How HYBE’s Original Story, DARK MOON, And ENHYPEN Took Over Comic-Con

DARK MOON Comic-Con Booth (Photo Courtesy of HYBE)

HYBE

EXCLUSIVE – It’s a Wednesday evening connected the preview nighttime of Comic-Con International successful San Diego; the thousands of expo vendors are mounting up their booths to hole for complete 135,000 attendees complete 4 days. It’s 1 of the biggest popular civilization conventions successful the world, and gives companies, organizations, artists, shops, and much the opportunity to stock their work.

One of the booths stood retired for its animated creation that sprawled crossed the ample cloth walls, and a giant, agleam reddish satellite astatine the center. The elephantine motion successful beforehand of it read: DARK MOON.

As you look astir the booth, brought by HYBE’s Original Story DARK MOON, you study a small spot astir its story, arsenic good arsenic the inspiration down it – K-pop superstars ENHYPEN.

HYBE, the South Korean conglomerate down the biggest euphony acts successful the world for illustration BTS, ENHYPEN, SEVENTEEN, and more, knew they wanted to create stories centered astir their groups. It would not only scope different types of fans, but besides springiness the group’s fans escapism done the powerfulness of webtoons. HYBE's Next Entertainment Business section was created for that: starring story-driven and early maturation initiatives by creating caller intermezo experiences to link fans pinch artists and music. In turn, they created Original Story arsenic a measurement to grow and intertwine pinch the “artists’ chopped branding and philharmonic narratives.” They created respective imagination stories centered astir their groups: TOMORROW X TOGETHER's The Star Seekers, LE SSERAFIM's Crimson Heart, and BTS's 7Fates: Chakho.

But nary had specified a ample world consequence arsenic ENHYPEN’s 2022 webtoon series, DARK MOON: Blood Altar.

The multimedia municipality imagination franchise soon gained fame among some ENGENEs – ENHYPEN’s fandom – and wide webtoon and manga readers. It spent 26 consecutive weeks connected the Top 10 connected its big site, Naver, successful North America, pinch complete 1.9 cardinal subscribers and 68.6 cardinal views. Globally, it has amassed complete 2000 cardinal cumulative views. The adjacent year, ENHYPEN created a typical soundtrack album, MEMORABILIA, to service arsenic a companion to the webtoon, which past received a sequel, DARK MOON: Two Moons, successful 2025. The request for much from the franchise prompted the animation adaptation, dubbed and subtitled successful 8 languages, connected Crunchyroll.

It’s why Taeho Park, Head of HYBE Next Entertainment Business (NEB), wanted to bring DARK MOON to audiences astatine Comic-Con. It had been 1 of the goals that the NEB squad group for the year, because he felt it was fresh to person much world attention, particularly successful the U.S. market.

“DARK MOON started arsenic a webtoon successful 2022, and past we launched the animation [this year],” Park says done an expert successful an exclusive question and reply during Comic-Con. “DARK MOON’s IP has scaled up continuously. The motorboat of the animation was 1 much measurement guardant for world coverage, and we were looking for the adjacent opportunities for the IP. The communicative has matured enough, truthful we believed it was only suitable that we introduced it to the U.S. audience.”

Park besides said that the communicative was different logic why DARK MOON was chosen to beryllium highlighted, because of the connection down the communicative surrounding 7 vampires who sought to protect Sooha, a young schoolgirl pinch superhuman spot who conscionable transferred to their school, the supernatural-hating Decelis Academy.

When she arrives astatine the school, she meets her classmates – each characteristic inspired by ENHYPEN (including erstwhile personnel EVAN) – who are hiding the truth that they are vampires pinch unsocial powers. As they swore to protect her, they began to consciousness drawn to her and travel her wishes. After a personification is murdered – and it looks for illustration a vampire did it – Sooha finds herself successful conflict betwixt the vampires and the werewolves, and must fig retired really to navigate done this vulnerable supernatural journey.

“The connection [in the story] aligns very good pinch the modern clip successful 2026,” Park explains. “Because it talks astir existing successful betwixt aliases connected the margin, having problem pinch one’s ain identity, and really they are trying to flooded solidarity by bonding pinch each other. The connection will resonate really good pinch [now] and the venue – San Diego Comic-Con.”

Though ENHYPEN – members Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-Ki – inspired the characters successful the story, DARK MOON is abstracted from the group’s lore – which is besides vampire-based – and euphony concepts. But it will proceed to person a relationship tied to each other. Park emphasizes that contempt the characters being successful precocious school, they’re really 500 years aged because they’re vampires, truthful arsenic ENHYPEN ages, it won’t really beryllium relevant. The narration betwixt the communicative and ENHYPEN whitethorn not beryllium the aforesaid arsenic erstwhile they first began the collaboration, but some will stock the aforesaid extremity of connecting pinch audiences done their artistry.

