Virtually each month of 2026 so far, Netflix has broadly cornered the market on compelling international thrillers of all sorts, from mysteries like The Art of Sarah, to action-packed returns like Bloodhounds season 2. It’s not just Netflix, either, with its primary competition like Hulu heaping on the returns this summer. But one runaway success, which completed a practically seamless baton-pass with one of the biggest streaming wins for a show of its kind since Squid Game, was Agent Kim Reactivated.
Each of these examples above are part of the enormously popular K-drama industry dominating Non-English output, particularly at Netflix. However, there’s plenty to look forward to for viewers craving more adventures with Manager Kim after his vengeance spree to rescue his daughter.
Agent Kim Reactivated faced a daunting task, serving a hungry audience both at home on South Korea’s SBS TV and worldwide via Netflix who were often fresh off what’s now the #10 Netflix Non-English streaming debut of all time. It broadly delivered, aside from a somewhat disappointing middle portion and aggressive product placement (even for a K-drama) by the end. But Agent Kim Reactivated is far from over in its original form, as the series adapts a highly popular Naver Webtoon, as well as key leadership at its home production, Studio S, confirming positive talks of a return for season 2.
Netflix’s Biggest Action Thriller Of July 2026 Lives On In More Ways Than One
One of the biggest indicators of a successful or soon-to-be-successful K-drama is thanks to the phenomenon of the webtoon-to-drama pipeline showing up across broadcast and streaming services. Agent Kim Reactivated is no exception, adapting Jeong Jong-taek and Toy’s Manager Kim series, although much like Bloodhounds, it’s a significant departure from the source material. Despite how loaded a topic the pipeline can be, Agent Kim Reactivated was a quick hit across all five weeks and ten episodes of its broadcast, and this is due to both a compelling array of stars like So Ji-sub, and enormous popularity for the Manager Kim webtoon it adapts.
The fascinating bit for those who have already read the series is that Agent Kim Reactivated broadly condenses the webtoon’s concepts into 10 episodes, ultimately ending with a tease of the Lee Do-gyu vs. Manager Kim arc. The series is beautifully illustrated by Jeong Jong-taek, conveying even more aggressive over-the-top action with a familiar introduction lining up well with the K-drama. Yet, it benefits from being a graphic, illustrated format, taking advantage of over-the-top character depictions even more so than in the show, down to Do-gyu’s meeting feeling utterly Yujiro Hanma-coded, being utterly massive, physically imposing, and a true physical superior to Manager Kim during their meeting/interview.
The series’ success is no mystery on Netflix, and averaging just below 20% of the audience share across all South Korea for its entire run, peaking at 23.1% for episode 8, it’s evident that even Agent Kim Reactivated at its weaker portions didn’t deter viewers at home. Much of this can also be attributed to its massive viewership, dominating the Tuesday charts regularly on Naver Webtoon, while in less-established but growing markets like the West showing 47.4 million views on the international LINE Webtoon counterpart. Releasing new episodes every Tuesday, with readers wanting the official translation usually four chapters behind able to catch on Saturdays, Manager Kim’s a reliable hit.
Manager Kim has hundreds of chapters of stories to tell, and with it seemingly refocusing and grounding itself in the K-drama version by the finale, the Kim family taking on new identities and seemingly finding a life of peace, it could reasonably end here. But with the interview at Baekho Staffing Agency, the window is intentionally kept open for a potential season 2, provided it gets less infuriating silence than Vagabond’s cliffhanger ending.
Agent Kim Reactivated And 2 Other K-Dramas Are In Talks For Season 2
Reported earlier this weekend, So Ji-sub might not be putting away Manager Kim’s glasses and work attire anytime soon. The series is being considered among two other K-drama hits from SBS TV and Studio S, My Royal Nemesis and Phantom Lawyer, at the very least entering talks for season 2 returns. With each having cases either for engrossing world-building stories, procedural case-of-the-week approaches, or further adapting the manhwa like with Agent Kim Reactivated, it seems the viewers only stand to win with this.
However, some caveats may be raised by the fandom should Agent Kim Reactivated return. It offset production costs such as a lengthy AI-generated flashback sequence, and, despite brands even appearing in the original webtoon like Under Armour, the finale in particular and the rest of the series had a hilarious, if frustrating, array of the usual consumer suspects. This included the classic Kopiko coffee candy gag, among many others, which would ideally be less of a necessity given the show’s now demonstrable popularity.
Whether this means a shift away from broadcast TV to fully streaming on Netflix for season 2 or not, the series, and the fandom, seem ready to embrace more of Agent Kim Reactivated.
Agent Kim Reactivated’s full season is available to stream on Netflix, with the manhwa releasing new episodes in English every Saturday on Webtoon.
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- founded
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January 16, 2007
- founders
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Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph
- first original series
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Lilyhammer
- notable shows
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Stranger Things, Squid Game, House of Cards, Wednesday
- notable movies
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KPop Demon Hunters, Bird Box, Red Notice
Netflix is a global streaming service offering on-demand access to movies, TV shows, documentaries, and original content. Founded in 1997 as a DVD rental service, it transitioned to streaming in 2007 and now operates in over 190 countries.
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Agent Kim Reactivated
- Release Date
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2026 – 2026-00-00
- Network
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SBS
Cast
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Choi Dae-hoon
Seong Han-su
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Yoon Kyung-ho
Park Jin-cheol
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