The Lore of the Faceless demons was so dark?!
Cut storyboards resurfaced online from those who worked on the film. One depiction of takedown and one scene showing Jinu getting dragged down, psychologically and physically tortured by Gwi-ma to the underworld.
—-
In the alternative deleted scene, Jinu is dragged down by Gwi-ma, who questions his loyalty, immediately reminding him of his past, encasing him in the memory of his mom and sister, you can see his patterns clearly flaring up, clearly hurting him and making him scream in pain. Gwi-ma warns him of the consequences of failing or betraying him, if he wants the voices turned down or up, and Jinu turns to the side, seeing a barren field of Demons, faceless, kneeling down.
In the takedown sequence Jinu clearly has armbands? across his wrists, symbolizing Gwi-ma’s control. You also see Rumi coming into contact with another faceless demon with a pilot’s hat, with a knife on their throat, she stops and stares at them, confused, before Mira cuts off the reverie and slices them apart.
So faceless demons were those who were drowned by so much of their sins, that their shame and guilt basically ate them alive, trapping and consuming them in a husk of endless suffering. This is so messed up, and demonstrates why Gwi-ma was so feared. These details adds so much to the worldbuilding, and goodness knows if Maggie will add this to the sequel.
—
Here are some respective links:
https://x.com/zzzzoeyyyy3/status/2062655612622963083?s=46&t=ert5F2GuzUhzXNhKoR430w
https://x.com/awan_732/status/2062663598233530488?s=46&t=ert5F2GuzUhzXNhKoR430w
Original storyboard by @/gmthorburn