Lee Jung-jae becomes a god

by girlfriday

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? Lee Jung-jae (Assassination) has been cast as a god among gods in the new fantasy film adaptation of the webtoon With the Gods. Lee and Kim Haneul (Don’t Forget Me) are among the newest additions to the two-part blockbuster saga about reapers and gods who rule over the afterlife and the ordinary humans who get judged by them when they die. The series starring Ha Jung-woo (Agasshi) and Cha Tae-hyun (The Producers) is preparing to start shoots later this month, and has finalized the central cast with a whole pantheon of gods.

The film series from director Kim Yong-hwa (Take Off, 200-Pound Beauty) is based on the satirical webtoon by Joo Ho-min, and follows the story of the death of an ordinary man, played by Cha Tae-hyun. Ha Jung-woo plays the head reaper who escorts him to the afterlife, where the man will be assigned a public defender to represent him in 7 trials in 49 days, to find out how he lived his life and where he ought to spend the rest of eternity.

Ha Jung-woo’s head reaper has two sidekicks who go everywhere he goes, played by Joo Ji-hoon (Mask) and Kim Hyang-gi (Queen’s Classroom) — this is the trio I really want to see in action. They’re the only ones who are part of both worlds, living and dead, and they’ll start to cross some lines because of Kim Dong-wook (Riders), who was recently cast as Cha Tae-hyun’s younger brother. He’s a character who turns into a demon, causing the reapers to interfere with the living realm. EXO’s D.O. (Innocence) will play a soldier under Kim Dong-wook, and Ma Dong-seok (Bad Guys) plays a guardian in the living realm.

Kim Hae-sook, Jang Gwang
Jung Hae-kyun, Im Won-hee, Oh Dal-soo

The recent casting wave is for the afterlife realm, where most of the characters are fickle gods, each ruling over a different (and weirdly specific) hell. I guess it’s like a postmodern Dante’s Inferno. Lee Jung-jae has been cast as the King of Hell, the god who rules over all the other gods, and is also the head honcho in charge of the reapers.

I wonder if that means Lee Jung-jae and Ha Jung-woo will be continuing their antagonistic relationship from Assassination, or if he’ll be a cool boss. The character is described as humorous and understanding, but yunno… still king of hell. In the descriptions of the webtoon, it’s said that his particular hell is the one for people who commit wrong via words, and he punishes his charge by cutting out their tongues for his garden. (Of tongues? Ew.) And he’s currently looking into whether or not he should cut off fingers for those who commit the sin via internet. Okay, I kinda love him.

Kim Haneul plays the god of betrayal hell, Kim Hae-sook (Yes, That’s How It Is) will be the god of sloth hell, Jang Gwang (Memory) is the god of violence hell, and Jung Hae-kyun (Signal) plays the god of murder hell. In addition, Im Won-hee (You’re All Surrounded) and Oh Dal-soo (Veteran) will play supporting members of the afterlife courtroom.

Phew, could there BE more people in this movie? Not that I’m going to complain about a star-studded ensemble like this. I mean, Ha Jung-woo as the escort and Lee Jung-jae as the ultimate judge — how bad could the afterlife be?

With the Gods starts shooting in late May.

Via IS Plus, DongA

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