The 8 Things Netflix's Live-Action Solo Leveling Series Needs To Get Right

Summary

Sung Jinwoo’s character development extends beyond being a generic “cool guy” and include caring for others and many fun personal quirks.
The live-action Solo Leveling series must emphasize the unique design of the Player System’s HUD to differentiate it from other series.
Adapting the monsters and Jinwoo’s shadows faithfully with high-quality VFX is crucial to maintaining their original creative designs and distinct character traits.

Netflix recently revealed that a live-action adaptation of Solo Leveling (based on the beloved manhwa and anime of the same name) is already in production and will arrive on the streaming platform in the near future. It was even confirmed that South Korean actor Byeon Woo-seok will be portraying the main character, Sung Jinwoo.

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Naturally, this announcement has made Solo leveling fans around the world feel both excitemed and concerned, because Netflix’s recent live-action adaptations of beloved anime series have been extremely polarizing: some were very bad (like Death Note) and others were surprisingly good (like One Piece). It’s possible that this new Solo Leveling show might end up being quite good, but its producers absolutely need to get the following eight things right if they want the show to succeed.

8

Jinwoo’s Character Development

It’s Not Just About Making Him Look Cool

At its core, Solo Leveling is a power fantasy about a weak boy who was undermined and mistreated by everyone around him, until he suddenly acquired an incredible power that allowed him to become the strongest person in the entire world. The upcoming live-action adaptation will definitely keep that aspect of the story, but it’s important that the writers and producers do not fall into the common misconception that Solo Leveling is exclusively about that and nothing more.

Sung Jinwoo may not be the most complex anime/manhwa protagonist out there, but he’s more than just a generic “cool guy,” and there are many layers to his character. He genuinely cares about his friends and family, he actually wants to use his powers to protect the world, and he even has a few funny personal quirks, like his tendency to forget other people’s names or his cluelessness around women who are interested in him. The producers of the live-action show shouldn’t shy away from the less cool aspects of the character if they actually want mainstream audiences to resonate with him, as they humanize him far more than typical “cool guy” anime heroes.

7

The Casting Of The Other Characters

Sung Jinwoo Is Not The Only Important Person In This Story

The casting of Byeon Woo-seok as Sung Jinwoo is very solid, as the young actor definitely has both the looks and acting chops to faithfully portray this beloved main character. However, while Solo Leveling focuses mostly on its protagonist, he’s not the only important, powerful, or memorable person in this story, so the rest of the cast should be on the same level.

Fans of the source material will definitely be watchful of which actors are cast for the other roles, including those of Cha Hae-in, Go Gunhee, Woo Jinchul, and many more. It seems the live-action adaptation will try to maintain the nationalities of the characters (for example, Sung Jinwoo, a South Korean man, will be played by a South Korean actor), which is a very good sign. The people in charge of casting should definitely keep that mentality for all the non-Korean characters as well: the Japanese hunters should be portrayed by Japanese actors, Chinese actors should portray the Chinese hunters, American actors should portray the American hunters, and so on.

6

The Player System’s HUD

The Design Of The One Thing That Sets This Series Apart From Others

Jinwoo’s real journey begins when he unlocks the system’s powers. This bizarre, video game-like magical program enables him to level up, acquire new abilities, complete side quests, and buy and keep items. Needless to say, this is one of the core components of Solo Leveling’s narrative and the one thing that sets it apart from other similar power fantasy series.

In both the manhwa and anime, the system’s HUD looked like a run-of-the-mill video game screen that got lost in the colorful backgrounds, but these menus need to pop out a lot more in a live-action format. The portrayal of the system in the upcoming Netflix show needs to look both distinct and comprehensible, not only so it’s more evident that it’s a fantastical part of this world, but also so it’s easier for the audience to understand exactly how it works. Additionally, this would be a great opportunity for the producers to play around with the concept of an “IRL video game,” which is always really fun to explore in a live-action series.

5

The Monsters

The Creatures Jinwoo Fights Need To Look Both Believable And Unique

Throughout his journey, Jinwoo fights several fantastical monsters that allow him to level up every time he defeats one, from small goblins and deadly raikans to massive bosses like giant snakes, spiders, and even a flaming Cerberus. On top of that, the monsters get even stronger and more intimidating as the story goes along, with the final arcs of the manhwa featuring some of the deadliest entities in the entire Solo Leveling franchise.

