The Wonderfools

What it is about

The Wonderfools (원더풀스) is a Netflix series whose eight episodes were all released on 15 May 2026. When Netflix confirmed the production on 1 November 2024, under the working title 더 원더풀스 (The Wonderfools), it described a superpower comic action adventure set in 1999, when doomsday prophecies were everywhere, in which a bunch of hapless locals who gain powers by accident take on a villain threatening the peace of Haeseong City. It is produced by Nangman Crew and Kakao Entertainment, with Fantagio co-producing, and Kang Eun-kyung, the writer of Gyeongseong Creature, is its creator.

Yoo In-sik directs, working with Park Eun-bin again after Extraordinary Attorney Woo. The four leads and their powers are Eun Chae-ni (Park Eun-bin), who teleports; Lee Un-jeong (Cha Eun-woo), a specially hired Haeseong civil servant who uses telekinesis; Son Gyeong-hun (Choi Dae-hoon), whose power is stickiness; and Kang Ro-bin (Lim Sung-jae), who punches through walls (News1, 23 April 2026). Kim Hae-sook, Son Hyun-joo, Jung Yi-seo, Choi Yun-ji and Bae Na-ra are also in the cast.

How 1999 was rebuilt

At the production conference on 12 May 2026 the director Yoo In-sik explained the English title as “the story of ‘fools’ who are not ready at all to be ‘wonder’-ful”. To bring the period back, he said, the team painted graffiti in the style of the time on the walls and dressed the Haeseong supermarket, where the two leads meet, with props such as a Y2K emergency kit. Park Eun-bin said of Chae-ni, “Her way of thinking is fairly simple, and I had a lot of fun getting to know her world” (Yeonye Today News, 13 May 2026).

From sixth in three days to second for two weeks

Three days after release, its first week to 17 May put it sixth on Netflix’s non-English TV list with 2.7 million views, and News1 reported on 20 May that it was in the top 10 in 25 countries, South Korea among them. In its second week, 18 to 24 May, it rose to second with 7.9 million views and 74.8 million hours viewed, and the number of countries where it made the top 10 grew to 64 (News1, 27 May 2026). It was second again in its third week with 4 million views, then fourth with 2.2 million and eighth with 1.3 million. By Netflix’s weekly figures the five weeks total 18.1 million views.

How to watch

All eight episodes are on Netflix, and the last two run as a two-part finale, ‘Guardians of Haeseong’. The official trailer is on the Netflix Korea YouTube channel, and a version with English subtitles is on the Netflix K-Content channel.