Why 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Director Set His New Netflix Show in 1999

"Fun, engaging, and highly watchable." For director Yoo In-sik, that remains the highest praise an entertainment series can possibly achieve.

"Isn't that the ultimate compliment a piece of pure entertainment can get?" he noted.

Yoo, the acclaimed director behind massive television hits like Extraordinary Attorney Woo and the Dr. Romantic franchise, is venturing into the comedy genre for the first time with the upcoming Netflix original series "The Wonderfuls." Set against the nostalgic backdrop of late 1999, the narrative follows a tight-knit group of small-town misfits who suddenly inherit eccentric superpowers, forced to defend their community from a rogue villain threatening the peace. The star-studded lineup features Park Eun-bin, Cha Eun-woo, Choi Dae-hoon, Im Sung-jae, and Kim Hae-sook.

"The Wonderfuls" also marks Yoo's inaugural transition to a global streaming platform rather than traditional domestic broadcasting. He did not attempt to mask his creative excitement regarding the new frontier.

"I have always harbored a desire to craft a drama where the primary, uncompromising objective was simply to deliver fun," Yoo shared. "'The Wonderfuls' is precisely that kind of project."

However, navigating the localized streaming format pushed the veteran director into entirely new creative territories.

"Unlike traditional television broadcasting, navigating the pacing for a streaming platform brought a new kind of pressure," he explained. "I had to constantly design the narrative with binge-watchers in mind. There were several sequences I ultimately trimmed to preserve the overall rhythm of the show, and as a director, letting those scenes go was difficult. The structural curiosity you build incrementally over a week between television episodes is fundamentally different from the momentum required on a streaming service. I am highly curious to see how global audiences respond."

Yoo initially encountered the script for "The Wonderfuls" back in 2020, long before Extraordinary Attorney Woo had even entered production. At the time, localized superhero narratives were viewed as a substantial commercial risk in South Korea. Logistical and production constraints initially forced him to shelve the project indefinitely. It was only after the historic global success of Extraordinary Attorney Woo that the industry greenlit the concept once more.

"Once Extraordinary Attorney Woo became a definitive hit, 'The Wonderfuls' was granted a second life," Yoo recalled. "I actually pitched the premise to Park Eun-bin while we were still on the Woo set. I explicitly informed her that this new character was the absolute antithesis of Woo Young-woo. Later, on a flight to an overseas awards ceremony, I handed her the completed script and asked if she wanted to read it just for fun. She immediately replied that it looked fantastic."

That airborne pitch solidified Yoo's second collaboration with Park. In "The Wonderfuls," she portrays Eun Chae-ni, a notorious local troublemaker in Haeseong City who unexpectedly gains the volatile power of teleportation.

"She is the type of performer who always discovers a creative breakthrough and delivers something entirely unexpected on screen," Yoo praised.

He noted that he was particularly struck by her profound physical commitment during the grueling action sequences.

"While we routinely deploy professional stunt doubles for heavy action, there are specific, intimate sequences that resonate much better when the actor executes them firsthand," he said. "When Park Eun-bin had to operate with a body-mounted camera or execute complex wire work, she managed her physical conditioning immaculately. Through this project, I realized just how exceptionally strong she is with physical acting."

The years-long production encountered a delicate situation during its late post-production and editing stages when co-star Cha Eun-woo became entangled in a public tax evasion controversy. Cha portrays Lee Woon-jeong, a mysterious Haeseong City Hall official wielding telekinetic abilities.

"The core mystery anchoring his enigmatic character is what primarily drives the tension in the first half of the series," Yoo analyzed. "Cha Eun-woo embodied that visual archetype perfectly, which is precisely why we aggressively pursued him for the role."

Yoo did not minimize the gravity of the post-production dilemma, revealing that he consciously made the decision not to reduce Cha's existing screen time.

"It would be entirely disingenuous to claim I wasn't deeply troubled by the situation," Yoo stated candidly. "However, an immense amount of individuals poured years of collective labor into this project. As the director, my ultimate responsibility was to prioritize the holistic quality of the show. Whether that structural decision was correct is entirely for the viewing audience to evaluate. All I can assert is that it represented the most responsible decision I could make under the circumstances."

Yoo deliberately chose to anchor the universe of "The Wonderfuls" in the anxiety-ridden twilight of December 1999.

"Back during that specific era, a massive segment of the global population genuinely internalized the apocalyptic rumors that the world would collapse with the arrival of the year 2000 and the Y2K bug," he noted. "I believed a narrative where a ragtag group of ordinary misfits saves the planet perfectly suited that existential backdrop—contrasting them against antagonists who weaponized that end-of-the-world paranoia into twisted ideologies to threaten Haeseong City."

Embracing an analog era was also a tactical decision regarding the script's mechanics.

"I thought exhaustively about what environmental backdrop would best isolate a story about ordinary citizens utilizing superpowers," Yoo shared. "There were no smartphones in 1999. I required a distinctly analog infrastructure where communications faced immediate, physical limitations. If you attempted to circulate a doomsday rumor in today's digital climate, audiences would simply post on social platforms asking, 'Is this verified?' and dismantle the tension instantly."

When pressed on whether he carries a psychological burden to deliver an identical commercial blockbuster following the historic heights of Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Yoo concluded that he intentionally seeks out unfamiliar creative risks.

"I don't think I have ever intentionally made safe, predictable bets throughout my career," he reflected. "'The Wonderfuls' has been a passion project of mine for a very long time. The mere reality that we successfully brought it to fruition is already an immense source of joy for me. I simply hope the public's response mirrors the profound dedication we poured into the production. If viewers can simply decompress, relax, and genuinely enjoy the ride, I will be more than satisfied."