A screenshot of Kaisel and Jinwoo in the original Solo Leveling manwha.

Solo Leveling: 6 Shadows Who Deserve More Recognition

Given how massive Sung Jinwoo’s army is, it’s easy to overlook some of these shadows, even if they clearly deserve more recognition.

Adapting all these creatures into a live-action format is going to be a difficult task, and it’s crucial that the show has a high enough budget so the VFX team can portray them as faithfully as possible. The producers are likely aware of this fact, but it’s also crucial for the monsters to maintain their original appearance. The monster designs in Solo Leveling are among some of the best and most creative in the manhwa industry, so it’d be great if the live-action show kept the striking designs of the source material instead of turning every monster into a generic CGI creature that could be found in any other live-action fantasy property.

4

Jinwoo’s Shadows

It’s Crucial For His Loyal Soldiers To Keep Their Personalities

If the live-action Solo Leveling show reaches the point in the story in which Sung Jinwoo unlocks his Shadow Extraction ability (which, based off of the anime, should be around the end of a hypothetical first season), the writers, showrunners, and even the VFX team will meet a brand-new challenging task: adapting his large army of powerful and badass shadows into this live-action universe.

Similarly to the enemy monsters, Sung Jinwoo’s shadows need to look as good and unique as they do in the source material, but it’s extremely important that their personalities are faithfully adapted as well. Shadows like Igris, Iron, Tusk, and Beru all have distinct personalities, specific tastes, and unique character traits that not only result in a fair share of funny comedic scenes but also humanize Jinwoo by giving him someone to bounce off of whenever there aren’t other humans around. The live-action series is likely to fail if the producers overlook this crucial aspect of the story and opt for a generic, faceless approach to Jinwoo’s shadows.

3

The Incredible Action

The One Thing Solo Leveling Is Known For Above All Else

If there’s one thing that’s celebrated about every incarnation of Solo Leveling, it’s the series’ incredible action sequences. The fight scenes in the original manhwa (which were illustrated by Jang Sung-rak) were brimming with style, flair, and detail, and they were all perfectly translated into A-1 Pictures’ animated adaptation, which has delighted anime fans with some of the most unbelievable and dynamic fight scenes in the entire industry so far.

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When it comes to the action in the live-action show, fans’ expectations are certainly very high, and it’ll be hard (albeit not impossible) for the producers to deliver on that promise. Suppose they manage to nail the choreography, fantastical special effects, and intense character drama of these encounters. In that case, the upcoming Solo Leveling series may end up having some of the absolute best live-action fight scenes in the history of television.

2

The Hunter’s Politics

Netflix Has The Potential To Surpass The Source Material In This One Area

It could be said that the story of Solo Leveling is split into two halves: Jinwoo’s experiences raiding and fighting monsters inside the portals, and the human politics surrounding said portals. After all, the world of this series is filled to the brim with Hunters who are divided into six Class Ranks and who belong to different Guilds that are constantly in turmoil over the ownership of the raid portals.

Due to their slow-paced nature, the scenes involving hunter politics in both the manhwa and anime can be a bit tiresome for some viewers, so the live-action series could very easily adapt them in a way that they become one of its strongest points. By taking notes from K-Dramas (and by using strong writing and acting), the conversations between Jinwoo and other hunters could definitely end up becoming one of the most engaging and interesting parts of the entire show. Furthermore, by extending some of these scenes and making them more interesting, the producers may end up creating something that they could use to fill out time without increasing the series’ budget.

1

Anime-Original Scenes

The Series Should Take The Best Of Both Worlds To Make The Perfect Adaptation

The Solo Leveling anime came out many years after the original light novel and manhwa had already ended, and the talented people at A-1 Pictures took perfect advantage of this by creating many anime-only scenes that feature characters who were originally introduced at much later points in the source material, like Cha Hae-in, Go Gunhee, most of the Korean S-Rank hunters, etc. Naturally, Solo Leveling fans received this change very well.

While the live-action series will most likely be based on the manhwa, its producers should not completely ignore the animated adaptation either, so all of those key figures should be introduced earlier in order to make this world feel more alive and cohesive. On top of that, they could even create brand-new scenes featuring plot points and characters that still haven’t been adapted into the anime, like international hunters Thomas Andre and Liu Zhigang. The live-action One Piece did something similar with some of its characters (like Monkey D. Garp), and it worked surprisingly well.