'The Remarried Empress' brings romance fantasy to the world — and the world is hooked

Disney+ series releases six of 10 episodes

No. 1 in Korean buzz rankings, No. 2 globally on FlixPatrol

Production team scouted 16 castles in Germany and the Czech Republic before choosing Schleissheim Palace

Webtoon's single-day sales nearly matched the prior month's total after drama launch

'There's unfamiliarity, but not discomfort — I can't wait for the next episode'

Joo Ji-hoon and Shin Min-a in Disney+'s "The Remarried Empress" [Disney+]

It is the empress's birthday. Emperor Sovieshu (Joo Ji-hoon) and Empress Navier (Shin Min-a), their marriage quietly fracturing since he took a mistress, set off together to a detached palace in hopes of reconciliation. Every stretch of road is steeped in shared memories. For one rare night, the mood seems to soften — until it doesn't. With Navier in his arms, Sovieshu lets slip another woman's name.

"I missed you, Rashta."

The night of reconciliation ends there. When word arrives that Rashta (Lee Se-young) has fallen ill, the emperor abandons the empress and rides back to the palace alone. The scene is from the sixth episode of Disney+'s original series "The Remarried Empress," released Wednesday. Just when viewers think a satisfying comeback is at hand, the show's infuriating characters reassert themselves. A husband's betrayal, a mistress's provocations, a pregnancy, a wronged wife's counterattack — stripped to its bones, the formula is one daytime soap operas have recycled for decades. Yet a new genre has arrived: the "makjang romance fantasy."

Pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyeon called "The Remarried Empress" "a makjang narrative that isn't interesting if you look at the plot alone." But layered over that familiar skeleton is a world entirely its own. "The setting is Western, and within that setting there is a distinctive fantasy," Jeong said.

The world, it turns out, is falling for it. Based on viewership in the three days after its Nov. 3 premiere, "The Remarried Empress" became the most-watched local Disney+ original ever released globally.

Joo Ji-hoon, who plays Sovieshu, said he was drawn in from the start. "The romantic conflict, the passion and the power struggle were fascinating," he said.

Shin Min-a as Empress Navier in Disney+'s "The Remarried Empress" [Disney+]

From Naver's Best League to Disney+: 8 years in the making

"Oh, that web novel with Soo Ae?"

"The Remarried Empress" first found its readers eight years ago in Naver's web novel serialization section. Author Alphatart's manuscript was promoted from Naver's Best League to full serialization, launching on Naver Series in November 2018. After 325 chapters — including side stories — it concluded on March 31, 2020, having accumulated 70 million views and about 4 billion won ($2.99 million) in cumulative sales. In October 2019, a Naver Series advertisement featuring actor Soo Ae as Navier went viral, earning the story the nickname "Soo Ae's web novel."

That same month, a webtoon adaptation produced by M Story Hub — written by Heari and illustrated by Sumpul — began serialization. Translated into 10 languages, the webtoon had logged 2.97 billion cumulative views globally as of July this year. The original web novel, meanwhile, reached 160 million cumulative downloads.

Eight years of accumulated readership translated directly into global performance once the drama launched. "The Remarried Empress" held the No. 2 spot in the Disney+ TV show category on the global OTT ranking tracker FlixPatrol on Wednesday, when episodes five and six were released. In GoodData Corporation Fundex's drama buzz survey for the first week of November — covering Nov. 2 through Sunday — it ranked first among all TV and OTT dramas with a 21.16 percent share. Six of the 10 episodes have now aired; episodes seven and eight are due Wednesday, with the finale pair following Nov. 25.

The drama's heat has flowed back to the source material. According to M Story Hub, which holds the webtoon's intellectual property rights, the webtoon's single-day sales in the immediate aftermath of the drama's premiere nearly matched the entire previous month's total. The pattern mirrors what happened in January 2024, when the original webtoon of tvN's "Marry My Husband" saw its global transaction volume jump 17.1 times within 10 days of the show's broadcast.

Lee Se-young in Disney+'s "The Remarried Empress" [Disney+]

An empress who never cries, an empire built from 16 castles

The emperor who swore he would "never take a mistress" turns his back as if the promise were never made. Sovieshu rescues a runaway slave, brings her to the palace and installs her as his lover — then has the audacity to declare "I've never felt this kind of excitement before," a brazen confession that turns the empress's world upside down. Yet Navier does not cry. She does not crumble, and she does not beg.

The reason this makjang story reads differently lies in its heroine. Where women in morning dramas or conventional romance series wait passively for a man to choose them, the romance-fantasy protagonist flips the chessboard herself. Navier does not cling to a broken marriage. When her husband announces he wants a divorce, she accepts it — and demands the right to remarry a prince from another kingdom, choosing her own next chapter. She is not a victim seeking sympathy but an empress forging her own path.

Rashta, the emperor's mistress, is one of the drama's most theatrically drawn figures. A former runaway slave who uses the emperor's favor as a ladder to power, she reaches for the pinnacle of influence through pregnancy. Two women with entirely different forms of agency and entirely different fantasies are placed side by side — a reminder that even within the same romance-fantasy, the stories of power and growth that female characters claim do not occupy a single register.

"The slave narrative was popular for a while in webtoons and web novels," critic Jeong said. "Underneath it lies the story of a woman's free will breaking free from slavery — an old-fashioned Cinderella narrative. It's a code that speaks to women's desires."

