NBC’s Saturday Night Live thrives on skewering pop culture, so it was only natural for the show’s first episode since May to acknowledge one of the biggest phenomena to emerge during its summer hiatus, Netflix’s animated hit KPop Demon Hunters.
The Season 51 premiere of SNL, hosted by Bad Bunny, featured a KPop Demon Hunters-themed skit about four friends (Bad Bunny, Mikey Day, Sarah Sherman, Chloe Fineman) reconnecting after a long time. While the others talk about their excitement over the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie One Battle After Another and Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Frankenstein, Bad Bunny’s Thomas admits he likes KPop Demon Hunters.
No matter how the subject of the conversation changes — it name-checked two of the biggest controversies of the summer, the Epstein files and Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad — Thomas goes back to KPop Demon Hunters and insists that it is not just a movie but tells a true story, with the songs of the fictional K-pop girl group Huntr/x as weapons. He has visions of Huntr/x’s Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami performing.
Watch on Deadline
His friends don’t take him seriously until Bowen Yang appears dressed as demon Jinu from the movie and demands their souls. He succeeds with Sherman’s character who turns demonic.
Amid panic and horror, Thomas summons Huntr/x for help. The sketch ends with Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami coming out to perform a snippet from the film’s biggest hit, “Golden.”
You can watch the sketch above.
KPop Demon Hunters has ruled pop culture since its June release, breaking Netflix viewership records with 325.1 million views to date, getting a box office-winning two-day sing-along theatrical run and ruling the music charts.
Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami’s surprise SNL appearance precedes their first announced televised appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Tuesday, October 7. On the late-night show, executive produced by SNL boss Lorne Michaels, the group is expected to perform “Golden.”
Her is the trio posing behind the scenes at SNL: