Ji Chang Wook Offered Role in Superhero K-drama Twelve Alongside Ma Dong Seok
So this K-drama was announced last year prior to Moving becoming a mega hit for Disney+ so it wasn’t trying to get on the superhero K-drama train. The drama is called Twelve and tells the story of superheroes living among us who band together as a team of protectors. Sure it sounds like K-drama Avengers but I think the simple premise still lends itself to many many types of stories to tell. Like Moving turned it into parents-kids story with a side of government assholery. Twelve was announced to top movie star Ma Dong Seok and then months went by but it appears to be back on track in production as this week K-ent is reporting that Ji Chang Wook has been offered a male lead role in the drama as well. If he accepts he will also be playing a superhero and I think Ji Chang Wook in action settings is always a win from Healer to K2.
Wow!!! Great!! Love it!!
I enjoyed Ji Chang Wook in Healer very much. The drama I became his small fan. But I dont not watch all his projects..as some did not interest me. I think this will be good.
Me too all for Healer! LOL. His recent drama like Welcome to Samdal-ri bored me to death. I’m just not the one for Korean slice of life genre. It hasn’t worked well on me so far except for one drama I struggled but still finished for Gong Hyo Jin, When the Camellia Blooms. Nonetheless, JCW is more bearable in WtS than Kang Ha-neul in Camellia Blooms though. I was surprised to find out later KHN got Baeksang Best Actor that year. Welp! SK domestic audience oftentimes have different appreciation of Kdrama than international fans. LOL.
Korean version of avengers? LOL. I’m excited about this if the drama has similar qualities of Moving.
It could be a hit and miss…I hope it will be good.
I’ll tentatively watch for this. Don’t watch kdramas much but the combo of Ma Dong Seok and JCW have me paying attention. Never watch anything of his since Empress Ki. Go’s that was ages ago. 😅
Dont worry lol. JCW did a truck load and more drama since EK, and yet you havent missed much.
It will be interesting to see the tone this drama Twelve will have. Seing JCW in a drama with Ma Dong Seok is giving me flashbacks to Seo In Guk and Ma Dong Seok in Squad 38 which I LOVED.
JCW works non-stop like he’s got overdue rent. I’m surprised he isn’t experiencing burnout yet.
He’s one of my fave K-actors and is the complete package – gorgeous, can act, very versatile with his projects, never phones it in. It’s a shame that he hasn’t hit the upper leagues yet. He really should be up there with the A+ list stars given what he brings to the table.
Will it related to his choice of dramas? Some were really bad… like that “Melt me softly” & “Backstreet rookie” which put him in the less than B category for a quite while… He truly needs a good script to turn his fate around.
I wouldn’t call an artist with whooping 27 million followers ,apart from an A list. He has the most loyal fandom.
Agree.
I do see him as an A list actor. He is awesome actor. I think it’s safe to say he is seen as a very reliable actor by everyone in the industry judging by how much work he have. I do not see people unless already biased say negative criticism of his acting.
But I’ve to say he got bad taste and bad luck with many of his projects. That’s why he is not an A+ list actor.
JCW is definitely not A-list lmao. No A-list actor would accept projects like Backstreet Rookie and Melting Me Softly. I have a soft spot for JCW because I’ve watched his career grew from supporting roles to leading roles. But he’s NOT an A-lister. Star writers are not clamoring to hire him, his projects are not prestigious, and he’s mostly known internationally than domestically. I kind of see him as the same level as Park Min Young, they’re well-known and popular enough, but they’re not the ones top writers and PDs will hire for big, prestigious projects. They also don’t have the kind of star power that will make korean people watch something just because they’re in it. Since PMY had a hit drama recently, she’s a bit higher than JCW but they’re more or less in the same awkward tier of in between B-list and A minus IMO
I like him but most of his dramas are a miss. Even though he is talented, he doesn’t have a eye for good script and that is the most important thing for an actor. I have seen even a mediorce actor who has good script sense is considered a good actor. I wonder if JCW is considered an A list in Korea among the likes of Lee Jong Seok and Kim Soo Hyun.
