Discovery Channel is getting in on the KPop Demon Hunters craze in a very unique way — a new Shark Week special starring two of the film’s actors. The special, KPop Shark Heroes, is set to premiere during this year’s Shark Week, scheduled for late July, and is hoping to change minds after recent shark attacks off the Korean peninsula.
While the actual demon hunting gang of K-pop idols are not involved, the special finds host Ken Jeong, who plays Bobby in the animated feature, “determined to reshape the perception of sharks across East Asia and around the globe,” according to a press release. Rei Ami, the singing voice of Zoe in the Oscar-winning film, joins Jeong, as the “Golden” singer is apparently a longtime lover or sharks.
In the special, Jeong makes it it his mission to launch a public awareness campaign that “educates, empowers and shifts the narrative” around sharks through the “power of K-pop.” It’s unclear exactly how K-pop plays into the show, but it’s safe to say they’ll be no demons to fight in this one. It’s also, perhaps unbelievably, not K-pop’s first collaboration in the shark world. Boy group Enhypen were in Baby Shark’s Big Movie as shark-ified versions of themselves and even released a song “Keep Swimming” for the Nickelodeon film.
Jeong and Ami both star in Netflix-Sony Picture Animations’s surprise hit KPop Demon Hunters. The project — directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans — chronicles the adventures of Huntrix, a K-pop girl group made up of three members who also just happen to fight monsters from the underworld. EJAE, Ami and Audrey Nuna acted as the singing voices for the film’s trio of main characters, while Arden Cho, May Hong and Ji-young Yoo were the speaking voices for the characters.
When the film premiered in the summer of 2025, it seemed like few knew what a cultural moment it would become. K-pop fans, unsurprisingly, seemed to be the first to tune into the film when it premiered on Netflix. As the summer went on, the general public started to pay attention, and its success only skyrocketed, earning it the title of Netflix’s most-watched film ever and sending the songs to the . It raked in several awards including two Academy Awards and the first Grammy Award for the world of K-pop.
The 2026 Oscars marked the end of a nearly year-old chapter full of global domination for the film. In the wake, they’ll begin the long task of its sequel film. The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news in August that a sequel film was in talks at Netflix and Sony Animation. Earlier this year, Netflix closed deals with Kang and Appelhans for the sequel as part of a new, multiyear writing and directing pact. A confirmed sequel release date has yet to be announced.
KPop Shark Heroes will premiere on Discovery Channel during Shark Week, which runs from July 26-Aug. 1.
