With 'All of Us Are Dead' Season 2 still a long way off potentially not arriving until 2026 fans of horror
K-dramas
can turn their attention to 'Hellbound', which is finally back for its second season after a three-year wait. The first season of 'Hellbound' consisted of just six episodes, leaving plenty of room for the series to expand. Whereas it was some period of time before
Hellbound
had another season announced, renewal officially confirmed the show would indeed continue. On the flip side, renewal for
All of Us Are Dead
happened much more rapidly; only five months after its release on Netflix did the company announce Season 2.
Despite its fast renewal, 'All of Us Are Dead 2' currently has no release date. Production delays have pushed the timeline all the way to 2025, meaning that this outrageously popular
zombie K-drama
probably won't come back next year. Finding shows like 'All of Us Are Dead' to enjoy might prove a bit of a challenge, but one must note 'Hellbound', which combines the scariest elements of psychological horror with those of terrifying creatures and quite a lot of violence.
Even though 'All of Us Are Dead' and 'Hellbound' have different tones, they still share enough similarities that make it a good option for fans of 'All of Us Are Dead' to wait for the return. 'Hellbound' is set in a near-future world in which mysterious beings known as angels appear and condemn individuals to Hell based on their sins. The convicts are handed over a date of execution; when that day comes, three giant beasts appear to reduce their flesh to ashes. This eerie, grotesque premise leads to some genuinely scary scenes.
Even with all the graphic killings and gruesome deaths, 'Hellbound' is more of a
psychological thriller
than an action-based like the preceding 'All of Us Are Dead'. The zombie series gives clear, sci-fi explanations for their creatures. "The 'zombie' virus was from an experiment to turn fear into strength." In that sense, 'Hellbound' introduces supernatural elements not found in 'All of Us Are Dead', but the two are otherwise as intense, tense, and fraught with danger for each respective character.
Viewers of both 'Hellbound' and 'All of Us Are Dead' had to wait for a pretty long while as the series did not return for its second installment so soon after its debut season. 'Hellbound' Season 1 premiered on November 19, 2021; Season 2 is set to launch on October 25, 2024. Some reasons put this so long between seasons. According to several trusted sources, the series was formally renewed in September 2022, almost an entire year since the first season came out. Aside from being officially renewed at such a late date, there were also some behind-the-scenes problems that caused this long wait-a bad one indeed: last minute casting changes. The old Ah-in member of the cast group was replaced by newcomer
Kim Sung-cheol.
While 'Hellbound' has seen a long wait, 'All of Us Are Dead 2' is confirmed to have an even longer wait, having premiered in January 2022 without a set release date for the sequel, which is now expected in 2026. Long delays between seasons are common for Netflix's original K-dramas; for instance, 'Sweet Home', often compared with 'Hellbound', debuted in December 2020 and only returned in November 2023.
'Hellbound': A Darker Mystery Than 'All of Us Are Dead' Generally, 'Hellbound' becomes a mystery series just as it is a horror show. As for the working of the angels and their judgments, this information, however, comes from unreliable narrators. Each episode adds another layer to the puzzle with how these divine judgments start affecting the lives of ordinary people trying to grasp the chaos around them.
The other important distinction is that 'Hellbound' jumps between a series of different characters' storylines. The first three episodes follow two detectives investigating a brutal murder attributed to the monsters, while the latter three episodes center on a couple whose baby has been sentenced to Hell. Whereas 'All of Us Are Dead' does something a little more cut-and-dry in its storytelling, mostly set in the context of a single location-the school from which the characters must flee to survive the zombie onslaught. As far as this review goes, 'Hellbound' ranks with 'All of Us Are Dead' as one of Netflix's top original K-dramas.
English (US) ·