Solo Leveling Season 2 has consistently broken its own record with each episode, especially the ones featuring the Jeju Island Arc. We all know that the manhwa has already enjoyed a huge fandom, but the arrival of its anime adaptation has further contributed to its popularity. Considering the fanfare it garnered, the creators announced a Solo Leveling live-action project on January 20, 2025. So, do you think it is a good idea? Well, I don’t.
Solo Leveling Is Too Outworldly to Have a Live-Action Adaptation
Solo Leveling has given us one of the best stories of the century. A hunter who was always looked down on by others suddenly surpasses the power level of the otherworldly entities. Showcasing his physical strength in the live-action movie won’t be a challenge, but what about all the other abilities Jinwoo harbors? Particularly talking about his shadow soldiers, who look so terrifying in the anime and the manhwa. It’s hard to believe that any live-action project could ever do justice to that.
Of course, if the live-action comes out as Shadow and Bone, it still may work out. The way Shadow and Bone captured the hearts of the viewers with the visuals, especially the ones showcasing the Grisha powers, which were somewhat similar to Jinwoo’s powers. But even that won’t be enough to save the live-action from being a disappointment for fans.
Jinwoo’s powers aren’t limited to Shadows; there’s much more to the character that makes him OP in the manhwa and the anime series. He features incredible speed and an intimidating aura. The fight sequences in Solo Leveling, like in the Dragon Ball series, are too over-the-top to be featured in a live-action project.
Dragon Ball live-action didn’t work because it couldn’t reach the level of excellence with power-ups or worldly fights. Similarly, it’s hard to imagine that the Solo Leveling live-action matches the aura that Jinwoo oozes in the anime series.
There are indeed good examples of live-action anime adaptations, such as Netflix’s One Piece. In fact, before the release of the One Piece live-action series, we didn’t know what a satisfactory live-action adaptation looked like. Still, it wouldn’t be fair to compare Solo Leveling with One Piece, as both titles fall under different genres.
One Piece live-action worked because it grounded the power-ups and made it less cartoonish. The fandom didn’t mind that because One Piece still has a lot of elements to love, including its story, lore, and diverse characters. Solo Leveling, on the other hand, doesn’t have too many things that make it awesome. It is majorly centered around action, and if you make the fight scenes and power-ups grounded for live-action, there won’t be much else to love about the series.
Story Arcs Like Jeju Island Can Be a Hurdle for the Live-Action
The Jeju Island is, so far, the best arc adapted in the anime, and to be honest, it couldn’t match the level of the manhwa. The way Jinwoo and the Ant King confront each other on the pages of the manhwa is way more impactful than what we have seen in the anime. Jinwoo and the Ant King share some dialogue in the source material, but the anime didn’t bring that part to the screen.
Despite that, fans loved the fight between Jinwoo and Ant King because of the amazing visuals and fast-paced fight sequences. There’s no way a live-action movie can feature a similar action-packed experience. They will have no choice but to make the fight more grounded, and that won’t land well with the community whatsoever.
Often, a live-action fails to impress the fandom by not being able to translate the action-heavy scenes of the anime. Some fan comments on Reddit also state that it would be hard to translate every fast-paced action scene, and there is a chance that the live-action will end up with too many unconvincing CGI effects. Well, CGIs make a screen adaptation look good, but only to an extent.
On top of everything, we should not forget that converting an anime like Solo Leveling to a live-action calls for a huge budget. So, it all depends on the budget that the production company will have to figure out before proceeding with further things.
Creators will also have to bring such actors onboard who have some similarities with the characters, especially Jinwoo. That’s because after Gojo, he has become the most popular anime character, and to make the live-action a success, the creators must not take the risk.
Perception of Solo Leveling Fans Towards Live-Action
After the Solo Leveling news emerged, fans couldn’t resist sharing their views on the project on X and Reddit. One user wrote, ‘Literally zero chance this could ever come out well unless they have about a billion USD for the special effects budget.”
“Sung Jinwoo, instead of having hundreds of shadows fighting at the same time, will have like 10, who will be, of course, stunt actors in suits? The rest of the shadows? Static planes where they cloned the same 5 guys 200 times to look like there is an army of a thousand,” writes another. So yeah, I’m keeping my hopes low and don’t believe a Solo Leveling live-action adaptation will be able to do justice to the source material.
Aparna Ukil