I don’t think it’s necessarily that he doesn’t have an eye for good scripts, it’s more so that he isn’t selective…at all. He doesn’t breaks between projects, which makes me wonder how he finds time to get in and out of characters and prep for roles.
He either is a workaholic or has huge bills due.
I’ve followed Ji Chang Wook since Sons of Sol Pharmacy, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, & Empress Ki era. His acting felt like a breath of fresh air then. Super emotive eyes. Healer was a highlight.
Started falling off around K2. Like many others on online, I too thought he lost his shine. But…then I watched Lovestruck in the City and while I know it was controversial, his acting & chemistry with Kim Ji Won was phenomenal! I truly feel the drama is an underrated gem; it explores complex themes like what it means to change and evolve yourself. It made me watch other dramas during his post-army era that were overlooked and I realized many of them are underrated gems: high quality, explore complex themes and characters, and he acts his ass off in all of them. They just…didn’t become hits.
There are tons of hits that are badly written. And tons of well-written narratives with amazing acting that don’t become hits. After actually parsing through his post-army filmography, I honestly think Ji Chang-wook just got…unlucky. The scripts & roles he chose weren’t bad or uninteresting; they all had so much potential! And the writers/directors/PD’s he was working with were all famous! The dude literally just got…unlucky.
Fast forward to this past year. He gave his finest performance yet in The Worst of Evil. He was also excellent in Welcome to Samdalri. Since creating his own management, he’s really starting to pick up steam again and choosing noticeable projects. Baeksang nominations were announced today and international AND Korean netizens are pissed he wasn’t on the list.
Currently watching Queen of Tears with Kim Soo Hyun and can’t help but compare his acting to Ji Chang Wook’s since I’m getting caught up with JCW’s filmography this month at the same time. Growing up, I was a WAY bigger fan of Kim Soo Hyun and Lee Jong Seok. I thought they were gonna be the biggest shit ever (think Dream High era & I Can Hear Your Voice). And indeed, they now are. But somehow, I can’t help but feel like they’ve stagnated in their acting…and seem stiff and cold now. Esp. thinking of Lee Jong Seok in Big Mouth, Romance is a Bonus Book, & Park Hye Ryun’s dramas. He and Kim Soo Hyun…they haven’t really explored different roles. They’ve stuck to what they know. I gotta give it to Ji Chang Wook in that regard, dude’s taken RISKS. They haven’t all worked out, but I gotta respect that he did that and I think it’s shaping him up to have an interesting and versatile career. It feels like with JCW, his elusive A-List status is what fuels him, like he feels he’s still got something to prove. I almost selfishy wishes he doesn’t win major awards for a long time. It feels like he’s only getting started and I’m intrigued to see where his hunger will push him.
Just my two cents. 🙂
Why JCW’s fans so fond of criticizing Kim Soo Hyun? JCW was good in Worst of evil? KSH was good in Ordinary day. JCW was good in Samdari? His character definitely more simple there than Baek Hyun Woo in Queen of tears.
The hate train JCW fans pushed on KSH since his nomination is insane.
Like a week ago no one of JCW’s fans cared about him, but now most of JCW fans do nothing but talk about KSH, and how good JCW is compared with him. Even though KSH’s fans don’t compared their acting at all.
You can love and support your actor and not trying to push down other at the same time.
Calling deltadragon23’s comment “a hate train pushed on KSH” is wild lol. Have you maybe considered…a person can be a fan of both JCW AND KSH and therefore have opinions on both? And comparing their work is not an attack on either actor/an attempt to start fanwars but merely an expression of their subjective opinion? And that opinion is subjective and it’s totally completely absolutely fine if you disagree? Cause maybe then you’ll be able to chill and let people have their opinions without feeling the need to steer them in your preferred direction? No? Ok
LOL I am honestly just so tired of JCW fans that I’ll say it out.
You JCW fangirls always seem so bitter about any actor doing well in his age group. The fangirlies keep picking fights randomly.
