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Exhuma Prequel Webtoon 'Maengjong' Set to Launch on Naver

Showbox and Naver present the vertical-scroll series as a way to deepen the film’s shaman backstory to reach mobile-first readers.

Overview

  • Naver Webtoon will debut Maengjong on Saturday, May 30, as a prequel spin-off that expands the world of the 2024 occult hit Exhuma.
  • The series follows shamans Hwa-rim and Bong-gil in high school and will explore how the two first met without revealing plot twists from the film.
  • Artist Haemuri, known for dense psychological webtoons, will illustrate the vertical-scroll series and adapt Exhuma’s Korean occult mythology for mobile readers.
  • Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun took part in the project’s early concept review, and Showbox and Naver say they expect the webtoon to offer a fresh, complementary experience for fans.
  • The move leverages Exhuma’s strong box-office run—about 11.9 million admissions and roughly $83.1 million in Korea—to extend the franchise into a format that typically draws younger, mobile audiences; the title Maengjong is reported to mean roughly “blind obedience without moral judgment.”