Premiering on 12 May, this six-episode series is set in the year 2071 in a dystopian version of Korea devastated by air pollution where the survival of humanity depends on the Black Knights who deliver oxygen— and they’re far from your average delivery men. The legendary deliveryman 5-8 and the refugee Sa Wol work to fight against the Chunmyeong Group, a cruel omnipotent force who controls the oxygen supply.
Heartthrob Kim Woo Bin takes on his first lead role since his career break after a cancer diagnosis back in 2017 as 5-8, an elite delivery driver who leads a double life along with 10 other refugees who dream of a world without Cheonmyeong.
Kang You Seok acts as the refugee boy Sa Wol who lives in secret in the house of a military major Jeong Seol-ah (played by Esom), who rescued him when he was young, but his dream is to become a deliveryman and receive an identity. Veteran actor Song Seung Heon of ‘Autumn in My Heart’ fame takes on the role of a villain, Ryu Seok, the CEO of Cheonmyeong who has no intention of sharing his world with the refugees.
We sat in on the press conference where the main cast and director shared some interesting titbits about the highly anticipated show.
Black Knight is set in a Unique Universe
Although we may be used to watching K-dramas set in modern-day Seoul, a lot of thought has been put into the background for this show. According to the director Cho Ui Seok, they decided to turn the Gangnam area, where the affluent population is concentrated now, into a district where refugees find shelter in the ruins of destroyed apartment complexes, while the selected few go underground to build a safe hiding place. The world in the story is divided into the General, Special, and Core Districts, ironically forming an inverted triangle in shape. This reminds us of the different districts in the Hunger Games world as well, with Katniss Everdeen hailing from District 12.
On top of that, careful detail went into every aspect of the show. For instance, in close-up shots and in one of the main posters of the shows, sharp-eyed viewers may notice that freckles were put on deliberately on the characters to depict the warm temperature of the setting. The different masks worn by the characters symbolise their social ranking such as Song Seung Heon’s elite status being reflected in his elaborate mask.
Its Visual Effects Are Spectacular
With a budget of ₩25 billion (approximately RM84 million), the TV series looks like a high-budget film. VFX Studio Westworld, which worked on series such as Squid Game and Sweet Home, worked on the show. They conducted source shooting in areas such as Bayanjak in Mongolia and Honggorin Els in the Gobi Desert. In the desert area, sand was laid on a construction site of 50,000 pyeong (16.5 hectares) , and a road was made with about 1 km of soil to digest various scenes filled with VFX.
Cho said, “Post-production took a long time because every single scene above ground required CGI. In the editing phase, we could only see the blue screen in the background, so I had extensive conversations with the CGI team to create the right images for the background. I am glad that many of the scenes have turned out better than what I expected, including the bird’s eye view of Seoul, the N Seoul Tower in ruins, and the dome-shaped gate leading to the underground path in Gwanghwamun.”
The Cast & Director Have Worked Together Before
Cho has several hit movies such as 2013’s Cold Eyes and 2016’s Master under his belt, but Black Knight is the director’s first attempt at making a TV series. Kim Woo Bin first worked together with him on Master which became the no.11 bestselling film for the year in Korea.
Song Seung Heon revealed that he first met the director more than two decades ago through the comedy film ‘Make it Big’. Song said, “I heard about the worldview and what was about to happen in a desertified Seoul, and I was very reeled in. We have been friends for 20 years and I have total trust in him. I told him that if there is a role I can play, I want to be in it.”
Meanwhile, Kim Woo Bin and Esom worked together back in 2011 on the TV series White Christmas. He said, “My debut was actually with Esom. And my very first scene was with her. (In Black Knight) she was oozing with charisma…her aura and energy was very stern so I loved to see it. I just had a great time working with her through and through.”
It is Not the Korean Mad Max
Being set in a desert wasteland, although the trailer has drawn comparisons to Mad Max, which is set in post-apocalyptic Australia, director Cho Ui Seok insists that this is not the case. Cho said, “If you watch the series, you will know that it is quite different from Mad Max. There are some scenes that will remind you of Mad Max but the narrative is quite different”.
New Characters Have Been Added from the Webtoon
As the series is based on the highly popular webtoon by Lee Yun Kyun, the director worked together with the original webtoon author for the show. Fans of the webtoon may notice several notable changes from the original. Cho said, “Compared to the webtoon, the worldview is the same, but the difference is because there are a lot of characters, so I tried to boil them down to the main gist and we added other characters. So, I talked to the creator, and he said to feel free to adjust it so I had that freedom.”
Song Seung Heon Was the Mood Maker on Set
Although Song may have a serious and charismatic image, he is the reverse in real life. Esom dished, “He would keep joking around onset, but it’s not the type of joke that you think is hilarious upfront, but you would think about it later that it’s really funny”. And according to Kim, Song always takes selfies. Song said, “When I’m working on a project, we sometimes have to upload photos on Instagram, I feel uneasy if I don’t have the photos ready.”
Watch the official trailer here:
You can also read the original Webtoon here. Find our coverage on the webtoon by Malaysian Hanza here. It's really good. Maybe it'll be adapted to a local drama series in the future too?
Image credit: Netflix