Picture: Byeon Woo-seok (left) plays Sung Jin-woo (right) in the live-action adaptation
Netflix has another huge live-action adaptation of a beloved webtoon in development, as it was announced that the streaming service is adapting the worldwide phenomenon Solo Leveling. Byeon W00-seok has been confirmed to play the series lead as Sung Jin-woo. Currently in development, we’re awaiting more details about the fascinating live-action adaptation.
Solo Leveling is an upcoming South Korean Netflix Original fantasy-action series and the adaptation of the popular web novel of the same name by author Chugong. The web novel has already been adapted, as its webtoon was serialized by KakaoPage in March 2018, and illustrated by Jang Sung-rak. While the webtoon was extremely popular in its own right, what propelled the franchise into the stratosphere was the anime adaptation.
The influence of the anime adaptation has been so ginormous that the webtoon has since amassed an impressive 14.3 billion cumulative views worldwide. However, what is more remarkable is that Sony recently announced the anime as the “most watched anime in the history of Crunchyroll.” Taking into consideration that the likes of One Piece, Naruto, Attack on Titan, and Demon Slayer are all available on Crunchyroll, that is an awe-inspiring feat. It even swept the 2025 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, winning nine of the major categories, including Anime of the Year, Best Action, and Best Character.
Photo Credit: Solo Leveling producers Sota Furuhashi (Aniplex), Atsushi Kaneko (A-1 Pictures), and Kanako Takahashi (Crunchyroll), along with English voice cast Aleks Le (voice of Sung Jinwoo) and Michelle Rojas (voice of Cha Hae-in) at the Television Academy’s Wolf Theatre in North Hollywood – Saint / Crunchyroll
Solo Leveling is beloved, and like every live-action adaptation of a beloved manga, webtoon, or anime, it is often met with scrutiny. To help ease the nerves of fans reading this, Netflix has an excellent track record with its webtoon adaptations. Let’s not forget that Netflix has arguably two of the best live-action adaptations of beloved manga/anime out there, in Alice in Borderland and One Piece.
What is the plot of Solo Leveling?
Decades prior, strange portals began opening across the world, housing monsters who could unleash devastating harm to humanity. The arrival of the portals also saw the awakening of supernatural abilities in humans, granting them great strength and power to protect the rest of society and enabling them to hunt the deadly monsters.
Many years later, Sung Jin-woo, an E-Level rank hunter and one of the weakest hunters in Korea, puts his life on the line every time he enters a dungeon, regardless of how weak the monsters are within. After barely surviving a monstrously powerful double dungeon, Jin-woo is chosen by ‘the System’ and given a power unique only to him, allowing Jin-woo to level up his strength and magic by completing quests and battling more dangerous dungeons.
Picture: Sung Jin-woo from the anime adaptation – A-1 Pictures
Who are the cast members of Solo Leveling?
The only confirmed cast member so far is Byeon Woo Seok, who plays the lead role of Sung Jin-woo. The actor has starred in several Netflix projects, including 20th Century Girl, Record of Youth, Lovely Runner, and Strong Girl Namsoon. Outside of Netflix, he has led K-dramas such as Moonshine, Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency, and the film Soulmate.
Picture: Byeon Woo Seok (left) will play the role of Jin-Woo (right)
No other cast members have been cast at this time. There are several key characters that fans will look forward to seeing cast, such as:
- Sung Jin-ah – Jin-Woo’s younger sister.
- Yoo Jin-ho – D-Rank Hunter who befriends Jin-Woo.
- Cha Hae-in – Korea’s only female S-Rank Hunter.
- Go Gun-hee – Chairman of the Korean Hunters Association.
- Baek Yoon-ho – S-Rank Hunter and Guild Master of the White Tiger Guild.
- Choi Jong-in – S-Rank Hunter and Guild Master of the Hunters Guild.
- Woo Jin-chul – A-Rank Hunter and Chief Inspector of the Korean Hunters’ Association’s Surveillance Team.
What is the production status of Solo Leveling?
Filming Scheduled
Filming Ongoing
Post-Production
At the time of writing, the series is still in active development. We expect to learn the filming dates in due course.
When is the Solo Leveling Netflix release date?
With the project only just announced, Netflix has yet to announce a release date or release window for Solo Leveling. The earliest we can expect to see Solo Leveling on Netflix is 2027.
We await further updates from Netflix.
Are you looking forward to watching the Solo Leveling adaptation on Netflix? Let us know in the comments below!