What makes "The Remarried Empress" particularly striking is that the production team adapted the source material without diluting its fantasy with realism. Staying true to the original was the challenge the crew wrestled with most.

Shin Min-a and Lee Jong-suk in Disney+'s "The Remarried Empress" [Disney+]

The biggest obstacle romance fantasy faces when moving from webtoon or web novel to screen is what might be called "cultural statelessness." Korean actors in European palaces, wearing Western gowns and calling each other by unfamiliar foreign names, risk triggering acute cognitive dissonance. Last year's KBS2 series "I Stole the Male Lead's First Night" sidestepped the problem by transposing the original's Western setting into a fictional Joseon-era world. "The Remarried Empress" charged straight ahead. Both series are productions of Studio N, a subsidiary of Naver Webtoon, which within roughly a year has tested both approaches as it searches for the right formula.

The drama poured resources into European locations to put the grandeur of the Dongdae Empire on screen. According to Disney+, the production team scouted 16 castles across Germany and the Czech Republic before settling on Schleissheim Palace near Munich as the primary filming location. Director Jo Su-won recalled the moment of decision: "There's a long shot with a canal, and I thought, this is our world. I knew we could really play here."

The interior spaces were designed to mirror the characters themselves. Sovieshu's quarters were laid out wide and lateral to capture both the light and shadow of power, while Navier's rooms were rendered primarily in warm gold tones to evoke a sense of love and warmth. Insert shots filled with images of horses are another deliberate touch — symbols of the Dongdae Empire's authority and military might. The indoor sets were built to match the exterior of the palace, so that inside and outside read as a single, unified empire. Shin Min-a, seeing Navier's western palace for the first time, said: "I was half excited and half worried, but the set was so beautiful that I thought it would suit the character perfectly."

The meticulously constructed world is itself a device that makes unfamiliar combinations feel natural. "Audiences who are used to webtoons will not find this drama strange at all," critic Jeong said. Even for viewers less familiar with the Western court settings of romance fantasy, Jeong argued that most have already grown "accustomed to hybrid culture." For older generations too, romance, fantasy and Western-style settings are genres absorbed through years of varied content. "When the narrative itself is universal and it combines genres the audience already knows," Jeong said, "there may be unfamiliarity, but it doesn't become discomfort."

Lee Jong-suk in Disney+'s "The Remarried Empress" [Disney+]

Audience reaction since the premiere has been considerable. "It's cheesy, but strangely fun," is a common refrain. International viewers, encountering a K-drama unlike any before it, are experiencing a new dimension of the genre. "For overseas viewers, the world of 'The Remarried Empress' is a familiar landscape they've always seen," Jeong said. "But the fact that it's made as a K-drama and performed by Korean actors is precisely what gives it appeal. Korean clichés can become a strength."

The response has borne that out. When episode three aired a New Year's ball scene in which Heinrich (Lee Jong-suk) extends his hand to a solitary Navier and says, "It is an honor to meet you, my queen," the SNS post of ball photos uploaded by Lee Jong-suk's agency drew a flood of comments in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese.

Romance fantasy is just getting started

"The Remarried Empress" is in effect the first work to bring a Western-style romance fantasy to the screen exactly as it exists on the page. Manhwa and webtoons set in Western courts have accumulated across generations, but none had ever been adapted into live action. That, critic Jeong said, is why "the attempt itself is quite bold."

With "The Remarried Empress" leading the way, a full-scale romance-fantasy era is opening in K-drama. The major intellectual properties that have been waiting in line are beginning to take shape.

"Harem's Men," a web novel by Alphatart — the same author behind "The Remarried Empress" — is in production at Netflix with a target release of 2027. The story follows Empress Latil of the Tarium Empire as she takes male consorts. Suzy plays Latil, with Shin Seung-ho, Dex, Kim Dan, Yoo Jeong-hu and Lee Jong-won cast as the consorts, and director Lee Eung-bok at the helm. An amusing footnote: in a September 2020 Naver Series advertisement for "Harem's Men," the actor who played the consort Ranamun was none other than Joo Ji-hoon.

A webtoon adaptation of Naver Webtoon's "Unni, I'll Be the Queen This Life" is also in development. Actor Kim Tae-ri is in positive discussions about joining the cast, with director Jeong Dae-yun attached and a 2027 release targeted.

The stage is moving quickly as well. "Siren: I Became the Villain's Contract Family," a Kakao Page original with 250 million cumulative web novel and webtoon views, will open as the original musical "Siren" on March 24, 2027, at Charlotte Theater. Kakao Entertainment's Shownote and Lotte Culture Works joined forces from the planning stage. The emerging picture is one of two platforms expanding the territory of romance-fantasy intellectual property in different directions: Naver through Studio N onto screens, Kakao through Shownote onto major theater stages.

"I don't think the live-action adaptation of romance fantasy will stop at one," critic Jeong said. "In webtoons and web novels it has already become a trend, and adaptations are lined up one after another." Backed by a 1.35 trillion won ($1.01 billion) market, K-romance fantasy has already demonstrated its power as a mainstream force. Sustaining that momentum, however, is another matter. Simple structures, similar story arcs and a reliance on provocative formulas risk audience fatigue.

"For a familiar fantasy to establish itself as new mainstream content, it cannot simply repeat that fantasy — it has to generate the next story," Jeong said. "From the planning stage, creators need to move away from old formulas and try new experiments."

shee@heraldcorp.com