Actor Byeon Woo-seok has been cast as the lead in 'Solo Leveling'.
On the 10th, Netflix announced the production of 'Solo Leveling' and the casting of Byeon Woo-seok.
'Solo Leveling' tells the story of Sung Jin-woo, an E-rank hunter called the weakest among those who fight monsters from beyond a gate to protect the real world. He awakens in the face of death and levels up to become the strongest hunter to save the world. Since its serialization on KakaoPage, it has maintained its position as the most popular web novel and webtoon, recording a global cumulative view count of 14.3 billion, making it a worldwide popular content.
It was also made into an animation and swept nine major categories at the 2025 Crunchyroll Awards, the world's largest animation awards ceremony, including 'Animation of the Year', 'Best Action', and 'Best Character', marking a first for a Korean animation.
Starting in Korea and winning the hearts of people worldwide, 'Solo Leveling' is now meeting global fans as a Netflix series. The Netflix series 'Solo Leveling', beyond text and illustrations, will bring characters to life more vividly, with dynamic action, intriguing quests, and the unimaginable scale of dungeons and overwhelming visuals of monsters, offering unique sights and an original story that will excite fans worldwide.
Especially, the new world 'Solo Leveling' will present, with its various dungeons and monsters with diverse personalities and abilities that Sung Jin-woo will encounter, raises expectations for its live-action adaptation, with the world's top global VFX team in charge.
Particularly, the main focus of fans is the protagonist, 'Sung Jin-woo'. Ten years ago, gates connecting our world to another dimension began to open, and if the monsters in the dungeons beyond the gates are not dealt with, a 'dungeon break' occurs, plunging the world into chaos. Among the hunters protecting the real world from monsters, 'Sung Jin-woo' is an E-rank hunter, the lowest tier, who is ridiculed by other hunters. After awakening in the face of death, 'Sung Jin-woo' quickly becomes humanity's hope through his overwhelming ability to level up.
The role of 'Sung Jin-woo' has been cast to the popular actor Byeon Woo-seok. Having led the 'heartthrob' phenomenon through the Netflix movie '20th Century Girl' and the drama 'Lovely Runner', Byeon Woo-seok has established himself as a global star, selling out his Asia fan meeting tour.
The series is directed by Lee Hae-jun and Kim Byung-seo, who have shown their unique storytelling, stylish action, and visual beauty through films like 'Ashfall', and 'Like a Virgin'. Their collaboration on 'Solo Leveling' adds to the anticipation.
Moreover, the exceptional production expertise of Kakao Entertainment in adapting webtoons and web novels, along with the unique capabilities of Sanai Pictures in the action noir genre, promise to make 'Solo Leveling' even more exciting.
'Solo Leveling' is available on Netflix.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)