KPop Demon Hunters has been a phenomenon since it hit Netflix on June 20, 2025, and that momentum hasn’t really slowed down in the time since. In fact, soon after its release on the streamer, it had a brief theatrical run as a sing along, and even now, the movie has done collaborations with McDonald’s, among a number of other companies. Of course, part of this lasting impact and popularity has been the fact that KPop Demon Hunters 2 is already confirmed to be in the works, even if it’s not expected until 2029.
Despite KPop Demon Hunters having this impressive standing, particularly in terms of Netflix movies, there was one very recent project on the streaming platform that shockingly seemed to mean KPop Demon Hunters was being given a run for its money. Namely, on May 1, 2026, the animated movie Swapped was released, and its success early on suggested that it was going to be breaking records of its own. With time, though, the reception of Swapped has only indicated that KPop Demon Hunters really cannot be beaten.
Swapped tells the story of Ollie, voiced by Michael B. Jordan, who is a small creature called a Pookoo who swaps bodies with a bird—a species that is the enemy of Pookoos. What ensues is a tale of identity, friendship, and compassion, and it certainly seemed to land with audiences. In fact, early on, Swapped beat KPop Demon Hunters in one specific way.
During the week of May 4 to May 10, Swapped had 38.7 million views, meaning not only that it had a stronger week in terms of views than KPop Demon Hunters ever had but also the Netflix movie with the most views in one week ever. While that didn’t mean it was overall the most popular or even truly more popular than KPop Demon Hunters, it was a very impressive feat, and it meant it could be on track to become the most popular. In the weeks since, however, things have changed.
According to the Tudum Top 10, Swapped’s views have steadily declined. Although it had that impressive viewership from May 4 to May 10, the next week, May 11 to May 17, viewership dropped to 26.4 million. The following week, and the most recent week with data available, from May 18 to May 24, views had dropped to 16.1 million. While views in the millions within its month of release are, of course, still impressive, it’s clear that interest in the movie has died down already.
What’s more, the movie just hasn’t had the same impact that KPop Demon Hunters had. Whereas the KPop Demon Hunters release was quickly followed by merch, an impressive number of streams on Spotify of the songs from the movie, and absolute fanfare, Swapped just hasn’t been met with the same type of reception. It was popular, no doubt, but it did not become a phenomenon in the way that KPop Demon Hunters did, and that actually has larger implications for that movie and its future.
With Swapped seeming to be right on KPop Demon Hunters’ tail but now proving unable to surpass it, it feels truer than ever that KPop Demon Hunters is not going to be beaten, at least not anytime soon. And, particularly compared to Swapped, that honestly makes a lot of sense. Swapped was a charming story, and it was well acted, with a solid cast. However, KPop Demon Hunters had an epic story, excellent music, and deeper questions for fans to debate, such as whether Rumi and Jinu should/will end up together.
It remains to be seen whether KPop Demon Hunters really can be usurped, based on those factors. There are also a host of other ways that Netflix has kept the love for and interest in the movie going, such as with the aforementioned collaborations and the upcoming sequel movie.
In addition to those factors that have kept the movie front of mind for fans, in fact, Netflix has taken some more unexpected approaches to the movie, including making KPop Demon Hunters one of the focuses at their unique Netflix House locations. Perhaps with this strategy, KPop Demon Hunters really will endure as one of the streamer’s greatest hits of all time.
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