Solo Leveling's Live-Action Series Casts A Major Villain, And It Confirms A Major Difference From The Anime - MCE Notices | California State Portal

From The Legend of Kitchen Soldier to Teach You a Lesson, Netflix has been seeing great success with K-dramas based on webtoons as of late. That said, the platform’s biggest hit is yet to come, and it’s the upcoming live-action adaptation of Solo Leveling.

Starring some of the biggest names in Korean entertainment, such as Byeon Woo-seok and Han So-hee, Netflix’s live-action Solo Leveling series is currently one of the most highly anticipated releases of the franchise, especially with the anime still holding out on confirming Season 3. As revealed by the series’ main star quite recently, filming for Solo Leveling’s live-action is already underway, and the series has reportedly cast its first big villain.

Netflix’s Solo Leveling May Have Found Its Baruka

According to a report by Korean news outlet Newsen on June 8, Cha Woo-min has reportedly been cast as Baruka in Netflix’s live-action Solo Leveling. Baruka is the leader of ice elves that Jinwoo encounters in the Red Gate and is subsequently also the boss of said dungeon, who makes his debut in Season 2 of the anime.

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While Cha Woo-min’s agency, Just Entertainment, has yet to confirm or refute news of the casting, he would certainly be quite fit for the role. Cha Woo-min has previously starred in Study Group, Spirit Fingers, as well as Weak Hero, and is also set to star in the upcoming 2026 webtoon K-drama adaptation, My Favourite Employee, alongside Kim Hye-joon. He also took home the award for Best New Actor at the 2025 SBS Entertainment Awards for his role in Buried Hearts, making his reported casting in Solo Leveling quite a promising update for the series.

So far, the confirmed cast for the Solo Leveling live-action consists of Byeon Woo-seok as Sung Jinwoo, Han So-hee as Cha Hae-in, and Kang You-seok as Yoo Jinho. There were also recent reports about Kang Mi-na joining the cast of Solo Leveling, though her agency, Story J Company, specified that “nothing has been confirmed yet.” This includes her role in the series, though she is most likely expected to play Jinwoo’s sister Sung Jinah.

Solo Leveling’s Latest Casting Drops A Major Hint About The Live-Action’s Story

Byeon Woo-seok with Jinwoo from Solo Leveling

That said, the fact that Solo Leveling’s live-action has allegedly cast Baruka means the series will be adapting the Red Gate Arc at minimum, and possibly even more of the story. According to a job listing dug up by fans back in January 2026, it was revealed that the live-action series was looking at a seven-episode run. This episode count was quite disappointing, and it was unclear how much the live-action would be able to adapt within such a short run, even with feature-length episodes.

That said, Baruka’s casting gives fans a decent estimate of how much to expect from the live-action. The story up until the Red Gate Arc spans 14 episodes in the anime, so Solo Leveling’s live-action would comfortably be able to adapt this much within 7 episodes, even leaving some room for the series to breathe.

That said, with tighter pacing, it’s possible for Solo Leveling’s live-action to even make it up until the Return to the Demon Castle Arc, which makes up 21 episodes in the anime, suggesting a pace of 3 anime episodes per episode of the live-action. But of course, this is only speculation so far, and it will likely be some time until fans learn exactly how much more will be covered in the live-action. Even so, Solo Leveling’s newest addition to the franchise is looking promising so far, and it could hold up the good streak Netflix has had going lately.