‘Hellbound’ Season 2: Production Begins and Netflix Release Date Estimate

Production is now underway on Hellbound season 2.

Jacob Robinson What's on Netflix Avatar
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hellbound season 2 netflix k drama

Hellbound – Picture: Netflix / Climax Studio

Netflix renewed Hellbound for a second season last year, and has finally now gotten into production. This season will see some big changes notably the lead actor Yoo Ah-In replaced in the role of Jung Jinsu by Kim Sung-Cheol. Here’s everything we know so far about Hellbound season 2 on Netflix.

Hellbound is a South Korean Netflix Original horror series written and directed by Yeon Sang-Ho and is an adaptation of the popular South Korean webtoon Hell.

The series was one of the biggest K-Dramas released on Netflix in 2021, only second to the worldwide phenomenon Squid Game. The show is critically acclaimed, carrying a 97% RottenTomatoes rating and scooping up numerous awards.


Hellbound Season 2 Netflix Renewal Status

Official Netflix Renewal Status: Renewed (Last Updated: 24/09/2022)

Since Hellbound was released on Netflix over ten months ago, we’ve had complete radio silence surrounding any news on renewal. Convinced that the series wasn’t returning for a second season, we were incredibly surprised to learn at the Netflix TUDUM event that Hellbound has been renewed for season 2.

Viewing Data

In its first week, the show was watched for 43,480,000 hours by subscribers globally, which has seen the drama soar to the top of the global TV Non-English chart.

The show went on to be included in the Non-English TV list for four weeks picking up 142.85 million hours in total.

Week Period Hours Viewed(M) Rank Week in Top 10
November 14th, 2021 to November 21st, 2021 43,480,000 1 1
November 21st, 2021 to November 28th, 2021 67,520,000 (+55%) 2 2
November 28th, 2021 to December 5th, 2021 22,380,000 (-67%) 3 3
December 5th, 2021 to December 12th, 2021 9,470,000 (-58%) 9 4

Looking at the raw top 10s, the show made it into the top ten lists of 90 different countries. Many countries have seen Hellbound reach the number one spot, and in many others it has featured in the top 3.

If we compare the hourly data, we can see it fell well short of All Of Us Are Dead and Squid Game (both getting renewed for season 2) and tracked just higher than The Silent Sea.

hellbound vs squid game all of us are dead vs the silent sea netflix top 10s

Top 10 comparison – Hellbound vs All Of Us Are Dead vs Squid Game vs The Silent Sea

Compared to a couple of other shows that were released weekly and Squid Game, you can see the show falls very short thus suggesting the show could be at risk of cancelation.

hellbound vs squid game business proposal top 10s

Top 10 comparison – Hellbound vs Business Proposal vs Squid Game vs Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha


What to expect from the second season of Hellbound?

In the final moments of the first season, a shocking revelation that will forever change the world took place when the ashes and remains of Park Jung Ja came together and resurrected the woman.

The doctrine of the New Truth was torn to shreds after multiple eyewitnesses saw what transpired between the baby of Song So Hyun, who despite being given a decree, lived after his parents sacrificed themselves to save their newborn son.

song so hyun netflix

Song So Hyun sought the help of the New Truth – Picture: Climax Studio

Even more, questions will be asked of the New Truth when the victims of the decrees begin to resurrect just like Park Jung Ja. However, if this means we’ll see the resurrection of former New Truth chairman Jung Jin Soo, would he use his newfound resurrection to spread a new gospel?

park jung ja moments before her death netflix

Park Jung Ja moments before her death – Picture: Climax Studio

With the New Truth and Arrowhead convincing the masses that all those who were given decrees are sinners, sinners being resurrected from hell itself will likely send society into a complete meltdown as the world attempts to understand “God’s” actions.

Speaking to Variety, the creator of the show acknowledged that with the Webtoon now covered, plans for the second season would be going back to the drawing board, saying:

“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. 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.”


Who is the cast of Hellbound season 2?

Initially, Yoo Ah Soo was due to return as Jung Jinsu; however, due to a police investigation in South Korea involving his alleged illegal drug use, he has been replaced for the second season of Hellbound.

The police investigation has resulted in a positive test for propofol and marijuana. The use of those substances violates South Korea’s Narcotics Control Act. Yoo Ahn Soo had also tested positive for substances such as cocaine and ketamine in his hair.

hell bound yoo ah in season 2 netflix

Yoo Ah In will not be returning as Jung Jinsoo

Yoo Ah Soo has been replaced by actor Kim Sung Cheol for the role of Jung Jinsu. Netflix subscribers should be familiar with Kim Sung Cheol thanks to them starring in multiple Netflix k-dramas such as Prison Playbook, Arthdal Chronicles, Hospital Playlist, Sweet Home, Vincenzo, Racket Boys, and Our Beloved Summer.

Returning to reprise their main roles in the second season of Hellbound are Kim Hyun Joo as Min Hye Jin and Yang Ik Jun as Jin Kyung Hoon.

Reprising their supporting roles are Lee Re as Jin Hee Jung and Lee Dong Hee as Kim Jung Chil.

Actress Kim Shin Rok has been promoted from a supporting role to a main role for the second season and will reprise her role as Park Jung Ja.

hell bound kim shin rok season 2 netflix

Kim Shin Rok will return as Park Jung Ja

Joining the cast of Hellbound are Yang Dong Geun and Im Sung Jae.


When could we expect to see Hellbound season 2 on Netflix?

Filming on the second season finally got underway in early August 2023 as confirmed by Netflix’s K-Content account:

Why did that production take so long to get underway?

As you’ve probably seen from the casting changes, that’s led to significant delays which is no doubt the main reason behind the long wait to get underway with production.

In addition, Yeon Sang Oh, the director and creator of the series, has been busy over the past year with multiple projects for Netflix, including an adaptation of Parasyte, and a new zombie horror series.

Filming for Hellbound began on September 17th, 2020, and came to an end on January 18th, 2021. So, between the start of filming and the Netflix release date was just over fourteen months. This means if we use fourteen months as a rough estimate, we won’t be seeing Hellbound season 2 on Netflix for quite some time.

Our current estimate is that we won’t see Hellbound season 2 until late 2024 or more likely, sometime in 2025.


Are you looking forward to the second season of Hellbound on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!

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Jacob joined What's on Netflix in 2018 as a fulltime writer having worked in numerous other industries until that point. Jacob covers all things Netflix whether that's TV or movies but specializes in covering new anime and K-dramas. Resides in Norwich in the United Kingdom.