But I’ll let you in on something- LJS/KSH/SJK fans have never considered JCW a competitor… his level is so far below, his drama choices so abysmal, his critical acclaim so non existent, that he doesn’t register as someone even close to the same league. The only reason JCW is getting this much attention rn is because you keep dragging other actors and making fans react. If not, he’s a non entity here.
An actor who keeps accepting anything that is offered to him, regardless on quality – that’s not the sign of /trust/ from the industry. That’s the sign of /desperation/. And looking at how most of his dramas are huge flops, he was likely offered scraps others don’t want. Truth hurts, huh?
*insert girl spitting out water in laughter meme*
@Tantan – Dishing out cold facts with zero chill 🤣
are you sure you’re not the bitter one here? Cause your comment sure reads like a bitter fangirl dragging another actor for reactions haha
Not disputing any of your points on JCW’s accolades or lack thereof though lol thanks for the laugh
@deltadragon23, you should just stop wrting after the first three paragraphs, the rest it’s so unnecessary, REALLY!!. Your two cents just fell in the drain.
“I thought they’re gonna be the biggest shit ever” ???????
Lol I really triggered something in the comments. I’m not like some super fan of JCW so chill. I’m a fan of acting as a medium for art and storytelling. I’m a fan of K-Dramas in general and of JCW, KSH, AND LJS.
What I’m doing is critiquing an art form. And sometimes, certain observations only become more clear when you compare them, such as two different actors’ career paths. They can act as foils to each other.
KSH & LJS are exemplary actors and I have no doubt they’ll do excellently in their career and will continue to grow. I do think, however, that both would benefit from continuing to challenge their skills by taking on different kinds of roles written by different writers. They tend to stick to who they’ve worked with before: Park Ji Eun & Park Hye Ryun specifically. I think it’d do both good to branch out.
I really wish awknowledgements and critiques of K-dramas and acting weren’t always made into fan wars. We should be able to compare and contrast 2 different people’s acting and career paths without making it some kind of crazy fan war.
Last point…I think it makes sense people are bringing up JCW & KSH at the same time together due to Baeksang announcements? KSH has been nominated multiple times, QOT is still airing, and he’s great in it but Kim Ji Won is the real star of the drama. I think it makes sense people are side-eyeing his nomination considering what JCW achieved with The Worst of Evil. It would have made a lot more sense for KSH to be nominated next year, esp. since KSH was nominated this year without Kim Ji Won.
Muahaha can’t wait to trigger more responses with my reply. How fun.
Ijbol. How fun is you thinking you’re the Hyeri in this situation when you’re actually the HSH.
Writing essays after essays of analysis while everyone else isn’t even bothering to argue. How… HSH like lmbo. Please write another long post embarrassing JCW, while KSH goes around winning accolades after another. Good thing you can’t delete here!
Since you think we reversed roles, I’ll play along. This is fun for me too. Pfffft
Kjw is the real star if the drama? What a joke is this! Her screen time has been constantly decreasing post ep6 and the entire plot is being driven by ksh’s character. You gotta be blind to not see who is the central character of the show. Literally every plot point and track is written to show Hyunwoo’s character growth.
There’s not one scene where kjw has been talk of the town except her strutting around in fashionable outfits. Critics and knetz alike have been showering praises on ksh since ep1. Kjw is playing a very basic kdrama cold fl done and dusted multiple times in kdramas. There’s nothing star like in it.
Comparing ksh to jcw is like an insult to the former.
@Caro, that’s a stretch to insinuate deltadragon23 is HSH. LOL. She’s entitled to her opinion. She made a case with her points about acting that I don’t see anything going overboard. That’s her assessment about acting quality. It’s not like everyone has to appreciate the same actor as you do. You don’t have to agree with her either. But to compare her with HSH? LOL. That’s a reach.
Wt actual f. Why are you bringing LJS in this??? You are jealous because poor oppa did not get nominated for a flop show and decided you will just insult LJS for what?? Funny enough despite all your bs, LJS got his first Daesang 8 years ago. When was the last time ur guy even won a legit acting award?
