For many of us comics are a nostalgic part of our childhood. If you ask someone about their favorite comicbook character, it’s a good bet it would be from a DC or Marvel comic series. However, don't be surprised if nowadays you hear a few of webtoon names thrown in the mix as well.
What is a Webtoon?
Introduced in the late 90's Webtoons are a type of digital comics originating from Korea. Compared to their Western counterparts like DC and Marvel comics who have a history of over a hundred years, Webtoons are a fairly new medium but one which quickly rose to popularity due to their unique art and gripping stories, and hard work of their creators. Also, the ease of availability, made possible through the online presence of webtoons. Right now there are thousands of webtoons published and available for free on webtoons.com.
The tradition of adapting comics into movies is an old and successful one. The most famous examples are again DC and Marvel comics that have been adapted into successful movies and television series for decades. Similarly, many Korean webtoons have also been adapted into successful movies. Here is a list of our favourite Korean movies that are adapted from webtoons.
Secret Zoo (2020)
The 2020 movie Secret Zoo is based on the webtoons UNUZOOAL ZOO ( Also known as "I won't bully you") with story and illustrations by HUN.
The movie (and the webtoon) follows the story of a struggling attorney Tae Soo. He has been given the job of saving a failing zoo. The problem is the zoo doesn't have any crowd pulling animals left. Tae Soo, comes up with the idea of the staff wearing animal costumes pretending to be animals. This way they will still be able to run the zoo. As ridiculous as it may sound the idea works. But it would take a lot more than just animal costumes to save the zoo.
Directed by Son Jae-gon, Secret Zoo is a great family film. The movie stars Ahn Jae-hong in the lead role of Kang Tae-soo. The rest of the cast includes Kang So-ra, Park Yeong-Gyu, Kim Sung-oh, and Jeon Yeo-been.
Steel Rain (2017)
Released on December 14, 2017, Steel Rain is based on the webtoons of the same name, with the story by Woo-Suk Yang and Zephy, and illustrations by Zephy. The webtoons series was published from April 28, 2011 - January 5, 2012.
The movie is directed by the writer of the webtoons Woo-Suk Yang, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie. The cast includes Kwak Do-Kwon and Jung Woo-sung in lead roles.
Steel Rain is an action thriller. The story revolves around Eom Chul-Woo, an ex-agent who was given the task to assassinate two people in order to stop a coup against North Korean Great Leader. However, the coup does happens and Chul-Woo barely manages to save the North Korean Great Leader and cross the border into the South Korea to escape from the pursuers after them. Now the rogue military unit that has seized control of North Korea is determined to start a war with South Korea. The minister of foreign affairs of South Korea Kwak Chul-woo finds this out and tracks down Eom Chul-Woo and together they try to stop the two countries from going to full-scale nuclear war.
A stand alone sequel Steel Rain 2: Summit was released in July 2020, also directed by Woo-Suk Yang. Kwak Do-kwon and Jung Woo-sung also returned in lead roles however played characters different from the original movie.
Inside Men (2015)
Inside Men is a political crime thriller, based on the popular webtoon, 'The Insiders', by Yoon Tae-ho. The movie is directed by Woo Min Hoo. The cast includes Lee Byung-hun, Cho Seung-woo, Baek Yoon-sik, and Lee Geung-young.
Inside Men is a story of corruption, manipulation, and abuse of political power and media. A former henchman of a presidential candidate is hell-bent on revenge. An ambitious prosecutor is looking for his chance to rise in ranks by uncovering the truth of funding for presidential elections, and of course the politician and media covering their tracks. The story cleverly depicts how easily corruption and the power of media can easily manipulate the narrative in eyes of the masses.
Inside men stands as the highest-grossing R-rated domestic Korean film in ticket admission with over 9.1 million admissions at the box office.
Secretly, Greatly (2013)
Released in 2013, the blockbuster film Secretly, Greatly was also based on a webtoon series 'Covertness' by Hun. The movie is directed by Jang Cheol-soo and features Kim Soo-Hyun, Park Ki-woong, Lee Hyun-woo in the lead roles.
Secretly, Greatly narrates the story of three young North Korean spies sent on a mission to South Korea. These young lads disguise themselves as a high school students, a singer and a village fool and infiltrate a small town in South Korea. One day they receive a mission brief to kill themselves. Would they follow the orders?
Covertness is undoubtedly one of the most famous webtoons of Korea. The movie also followed its stead in popularity. Secretly, Greatly broke many box-office records including the record for most ticket sales on its first day of release by a Korean film, highest opening weekend, and the highest-grossing webtoon-based film. It also broke the records for fastest million, two million, three million, and four million marks in audience number.
Along with the Gods (2017-2018)
It might surprise you find that the famous two-part movie series of Along With the Gods is based on a webtoon series by Joo Ho-min with the same title.
The movie series was directed by Kim Yong-hwa and has two parts, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, released on 20 December, 2017, and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days, released on 1 August, 2018. The main cast of the movies included Cha Tae-hyun, Kim Dong-wook, Kim Hyang-gi, Ju Ji-hoon, and Ha Jung-woo.
Along with the Gods: The Two World tells the story of firefighter Kim Ja-hong who, after his untimely death during a rescue, meets three guardians/ Grim reapers. He is informed they will assist him during his trials of after-life. In the next 49 days, he must pass 7 trials. If he passes these he will be reincarnated. His trials are affected by the death of his brother Kim Soo-hong who becomes a vengeful spirit.
Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days continues the story from its predecessor and follows the trials of Kim Soo-hong,
Made with a total budget of US$36.6 million, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days accumulated box office earnings of US$108.2 million and US$92.5 million respectively. Also Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds and Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days are 3rd and 11th most-watched domestic films of all time in South Korea respectively.
Further, both Films broke many box-office records. Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days set the record for the highest pre-sale tickets in South Korea's box office history. The film also broke the opening day record in South Korea Along. Along with the Gods also holds the record for the reaching fastest 7, 8, and 9 million views in South Korean box office history.
That's it for the list of our favorite Webtoon based Korean movies. So which is your favorite movie based on a webtoon? Also, which of these movies did you think was adapted best to the original source? Which Webtoons series you think should be adapted into a movie soon?
Until next time!