to bring out fans for sing-along screenings, which sound incredibly annoying but do show just the sort of grasp that Korean pop music has on Western audiences. The movie — which hit over 230 million by the end of the summer — expectedly even has a sequel moving forward already. Some criticism has fallen on Sony for doling out the movie to Netflix by failing to capitalize on what could have been huge box office numbers. The question will be if the studio aims to redirect the distribution model for the sequel, which I’d imagine they would.
As for how we rated KPop Demon Hunters, our own Steve Seigh gave it a full-blown 10/10, stating in part, “If you’re not a K-pop fan. Don’t worry. You will be by the end of KPop Demon Hunters. It’s impossible not to surrender to the soundtrack created by K-pop producers Teddy Park, Lindgren, Stephen Kirk, and Jenna Andrews, with Ian Eisendrath executive producing, and original songs performed by EJAE, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, and TWICE. Not only are the songs genuine bops, but the emotionally resonant lyrics amplify our connections to the characters and story in powerful ways.”
What did you think of the KPop Demon Hunters sketch on SNL?