@deltadragon23
So what if JCW played well in his drama? Many actors played well, not all of them received nomination.
I already told you, if Ji Chang Wook was good in Worst of evil then Kim Soo Hyun was good in One ordinary day. And KSH wasn’t nominated too. In Korea too many good actors to nominating everyone of them.
“KSH should wait for next year”? And what else can he do for your beloved JCW?
Even if KSH often working with the same writer, it doesn’t make his characters the same, all of them different from each other. His character in Queen of Tears is completely different from his character in Ordinary day. Knock off has nothing similar with Queen of tears plot as well.
Why do you even bringing up Kim Ji Won in this? She is a FEMALE actress! Male nomination has nothing to do with her.
I’m a big fan of hers and I’m disappointed that she wasn’t nominated. But first, it’s not KSH fault. Second, she’s definitely not the only star in this drama, KJW and KSH are on equal terms. They get the same amount of screen time and the opportunity to show their acting skills. This drama is one of the rare cases when not one of the actors shadowed each other, they work in a perfect tandem.
Your attempts to say that KSH didn’t deserve the award because his female lead plays well are strange.
That’s why most of JCW’s fans look like delusional. You can’t accept that JCW didn’t get nomination, so you’re trying your best to criticize KSH’s nomination. You even cited a female actress as an example, although she has nothing to do with the male award.
JCW’s fans do nothing but comparing him to KSH since his nomination. And of course talk how JCW is good compared to him. It’s hard not to notice.
Needless to say, it looks pathetic? Next time just try accept his no-nomination with dignity.
Okay, as a JCW girlie, I’m asking you to stop right now. I’m literally just facepalming while reading your comment. I’m not even tRiGgErEd by your long essay, I’m just feeling secondhand embarrassment. You want to see yourself as the chill, level-headed fan who so good at TrIgGeRiNg people, and it’s just not working. Honey, no one said you can’t criticize an art form, but no need to mention other actors’ names.
You said, “I really wish acknowledgments and critiques of KDramas weren’t always made into fanwars”.
Huh? You really said that after dragging other actors’ names knowing damn well it will cause a fanwar? You 100% know what you’re doing lol. Like I said, I’m a JCW since Warrior Baek Dong Soo days, but I’m not delusional enough to think he’s an objectively better actor than KSH. Like, I love JCW, I love his visuals, I love his gaze, I love many things about him. but I would never act like he’s at the same level as KSH, LJS, and SJK (this is coming from someone who doesn’t like SJK, but I can be objective in my judgements). Please just stop, you’re a bad representation of JCW fans 🤦🏻♀️
haha omg deltadragon23 really triggered a bunch of butthurt KSH/LJS/SJK fans. It’s not egregious to compare an actor’s craft to another actor’s. Actors get compared. It happens. And it’s fine if you disagree, opinions are subjective. KSH/LJS/SJK will not personally thank/date you for defending their honor with such vitriol. Lol how fun indeed.
Don’t bother justifying. This site is full of ksh fans who think he is the greatest actor in the world. Half of his successful dramas are carried by the FL(including qot). JCW might not be the greatest actor but atleast he is trying
Will JWC Stan’s quit embarrassing him? Who on earth would be butthurt over king of 1% ratings.
*JCW
Not a JCW or KSH fan, but it’s hilarious to see KSH fans frothing at the mouth calling other people embarrassing or pathetic. Not butthurt over king of 1% ratings huh? Sure. The number of self-appointed attorneys in the replies coming to defend KSH when he’s not even under attack.. lol speaks for itself
Superhero drama , not my cup of tea anymore, the profusion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the bad Dc Comic ‘s movies killed in me el gusto of this genre . I used to like it but less is more . I was so excited when I watched Sam Rami’s Spiderman , Iron man and the Guardians of Galaxy but after it was more about visual effects, wars, …the last one i watched was Spiderman no way home because of the madeleine de Proust side .
Another drama JCW would surely accept. Does he even bother reading the script or asks his agency to go to his calendar immediately? Dude must be in so much debt to be working like a cow with dramas the quality of dung.
