New KBS drama Iron Man casts Ji Sung, Shin Se-kyung

80 July 8, 2014September 15, 2014

New KBS drama Iron Man casts Ji Sung, Shin Se-kyung

by girlfriday

Aiee, at first I was excited at the prospect of Ji Sung (Secret) headlining a superhero drama, but then came news that Shin Se-kyung (When a Man Loves) was being courted to play the heroine. I swear I’ve tried, but I have never liked her in anything. For now the upside is that both actors are only considering the project, since it’s still in early casting stages. The new drama is called Iron Man and was announced as the Wednesday-Thursday show slated to follow Joseon Gunman in the fall.

I have no idea why they think it’s a good idea to call a drama Iron Man — I mean, they do know about Iron Man the comic book hero, right? Does KBS not have a legal department, or do they just think no one will notice? Anyway, the description is frustratingly vague, but it’s a supernatural drama about a hero whose body sprouts knives, leaving his body covered in scars. He’s a smart, wealthy, prickly man who suddenly develops this ability and faces hardships for the first time in his life, and discovers love and grows up along the way. I still don’t understand the superpower, but I half expect the drama doesn’t either.

The one-liner description says he gets this power because of all the pain he carries in his heart, so it sounds like a literal manifestation of emotional pain, which still doesn’t actually explain the power. The heroine is a meddlesome sort who loves the hero and takes it upon herself to turn him into a real man, whatever that means. I’m actually not that worried about the premise making an internal kind of sense — it’s just that I have no idea what that is until the press releases start being more descriptive.

Writing is Kim Gyu-wan of Cinderella’s Sister, and directing is PD Kim Yong-soo of Sword and Flower, Equator Man, and White Christmas. Yeek. The thing is, I loved White Christmas, which was a case where the subject matter, the writing, and the directing style really meshed well together, elevating everything. Sword and Flower, on the other hand, was a disaster of epic proportions, and has effectively made me approach this director’s future work with one eyebrow permanently raised. Now I REALLY don’t know what to expect from this drama, because the story of a regular man who struggles with a newfound superpower could be really cool; a study on the negative space of blade on skin and the number of steps it takes a man with knives for feet to cross a room? Not so much.

Iron Man premieres in September.

Via Star News, IS Plus

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51 Brynne Muir

July 23, 2014 at 12:07 PM

Apart from the bizarre concept presented, I can practically predict a flop just by seeing who's been cast. In my two years of K-drama viewing experience, I've encountered two types of drama fiascos: the one where, regardless of how compelling the story is, the actors are incapable of carrying it off, and the second where, regardless of how compelling the actors have proven themselves to be in past projects, the story is simply ill-conceived. The most ill-fated of all are those productions that seem to rely solely upon the featuring of some K-pop idol who cannot emote in real life, let alone on screen.
The most pleasant of experiences has been when unknowns have been cast to present a compelling and more often than not, simple story. No high school melodrama, no time travel or mystical experiences; just human stories, with a bit of angst thrown in. Needless to say, the dramas enjoyed by me do not generally entertain the masses.
Anyhoo...