Disney+ original 'Vigilante' to tell dark hero tale
Disney+ is set to release the new Korean original series, “Vigilante,” about a police trainee taking justice into his own hands.
Based on the popular webcomic of the same name, the action thriller series revolves around Kim Ji-yong (Nam Joo-hyuk), a model student at the Korean National Police University. During the day, he’s an aspiring police officer, training in law enforcement. But at night, he lives a double life as a dark hero, under the nickname Vigilante, bringing judgment to criminals who have escaped the law.
Filmmaker Choi Jeong-Yeol, whose previous work was the comedy action film “Start-Up” (2019), directed the series with judge-turned-scriptwriter Moon Yoo-seok, who wrote “The Devil Judge” (2021), joining as a creator.
“I found the webcomics to be very intense. I really wanted to work on it,” director Choi said during the press conference for the series held at Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam District, Seoul, Monday.
“As I adopted the webcomics into a series, I tried to bring out its strengths. I had a strong intention to craft cliff-hanging endings that would make viewers eagerly anticipate the next episode.”
The series follows Kim’s double life and the people around him, including Jo Heon (Yu Ji-tae), the captain of the Metropolitan Investigation Squad who is in pursuit of Vigilante, and Jo Gang-ok (Lee Joon-hyuk), a rich heir and ardent supporter of Vigilante.
Expressing the challenge of condensing a 141-episode webcomic into an eight-part series, the director shared that his focus was to delve into the relationships of the characters and the stories that surface from their interactions.
“I worked hard to capture the most intriguing elements of the original work: how the characters’ relationships evolve and the events that unfold as the characters get entangled with each other,” he said.
“As the webcomics covered such a vast story, which was too much to cover in eight episodes, I tried to only keep impactful scenes to maintain tension. I wanted this series to develop at a fast pace so I put effort into emphasizing impactful and compact incidents to make the series intense.”
Lead actor Nam could not make it to the press conference, as he is currently serving mandatory military service. In a video, he expressed gratitude for the co-stars and production team, asking viewers for their support.
“I put in a lot of time and thought when preparing for 'Vigilante.' I'm grateful to the actors and staff who worked on it. I hope you have high expectations for the upcoming series and I kindly ask for your warm support and interest,” Nam said in the video.
Yu plays a charismatic detective who chases after Vigilante. The actor said he gained about 20 kilograms to play the formidable character.
“I’ve gained weight for a role before, but bulking and increasing muscle mass was a new experience. The character needed to have a strong body , so I went for the shape of a bodybuilder,” Yu said.
He added he felt he was destined to meet the series as he enjoyed the webcomic when it came out.
“I had been interested in this piece since the webcomic. I was confident that 'Vigilante' would become popular globally. I even recommended it to people around me,” he said. “Several years later, when the chance to join the series as a significant role came, it felt like fate.”
"Vigilante" will be released on Wednesday.
source: The Korea Times
Based on the popular webcomic of the same name, the action thriller series revolves around Kim Ji-yong (Nam Joo-hyuk), a model student at the Korean National Police University. During the day, he’s an aspiring police officer, training in law enforcement. But at night, he lives a double life as a dark hero, under the nickname Vigilante, bringing judgment to criminals who have escaped the law.
Filmmaker Choi Jeong-Yeol, whose previous work was the comedy action film “Start-Up” (2019), directed the series with judge-turned-scriptwriter Moon Yoo-seok, who wrote “The Devil Judge” (2021), joining as a creator.
“I found the webcomics to be very intense. I really wanted to work on it,” director Choi said during the press conference for the series held at Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam District, Seoul, Monday.
“As I adopted the webcomics into a series, I tried to bring out its strengths. I had a strong intention to craft cliff-hanging endings that would make viewers eagerly anticipate the next episode.”
The series follows Kim’s double life and the people around him, including Jo Heon (Yu Ji-tae), the captain of the Metropolitan Investigation Squad who is in pursuit of Vigilante, and Jo Gang-ok (Lee Joon-hyuk), a rich heir and ardent supporter of Vigilante.
Expressing the challenge of condensing a 141-episode webcomic into an eight-part series, the director shared that his focus was to delve into the relationships of the characters and the stories that surface from their interactions.
“I worked hard to capture the most intriguing elements of the original work: how the characters’ relationships evolve and the events that unfold as the characters get entangled with each other,” he said.
“As the webcomics covered such a vast story, which was too much to cover in eight episodes, I tried to only keep impactful scenes to maintain tension. I wanted this series to develop at a fast pace so I put effort into emphasizing impactful and compact incidents to make the series intense.”
Lead actor Nam could not make it to the press conference, as he is currently serving mandatory military service. In a video, he expressed gratitude for the co-stars and production team, asking viewers for their support.
“I put in a lot of time and thought when preparing for 'Vigilante.' I'm grateful to the actors and staff who worked on it. I hope you have high expectations for the upcoming series and I kindly ask for your warm support and interest,” Nam said in the video.
Yu plays a charismatic detective who chases after Vigilante. The actor said he gained about 20 kilograms to play the formidable character.
“I’ve gained weight for a role before, but bulking and increasing muscle mass was a new experience. The character needed to have a strong body , so I went for the shape of a bodybuilder,” Yu said.
He added he felt he was destined to meet the series as he enjoyed the webcomic when it came out.
“I had been interested in this piece since the webcomic. I was confident that 'Vigilante' would become popular globally. I even recommended it to people around me,” he said. “Several years later, when the chance to join the series as a significant role came, it felt like fate.”
"Vigilante" will be released on Wednesday.
source: The Korea Times