Ma Dong Seok is amazing. If he is still considering it, then JCW is prob playing 2nd fiddle which is good. He needs some supporting roles in a decent drama instead of leading crap ones. Do we know anything about the production team?
Ma Dong Seok, love him, Did you watch Police unit 38 drama ?
I consider myself a beneficiary of this Baeksang fan war. LOL. Why? I got to know some potential dramas to watch. In other threads fans argued about the nominations of best actress where I got a huge list of drama recommendations. Bingo! LOL. Here some ppl mentioned JCW’s drama, the Worst of Evil. It sounds like something I’d be interested too. I haven’t finished or even checked any of JCW’s dramas since his breakout hit Healer. Welcome to Samdalri is somehow a snoozefest for me. But I became much interest in crime dramas after watching several good ones including Flower of Evil, Children of Nobody, and The Fiery Priest. After finishing Itaewon Class, my next mission is to check out the Worst of Evil. Thanks for the mention. LOL. As to QoT, I’m afraid I’d forever be stuck at ep5 with very low motivation to continue. It’s just not for me considering how black comedy was delivered in the first few eps.
Some of critique of KSH in the thread above isn’t really unreasonable to me. I’d been a huge fan of KSH since The Moon Embracing the Sun that I’ve rewatched several times and have felt like watching again recently. However, I had trouble finishing his recent dramas. Like Song Joong Ki, KSH is a great actor. But somehow I find their acting styles become predictable that’s not as intriguing as before if the plots or genres aren’t really up my alley. One Ordinary Day was another drama showcasing KSH’s talent. Both It’s Okay to Not Be Okay and QoT are the cases where I lost interest a few eps into the stories and KSH’s acting wasn’t appealing enough for me to follow the dramas further. Also in these two series, I was more impressed by his leading ladies than himself.
I like JCw, KSH,…but for me the best actors are Kim Nam Gil, Nam Goong Min, Ji Sung, Lee Sun Kyung, Song Kang Ho ,Shin Ha Kyung,…and many actors who always play 2 or 3 rd leads but are great . All theses actors about the same generation are really good .
I really love Kim Nam Gil… the rest in the list is great too.
@cahill, so much agree with you. I was already appealed to NGM when he was still playing 2nd fiddle to other MLs, wondering when the roulette would turn to him. Obviously he’s got breakout while I took the hiatus from dramaland. I don’t know SKH or SHK. But I totally agree with you about the others. Thank you for recommending The Fiery Priest that’s my first drama of KNG. He is soooooo charismatic and now his dramas are on my plate to watch.
Talking about supporting actors, as we’ve seen in Marry My Husband, Lee Yi-kyung is someone I definitely commend. Now adding another actor to my list of great supporting roles, Ahn Bo-hyun. ABH was sooooo good in Itaewon Class that it’s no surprise he was later promoted to leading roles.
SK has such a huge pool of acting talent that’s on par with western ent. It’s ridiculous Cdrama is relatively lacking in acting talent compared with Kdrama given 1.4 billion population.
Feels like are in a time loop; very 2013-14 circa rn. Curious about the fuss for this drama since there were so many comments. Then realized everyone was just talking about KSH the whole time 😅😅
Truly find these fan wars to be hilarious and baffling…. JCW stans need to give it a rest. No amount of whining and crying will change the final nomination list and 60 experts is a lot of people to be arguing against. You are just attracting hate from a very powerful fandom? And KSH fans also need to stop fighting and just let it goooo…. It was one comment. Is it really worth it when you guys won already? What will you gain by continuing seriously? Doesn’t make sense.
You guys are only increasing koalas’ adv gains 🤣🤣
@Penguin
As someone who was pissed off by this one comment, I can tell what it was just last drop for me.
JCW fans talking so many sh*t things about KSH since his nomination: he was chosen due to his favoritism, he bought this nomination, how bad actor he is etc. It’s less noticeable on koala’s site, but in twitter JCW has a lot more international fans than KSH, so their comments everywhere.
