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Hellbound Ending: Why We Still Can't Get Over That Wild Cliffhanger


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Credit: Heavy Spoilers/YouTube screenshot

Spoilers ahead for Hellbound Season 1

In Netflix's Hellbound, once an angel issues a decree, it's only a matter of time before three demons descend and bring your soul to hell.

People are flocking to a new religion called The New Truth, which claims that the killings are taking place because God has had enough of sinners and wants people to be more righteous.

The Unexpected Resurrection

The New Truth takes over society in just four years, but their teaching is exposed to be false at the end of Season 1. The executioner's victims are actually random, as we learn in the last episodes of the South Korean drama, which is confirmed most clearly when Toughie, a baby, is sentenced to death.

So-Hyun and Young-Jae, Toughie's parents, are able to intervene and sacrifice themselves; suddenly, a previous victim, Jung-Ja, seems to be resurrected in the same location where she was slain.

It's a puzzling cliffhanger that will likely prompt viewers to look for answers in the Hellbound webtoon, which was written by series creator Yeon Sang-ho and artist Choi Gyu-Seok and is based on the show. While the Hellbound webtoon's ending differs from the live-action version, this is due to the fact that the show covers more material.

The six-part season covers the webcomic's whole 55-chapter plot. Both stories have a time jump in the middle where the focus shifts from Detective Jin to Sodo organization member Hye-jin, and both end with Hye-Jin defeating the New Truth henchmen and escaping with the baby. There's only one significant difference: Jung-Ja’s resurrection is unique to the Netflix series.

"[Choi and I] decided on the ending for the Hellbound webcomic from the beginning, so we discussed the ending for the [TV] series while we were working on the webcomic," Yeon told the Korea Times. "We sought for ways to strategize the advantages of having the story's creator as the series' director, and came up with the idea to go with this ending only for the [TV] series."

Will there be a Hellbound Season 2?

Yeon went on to say that they have "yet to discuss" whether or not they want to film a second season of the show, but that they plan to release a sequel to the comic in "the latter half of next year" that will essentially include the story from Hellbound Season 2 — including the answer to Jung-Ja’s unexpected resurrection.

"The most important message that I wanted to deliver through this work is asking questions on humanity and what it means to be a human,” Yeon said.

“Although the series is set in Korea, I think the issues it touches on are very universal, like life and death, sin and punishment, what it means to be human, and so on.”

Part II of the Hellbound webtoon was completed in September 2020 and was first published on the South Korean platform Naver. Webtoon is currently translating it into English, with a new chapter released every Tuesday.

Yeon has stated that working with Netflix has given him greater creative flexibility than dealing with other companies. Nonetheless, Yeon intends to continue working with Choi on the webtoon series before considering a Season 2.

Hopefully, the rest of his series will provide answers to some of the unanswered questions.

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