Mnet Plus Sets July Return for Idol Horror Variety Show SUMBAKKOKJIL 2

Mnet Plus is preparing to bring its idol horror variety format back for a second season, with SUMBAKKOKJIL 2 scheduled to return in July. The CJ ENM-backed global K-pop content platform has unveiled new teasers for the program, signaling a sharper move into story-driven horror after a first season built around fear, pursuit, and idol guests trying to outlast a mysterious threat.

The show’s central idea remains easy to understand: K-pop idols are placed inside a tense game environment and must survive long enough to avoid capture. In the first season, that meant an eerie hide-and-seek challenge in which performers attempted to evade an unidentified “seeker” for 4,444 seconds. The format gave the series a simple hook, combining idol variety reactions with the kind of haunted-house suspense designed for quick online sharing.

Season 2, however, appears to be changing the terms of the game. According to the production team, the new installment will move beyond the earlier structure of hiding in the dark from an unseen presence. Instead, the participants will become characters inside a larger story, with the mission requiring them to escape an unknown space shaped by urban legends and ghost stories.

A Shift From Chase Game to Narrative Horror

That change could make SUMBAKKOKJIL 2 feel less like a single survival challenge and more like an episodic horror experience. The producers said the season was designed so players could feel as if they had personally stepped into the world of an urban legend. That framing suggests the show will rely not only on jump scares and pursuit scenes, but also on clues, setting, atmosphere, and role-based reactions from the idols involved.

For a K-pop variety series, the adjustment is significant. Idol-centered shows often rely on chemistry, improvisation, and fan interest in seeing artists outside their usual stage personas. A horror concept adds another layer because it places polished performers in situations that are deliberately disorienting. The appeal is not just whether a participant can win the game, but how they react when the rules become unclear and the environment seems to work against them.

The first season helped establish the premise with a wide range of guests. TREASURE, NCT WISH, RIIZE, ZEROBASEONE, TXT, ALLDAY PROJECT, TWS, and BOYNEXTDOOR were among the groups featured across the initial run. That lineup gave the show broad idol-fandom reach and made the format familiar to viewers who follow multiple teams across the current K-pop landscape.

Mnet Plus has not yet announced the first player or group for the new season. The production team specifically encouraged viewers to watch for who will be the first to enter the more immersive narrative world, making that reveal one of the immediate points of anticipation before the premiere. A precise release date has also not been disclosed, though the first episode is expected sometime in July.

Why the Format Fits the Current K-Pop Variety Market

The return of SUMBAKKOKJIL comes as K-pop platforms continue to experiment with original digital formats that can travel across fandoms and social media. Performance clips, behind-the-scenes videos, and short-form challenges remain central to idol promotion, but branded variety programs give platforms a way to create repeat viewing beyond a single comeback cycle. Horror, in particular, works well online because strong reactions can be clipped, shared, and understood even by viewers who have not followed every episode.

The new story-based direction may also help distinguish the series from standard idol games. A straightforward chase format is immediately accessible, but it can become repetitive if the tension depends on the same hiding and running pattern each episode. By introducing urban legends and ghost-story scenarios, the second season can vary its settings and rules while preserving the show’s core survival identity.

For CJ ENM and Mnet Plus, the program also reflects a broader push to make K-pop content feel more interactive and genre-conscious. The platform is not simply presenting idols in a studio variety format; it is placing them inside a themed environment with production design, narrative cues, and a built-in mystery. If the second season delivers on that premise, it could become a useful showcase for groups looking to display personality under pressure.

With teasers now released and the July launch window confirmed, the remaining questions are practical ones: who enters first, how the urban-legend stories will be structured, and whether the expanded format can keep the tension fresh across episodes. What is already clear is that SUMBAKKOKJIL 2 is positioning itself as more than a replay of its first season. It is aiming to turn idol hide-and-seek into a fuller horror-variety experience.