Netflix’s Black Knight raised expectations after they released the trailer and behind the scenes.
Set in 2071, Black Knight shows an apocalyptic world wherein people depend on respirator masks to breathe due to extreme air pollution. Legendary deliveryman “5-8” with extraordinary battle skills who encounters refugee Sa-wol and inspires him to follow in his footsteps.
The upcoming series shows a brutal social hierarchy that determines who will be given access to resources for survival. Based on Lee Yong-gyun’s webtoon series of the same name, the six-episode sci-fi prophetic series narrates the story of a dystopian future wherein the Korean Peninsula is devastated by air pollution following a comet strike.
In desolation, humanity’s survival depends on deliverymen, the “Black Knights,” who deliver parcels of oxygen and other necessities. Kim Woo-bin plays the former refugee “5-8,” who recruits others at the bottom of society to join him in overthrowing the hierarchy. Song Seung-Hyeon plays the role of an heir of a powerful conglomerate, which unevenly distributes resources based on the class divide. Esom plays a military intelligence officer who joins the rebel group led by 5-8.
The series is helmed by director and screenwriter Choi Eui-Seok, who remains faithful to the original webtoon’s universe and enhances it by restructuring it into a compact version with new characters. During a press conference on Wednesday, Choi stated that they loved the original webtoon and its universe. They decided to make it into a series as they liked the webtoon’s concept. They said that a dystopian world wherein people must wear masks for survival is plausible, as the mask mandate had been in place during the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kim Woo-bin introduces his character as a “legendary” figure fighting against social injustice as he has the knowledge of the sorrows of being born as a refugee in a starkly divided world.
Black Knight is set to premiere on Friday, May 12, 2023.
Source: Netflix 2023 Slate and Yonhap News
