Premiering Sept. 5, the series (written by Lee Young-jong and directed by Byun Young-joo) tracks a fresh wave of copycat murders more than 20 years after the notorious serial killer known as "Mantis" was caught. To crack the case, a detective is forced into an unlikely alliance with the person he’s hated his entire life: his own mother, the original Mantis.
Buzz is already surging around screen icon Ko Hyun-jung’s radical transformation. She plays Jung Yi-shin, the killer who earned the "Mantis" moniker after murdering five men. To embody a character that defies simple labels, Ko reportedly overhauled everything―from her look and posture to the slightest flicker in her eyes.
On Sept. 1, producers dropped arresting stills that swing between elegance and pure dread, innocence and the uncanny. The range is so extreme, it’s hard to believe you’re looking at the same person.
In one image, Ko fixes a distant gaze, her expression unreadable yet commanding. The next flips the tone: her face is flecked with crimson as she slips on red gloves, a chilling hint of carnage to come. Then, a sunlit smile―bright, open, disarmingly pure―recalls the Ko Hyun-jung audiences thought they knew. Finally, the kicker: aged makeup, a pallid face and a twisted grin, punctuated by a scarlet inmate tag on her chest.
All of these extremes belong to one actor in one show. Who exactly is Jung Yi-shin―and how does Ko pivot so effortlessly between such polar moods? "The Mantis: Original Sin" is stoking serious curiosity ahead of its debut.
"The Mantis: Original Sin" premieres Friday, Sept. 5 at 9:50 p.m. KST on SBS, following "The Winning Try."
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)