Byeon Woo-seok is set to take on the lead role of Jinwoo in Netflix’s freshly announced live-action adaptation of Solo Leveling. While we’ve got no further details on the project as of yet, the anime’s success means the K-drama will likely enter the ranks of the best Netflix shows of all time.
If you’ve signed up for Crunchyroll during the Prime Day deals in the US, you’ll know Solo Leveling isn’t actually a Netflix IP. The anime streaming service already hosts the first two seasons of the original series alongside –ReAwakening, the 2024 movie that offers a recap of the first season along with a sneak peek of the first two episodes of season 2.
Solo Leveling will be a live-action K-drama, but fans of the anime – like me – might be worried about the incredibly vague third season… and there’s good reason to be.
Netflix’s live-action Solo Leveling could delay season 3 of the anime
After Solo Leveling season 2 wrapped up in March, there’s been absolutely no word on whether season 3 will exist, let alone when we’ll be able to see it. From a storyline perspective, we know it should return, with Jinwoo last seen deciding to stay on Jeju Island to fight off the remaining ants that terrorised the area. We know from the manga that the Jeju Island Arc is a springboard for more action, so technically there’s more than enough story to tell.
So why hasn’t Crunchyroll announced anything? The answer is unknown, but if there’s crossover between the webtoon, anime and live-action teams, the Netflix adaptation could now be a roadblock for season 3 progress. We don’t have an expected release date for either, but at least there’s confirmation that the upcoming K-drama exists.
If industry guesses are correct, the earliest we could see Solo Leveling season 3 would be in late 2026, leaning into 2027 worst case. Of course, this all hinges on whether it’s actually announced, with animation producer Atsushi Kaneko alluding to potential planning for it in a behind-the-scenes YouTube video for Crunchyroll. Still, no official news is no news at all.
Annoyingly, we’ve got a bunch of questions that the anime desperately needs to answer. What are the mysterious creatures that arrived at the end of season 2? What does Jinwoo’s dad want? Will Beru overpower him or turn against him? Will we ever get answers? Hopefully. But we’re likely to relive Jinwoo’s season 1 story all over again in live-action first.
