Even as Studio N notches hits on Netflix, Disney+ and Crunchyroll, earns Emmy nominations and breaks Korean box-office records, its CEO says the company is still making the case for webcomic IP to much of the Western entertainment industry.
“Webcomics are still relatively new to many people in Western markets,” Mikyung (Michelle) Kwon tells Variety. “When we’re working with international development execs and distributors, we’re still educating them about the power of this format and the global fandoms underpinning our IP. Every time we have a hit project, our job gets easier.”
Kwon is in Lille this week for Series Mania, where Studio N – the Korean production arm of Webtoon Entertainment – is making its debut at the television festival with the world premiere of “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier,” the only Korean content screening at this year’s event. She is also joining a Korea special session panel on March 25, as Korea is celebrated as the Series Mania Forum’s inaugural Country of Honor. But her ambitions extend well beyond the festival.
Kwon argues that Korea has already established itself as a global tastemaker across beauty, fashion, technology and music, and that webcomics are “the next export out of Korea that will have significant global impact in the entertainment market.”
The argument Kwon makes is structural as much as creative. Webtoon Entertainment’s platform ecosystem counts approximately 160 million monthly active users, giving Studio N access to a pipeline of IP that arrives with pre-existing, measurable fandoms. “Mobile, vertical comics are now the default comic format for a new generation of fans and creators,” she says. “These are visual stories, many have multiple seasons and arcs on our platform, and they come with existing fandoms. This is the perfect mix for franchise potential.”
That franchise logic is already playing out across the studio’s slate. “Chicken Nugget,” Studio N’s Netflix series, earned Webtoon Entertainment its first Emmy nomination when it was recognized in the comedy category at the 2025 International Emmy Awards. The studio’s 2025 film “My Daughter Is a Zombie,” adapted from a Webtoon title with more than 500 million global views, became the highest-grossing Korean film of 2025 and the third highest-grossing film overall in Korea for the year. Further titles include “True Beauty” on Crunchyroll, “Vigilante” on Disney+, and Netflix series including “The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call,” “Sweet Home” and “The 8 Show.” “Bloodhounds” returns for a second season on Netflix on April 3.
The Series Mania premiere of “The Legend of Kitchen Soldier” – co-produced with CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon and adapted from a Webtoon title with more than 650 million global views – is, for Kwon, both a market introduction and a proof of concept. Starring Park Ji-hoon (“Weak Hero”), the series follows a military recruit whose life is upended by a virtual quest system that turns him into a legendary army cook. The show will stream on TVING as an original in the first half of this year.
Kwon sees its genre-blending premise as representative of Studio N’s creative mandate. The “N” in the studio’s name, she says, stands for “Next.” “People have seen a million different military films,” she says. “But they haven’t seen one about a cook and his virtual quest. Just like our Emmy-nominated series ‘Chicken Nugget’ about someone turning into a chicken nugget. These are the kinds of fantastic, creative, and unexpected storytelling we’re thrilled to bring to the global entertainment market.”
When selecting titles to adapt, Kwon describes balancing platform data with more fundamental creative questions. “Strong storytelling is always at the heart of what informs our decisions on a story’s adaptation potential,” she says. “We’re adapting someone’s narrative universe, so both the webcomic creator and existing fans want to see something that does justice to the original webcomic.”
The studio is also watching the broader cultural moment closely. “Just a few days ago ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ made history by bringing K-pop to the Oscars,” Kwon says. “K-content has never been bigger.” Whether that momentum translates into faster buy-in from Western partners, she suggests, may simply be a matter of accumulating evidence. “We start with a base of fan awareness from our platforms, and that helps make our projects hits with audiences around the world.”
Series Mania runs March 20–27 in Lille, France. The Korea special session, “Webtoon to Series: Adaptation and IP Expansion,” takes place March 25 at the Louis Pasteur Auditorium.
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