For most of its life Solo Leveling 나 혼자만 레벨업 has been something you read or watch in drawings. It began in 2016 as a web novel by Chugong on KakaoPage. Two years later it became a webtoon, drawn by the late Jang Sung-rak, known as Dubu, and that version is the one that went around the world. An anime by A-1 Pictures followed in 2024 and a second season in 2025, with a mobile game by Netmarble in between.
Now Netflix is making the version with real people. The lead was named in July 2025, and in the first week of October 2026 the rest of the main cast followed.
Netflix @netflix on X, 10 July 2025
Solo Leveling, the global phenomenon, is coming to Netflix as a live-action series starring Byeon Woo-seok as lead character Sung Jin-woo.
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The story, without spoilers
In this world, gates open in the middle of cities and lead to dungeons full of monsters. Hunters with special powers go in and fight, and every hunter has a fixed rank, from E at the bottom to S at the top. Sung Jin Woo is an E, known as the weakest hunter of all.
Then a raid goes wrong in a hidden second dungeon, and he barely survives. When he wakes up, he can see something no one else can: a system that gives him quests and lets him grow stronger. Every other hunter stays the rank they were born with. He is the only one who levels up. That is the title, and the whole hook.
Every other hunter stays the rank they were born with. He is the only one who levels up.
Who plays who
- Byeon Woo SeokSung Jin Woo, the E-rank hunter who starts to level up. Most viewers know him from Lovely Runner
- Han So HeeCha Hae In, the only woman among Korea's S-rank hunters, who fights with a longsword
- Kang You SeokYoo Jin Ho, second son of a rich family, who sticks to Jin Woo like a younger brother
- Sung JoonWoo Jin Chul, an A-rank inspector at the Hunters Association and the first to suspect something has changed
- Lee Sung MinGo Gun Hee, a retired top hunter who now chairs the Association (special appearance)
- RainBaek Yoon Ho, head of the White Tiger Guild, an S-rank hunter who can turn into a beast (special appearance)
Hypebeast @hypebeast on X, 7 October 2026
The cast of Netflix's live-action Solo Leveling, from Han So Hee as Cha Hae In to Rain as Baek Yoon Ho.
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Han So Hee as a sword fighter is an easy one to picture: she did her own fights in My Name. Rain is the other name K-pop fans will notice. He has been on stage since the early 2000s, and our Rain page has his songs if this is the first you hear of the singer side.
What we do not know yet
Netflix has not given a release date, and it has not said how many episodes there will be. The series is made by Kakao Entertainment and SANAI Pictures. So far Netflix has named six roles, and the webtoon has many more, so this is unlikely to be the full list.
Until then, the webtoon is the quickest way in. It is long, but the first chapters move fast, and once Jin Woo walks out of that second dungeon it is hard to stop.
Sources Soompi: Han So Hee, Kang You Seok, Sung Joon and more join Solo Leveling, Korea Portal: Solo Leveling live-action cast, Malay Mail: Byeon Woo Seok to star in Netflix's Solo Leveling, Wikipedia: Solo Leveling, What's on Netflix: Solo Leveling live-action.