“We are each alert that arsenic artists mature, we person to deliberation much astir what benignant of collaboration exemplary we will proceed to prosecute betwixt the two,” says Park. “What is truthful chopped astir this is that the artists really stock the aforesaid starting point. When ENHYPEN debuted [in 2020], DARK MOON started [to form]. It really coincided. As ENHYPEN continues to grow, they person their ain chopped maturation trajectories. Sometimes they would person their ain connection that they want to present to their fans. As an IP, we are exploring the abstraction wherever we tin create our ain voices aliases messages.”

Since the conception of DARK MOON to the animated series 3 years later, a batch has changed wrong ENHYPEN’s team. With EVAN departing from the group this past year, his character, Heli, remains a awesome characteristic successful the franchise. For the team, that’s not going to alteration anytime soon.

“There are galore different characters for illustration vampires, werewolves, and a very charismatic female lead too,” Park reveals. “So utilizing these analyzable characters, we are going to show really the communicative evolves by intertwining their different stories done different characters.”

It besides doesn’t mean EVAN is going to subordinate ENHYPEN arsenic a collaborator successful the DARK MOON bid – akin to what HYBE’s J-pop group, &TEAM, has done earlier pinch their DARK MOON: The Grey City series. Park says he can’t speak for EVAN aliases the different HYBE artists who presently do not person a communicative successful NEB’s Original Story yet, but ne'er opportunity never. They do scheme connected expanding the DARK MOON universe, truthful thing is possible.

“We will beryllium capable to equilibrium retired our artistry building and creator collaboration,” Park states. “We are not looking astatine the DARK MOON franchise arsenic a azygous IP aliases a azygous portion of content. Our eventual extremity would beryllium to grow its storyline and beingness moreover further.”

He uses &TEAM’s DARK MOON: Grey City series arsenic an example. The characters, inspired by the members of &TEAM, are each werewolves, pinch the main characteristic named Khan, who unites pinch his werewolf brothers. The sequel webtoon series, THE WITCH OF YERASAH, mentions different main characteristic named Nazar and his relationship pinch the werewolf group. Park explains, “We will beryllium capable to grow the storyline by utilizing each these different characters and the intertwined storylines betwixt them.”

With the increasing roster of philharmonic acts wrong HYBE, location are astir apt a batch of stories planned to beryllium told – whether it beryllium portion of DARK MOON aliases not. Park smiles, clarifying that it’s not up to him to find which group aliases explanation gets to person their ain Original Story. He says that’s each up to the artists’ label. He points out, “When the explanation comes up pinch a caller artist, they person their ain profession planning. If the explanation thinks this type of Original Story improvement aliases imaginative imagination would thief retired their career, they will scope retired to our team, and we would coordinate together.”

Park’s squad would supply the first baseline story, and past the artists and explanation will reappraisal it. He smiles, “If some of america judge the creator marque and the storyline would create immoderate synergy together, we would astir apt collaborate. That’s really it goes.”

With DARK MOON power successful HYBE’s Original Story titles, Park hopes to usage what was learned from its success, which was a lot. He could talk astir DARK MOON and the galore titles “all time long.” He stuck pinch 2 to explain, saying that the connection from the communicative should beryllium relatable to group “in modern society.”

“It’s not conscionable the improvement aliases creation of the contented itself that is enough,” Park adds. “While we are operating and managing the contented that is already developed, precise maneuvering [of the rollout plans] is needed. So erstwhile we are doing creator collaboration, we person to person a blase aliases elaborate [plan] truthful it tin go arsenic successful arsenic it evolves.”

There are truthful galore bully value and celebrated IPs that Original Story has, including BTS’s 7Fates: Chakho – which deed 15 cardinal views wrong the first 2 days of its Webtoon motorboat – and others that person a connection that group tin resonate with. Park and his squad are reviewing existing IPs that could travel the occurrence of DARK MOON. He shares, “We are exploring our outer collaboration opportunities. We person our standards and the lessons learned. So based connected these, we will support our minds unfastened and past find retired who tin stock this type of imagination pinch us.”

Until then, DARK MOON remains a attraction for the team, who person a three-year scheme to thief pinch their financial and strategical goals. This twelvemonth – their first twelvemonth – included the motorboat of their animation connected Crunchyroll and participating successful Comic-Con. The plans for the adjacent twelvemonth will attraction connected the content, particularly regarding the werewolves successful the DARK MOON universe. When asked if location was a “live-action” movie aliases bid successful the plans, Park shrugs, suggesting that thing has been group successful chromatic yet, but they wouldn’t opportunity no.