So when I read this comment: was agree with 3 paragraphs and when that last paragraph about KSH came, it was just “Oh sh*t, here we go again. When are they leave him alone”
(I don’t remember what email I used as I didn’t expect to respond back, so the icon will look different)
Lol, I do get it but also, realistically you guys should know that it’s a clutching at straws / desperate plea to be heard situation, no?
KSH being a Baeksang favourite is indeed true tho. I believe that because he’s a good actor. It’s like Kim Hee-ae who has so many Baeksang nomination and wins. She’s also a good actress and a Baeksang fav. That’s not a bad thing?
As for buying a Baeksang nomination? Looollzz how? He belongs to an agency who has only one cash cow and zero power. This is not BH or SM situation and even then that’s a huge accusation against Baeksang. I doubt a single person truly believes that or I’d be seriously questioning their intelligence. It’s a lie you tell yourself to justify this unfair situation in your mind, no? Also, if they truly and genuinely believe that, wouldn’t Baeksang just be a worthless and corrupt awards show? Why would they then go around talking about it for days on end complaining about their actor? That’s so pathetic tho?
Lastly, I highly doubt anyone has more fans than KSH on any platform right now. Everywhere I go, all I see is him. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, even Facebook. And I am just a casual kdrama fan. There is no algorithm that specifically calculates KSH for me. Like I said, it feels very circa 2013-14 which KSH fans should be very glad about, no?
If you felt there weren’t enough defending him on Twitter, maybe his fans chose to ignore and block because they know it’s an upset fandom venting their anger in the way they know they can. From what I remember back in the day, KSH fans are pretty chill and assured. Personally, if I were a KSH fan, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.
Lol sorry I don’t mean to sound lecturing but I just feel like KSH fans should just be very happy rn. He has a drama that will likely be the highest rated tvN drama and can be more. He is back at the top, and he is nominated for a huge award. He will likely sweep all the remaining award shows too. Let others vent. It doesn’t affect your fav realistically and you already won. Eventually they’ll calm down and accept it 😅😅
@Penguin
No, I don’t think you lecturing me. Actually your comment made me realize that instead of rejoicing at the success of Ksh and Kjw, I chose to feel negative emotions and pay attention to some negative moments that don’t harm them or me in any way, and overreacting at them. It made me think a lot of things and about myself as a person, so, thank you 😅
❤️❤️
It’s completely normal to sometimes react that way. I know I would for my football team haha.
But I always loved the maturity of KSH fans even from back then. Congrats on all your guys’ success. Obviously super well deserved and hope for the best for KSH at the Baeksang too. Excited to binge watch when Queen of Tears is done!
@Penguin
Thank you for your warm words ❤️
This is probably the nicest sit yo’ ass down I’ve ever indirectly gotten lmao. You’re right. This ain’t it. Some of us got way more annoyed than usual.
And thank you: great point about the Baeksang favourite thing. That’s one ‘accusation’ that never ever bothered me. It’s actually a huge honor to be a Baeksang fav and something I am proud of. Only the best actors can boast of that recognition like KHA or LBH. So it’s a huge testament to KSH’s talent as an actor.
@Penguin, so true. the thread has become more popcorn worthy than being informative. LOL
I though Kdrama fans were more level-headed than Cdrama fans. Apparently I got it wrong. I just did not come across rabid Kdrama fandoms before. LOL.
meh. not watching, lack of acting skill, suck at emo, lack charisma and many more, hate healer,. opss i forgot, i boycott kdrama lmao
You boycott kdrama? Thank you for reminding me you’re a troll. LOL
I became a fan last year after watching Princesse Ki and Healer, just finished watching Welcome to Sandal-ri and now I’m watching suspicious partner. I have a few of his Kdrama on my watch list. I have to say he gives a lot of emotion in his acting and he can act. I can’t wait this see twelve. I believe he will deliver this character on a silver plater.
How is Suspicious Partner? What do you think about it compared with Healer? I was charmed by JCW in Healer. But that’s it. I’ve not watched any other of his dramas. Oh perhaps K2 that I didn’t really like.