Byeon Woo Seok’s Latest Casting News Draws Strong Reactions

Actor Byeon Woo Seok‘s upcoming project has been met with unexpectedly negative reception from Korean netizens.

On July 10, KST, Netflix confirmed that a live-action series adaptation of the Korean web novel, Solo Leveling, was in production and Byeon had been cast as the lead.

Solo Leveling is a popular fantasy web novel that takes place in a world full of deadly monsters who want to bring on the annihilation of humanity, and human warriors with supernatural abilities, called “hunters,” who protect mankind from these monsters. The novel tells the story of Sung Jin Woo, a notoriously weak hunter, who finds himself in an endless struggle for survival. One sudden day, a near-death experience gives him extraordinary abilities to level up his powers and become the unexpected hero the world needed to fight the evil.

The series was also adapted into an Anime, winning huge accolades, including “Anime of the Year,” “Best Action,” and “Best Character” at the 2025 Crunchyroll Awards, the world’s largest animation awards.

Byeon Wook Seok is reportedly gearing up to portray Sung Jin Woo in the live-action adaptation under the direction of Lee Hae Jun, the mind behind movies like Ashfall, Like a Virgin, and Castaway on the Moon, and Kim Byung Seo, the man behind My Dictator, and Cold Eyes, among others.

While fans are excited to see Byeon take up this challenging role, netizens who are fans of the original webtoon are not on board with the casting. Some felt that the actor didn’t suit the character, while others were skeptical about a live-action adaptation altogether.

• “Not even Song Kang Ho could save this — can we please stop with these live-action adaptations already?”
• “Since this is a one-man-show type story in the hunter genre, the lead needs to be insanely good at acting… I wonder if that’s even possible. With this kind of role, even slightly subpar acting can totally break immersion.”

• “No, please.”
• “Huh?”
• “Fans have enough reasons to worry about it. I’m not sure about the acting, but looking at what’s happening with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, there are just so many unpredictable variables.”