“HYBE is simply a ample company,” Park admits. “As an IP, the eventual extremity is to person it beryllium established arsenic a very refined communicative world that tin past its life connected its own, [and grow it] based connected the existing settings, tropes, and characters.”

During Comic-Con, DARK MOON participated successful each branches of the Comic-Con experience. Alongside their expo booth, which ran the full normal – pinch exclusive merchandise and vampiric freebies related to the story, the institution held a Ballroom 20 panel, a meet-and-greet autograph signing, and an evening festivity for prime fans to attend. Fresh disconnected their concert in San Diego that aforesaid week, ENHYPEN attended the Comic-Con events, including participating successful the DARK MOON-based panel, “Bite Me: Calling All Vampires,” which included Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Peter Facinelli and Ashley Greene.

DARK MOON has often been compared to the iconic Twilight franchise, which featured vampires, werewolves, and different supernatural folks surviving among mortals – moreover falling successful love. The members expressed during the sheet that they had seen the films, contempt it first premiering erstwhile they were successful people school. Twilight has been portion of the popular civilization zeitgeist during that time, truthful they knew the story.

The time aft their panel, ENHYPEN appeared astatine the DARK MOON booth for a prime number of fans to participate successful their “Say Bye” meet-and-greet and person a signed DARK MOON poster. Over 9,600 registered badges applied for the ENHYPEN meet-and-greet, which classed successful the Top 10 astir applied entries for a Comic-Con arena this year, pinch only 150 selected to beryllium up adjacent to the members, throwing bosom hands and interacting pinch their idols. On the time it happened, a ample crowd formed astir the booth, arsenic galore began cheering for the group.

The members reflected connected the arena and collectively shared, “We were honestly amazed to spot truthful galore fans astatine the DARK MOON booth. It was incredibly meaningful to acquisition firsthand really overmuch emotion and excitement location is for some DARK MOON and ENHYPEN's story. We genuinely judge the communicative becomes complete only done fans' engagement, and their passion and productivity person perpetually inspired us. We dream DARK MOON continues to unfastened caller doors for audiences to observe our world, conscionable for illustration Comic-Con gave america the chance to meet truthful galore group this year."

Later that evening, ENHYPEN performed astatine their ‘DARK MOON: Blood Night’ arena astatine the House of Blues successful San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. With complete 650 group successful attendance, hundreds of fans were dressed successful vampire-inspired attire to correspond the world of DARK MOON. Hosted by JoJo Wright, ENHYPEN said astir their acquisition astatine Comic-Con and performed respective songs, including “Bite Me,” "Brought The Heat Back,” and “Moonstruck.”

Park hopes that Comic-Con fans, whether they’re ENHYPEN fans aliases not, will bask DARK MOON, focusing connected the U.S. and Japanese marketplace astatine this time. He relays, “When we are pursuing our transmedia strategy, our privilege is to unafraid the level of value that tin fulfill the fans and audiences. DARK MOON will beryllium the attraction of our description strategy. We are really looking for various partners that tin stock our imagination and connection for this IP.

But don’t expect HYBE to waste the IP retired to different countries to show this story. Unlike respective South Korean dramas that waste their IP to beryllium remade successful different countries, DARK MOON will stay wrong HYBE and ENHYPEN. Park explains, “If you look into HYBE arsenic a institution and the Next Entertainment Business arsenic a business unit, our extremity is to find an independent aliases sovereign spot aliases abstraction for our ain IPs, wherever we tin make decisions based connected our goals and vision. We’re not focused connected the short-term gross aliases bottommost lines. I don’t deliberation we would see that option.”

Also, don’t expect Original Story to stem extracurricular of the imagination genre. Park is unfastened to a superhero benignant of story, but doesn’t envision immoderate stories rooted successful reality. In the past, location has been a HYBE collaboration pinch Chorokbaem Media to create a K-drama, Begins ≠ Youth, centered connected BTS’s “Save Me” webtoon and euphony videos, which was rooted successful existent modern-day situations. Park says the squad still prefers fantasy.

“I’m not excessively judge astir tapping into existent [life] stories, because the principle of communicative business for maine is creating aliases generating immoderate benignant of imagination to the assemblage and maximizing that effect,” he shares. I judge that, successful that regard, DARK MOON has the strongest suit. That’s besides why we person been prioritizing DARK MOON.”

As Comic-Con comes to a adjacent for Park, who has respective much meetings to be pursuing the convention, he is very proud to spot his difficult activity and efforts displayed astatine the expo. He states, “Watching fans afloat immerse themselves successful the DARK MOON beingness astatine the bosom of San Diego Comic-Con was an unforgettable moment. It reaffirmed that the existent spot of our Original Story IP lies successful its relationship pinch fans. The existent worth of an IP is realized erstwhile audiences spell beyond simply consuming the communicative and go portion of building its beingness into world celebrated culture.”​