Park Seo-joon's journey to playing in 'The Marvels'

South Korean actor Park Seo-joon is currently seen all over the world in ‘The Marvels’. It's his Hollywood debut after he gained international traction as the character Min-Hyuk in Bong Joon-ho’s award-winning movie ‘Parasite’.

Born Park Yong-Gyu on 16 December 1988, in Seoul, South Korea, Park Seo-joon studied acting professionally at Kyungpook National University when he was in his twenties, according to Korea Herald.

Park Seo-joon made his first on-screen debut in Bang Yong-guk’s music video for ‘I Remember’ in 2011. A year later, he would go on to make his first official acting appearance by landing his first role in 2012’s ‘Dream High 2’.

(Image: KBS2)

Alongside acting, Park Seo-joon also was hosting KBS’s ‘Music Bank’ from 2013 to 2015. This made him a widely recognizable face in not only South Korea but also the world, due to its broadcast on KBS World to a global audience.

Park Seo-joon landed his breakout roles four years after his entertainment debut in 2011 by acting in ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’, ‘She Was Pretty’, and ‘The Chronicles of Evil’.

(Image: MBC)

Park Seo-joon’s work in ‘She Was Pretty’ was his first male lead role, and his work in ‘The Chronicles of Evil’ became his first big-screen role. His roles in ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’, ‘She Was Pretty’ and ‘The Chronicles of Evil’ won him many prestigious acting awards and solidified his position in the South Korean acting world.

(Image: MBC)

Park Seo-joon’s success continued on after 2015, with him gathering top ratings, nominations, and praise for his work in 2017’s ‘’Fight for My Way’, ‘Midnight Runners’, and ‘What's Wrong with Secretary Kim’ in 2018.

Park Seo-joon’s huge successes on screen naturally led him to earn another roll of awards in 2017 and 2018. In these two years alone, he managed to win a whopping number of fourteen acting awards!

The actor also ventured into the world of variety shows and was a permanent cast member of TvN’s ‘Youn's Kitchen Season 2’, and ‘Youn’s Stay’ in 2018, and 2021 respectively.

(Image: TvN)

TvN’s ‘Youn’s Kitchen Season 2’ is a show where Korean celebrities had to manage and operate a pop-up restaurant in a foreign country. According to Zula, while filming ‘Youn’s Kitchen Season 2’ in Spain, Park Seo-joon picked up the Spanish language pretty quickly and was even able to communicate effortlessly with his Spanish customers to take their orders!

(Image: TvN)

Did you know that Park Seo-joon also sings? He sang for the original soundtracks of the shows he was involved in, including ‘Dream High 2’ and ‘Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth’!

(Image: MBC)

Park Seo-joon is also known to have famous friends in his circle! From Zula, Super Junior’s Choi Si-won, BTS’s V, ZE:A’s Park Hyung-sik actors Kang Ha-neul and fellow ‘Parasite’ actor Choi Woo-shik are amongst Park Seo-joon’s list of high profile celebrity friends.

(Image: MBC, Big Hit Entertainment, CJ Entertainment)

StarNews Korea reported in June 2021 that Park Seo-joon would appear in the Captain Marvel sequel, ‘The Marvels’. Initially, Park Seo-joon’s agency, Awesome ENT, refused to comment further.

With such a cryptic response from Awesome ENT, many were left wondering whether the news about Park Seo-joon joining Marvel Studios was true. However, it's a given that the director of ‘The Marvels,’ Nia DaCosta, is a fan of the actor, StarNews Korea confirms.

In addition, Park Seo-joon was added to the 'Marvels' cast on the - generally reliable - movie database iMDB. Finally, with the release date nearing 2023, it was certain that Park Seo-Joon will have a big part in the new blockbuster.

Back then, Screenrant shortlisted some roles that Park Seo-joon might possibly play in the Captain Marvel sequel. They were thinking about Amadeus Cho, aka The Hulk; Noh-Varr aka Marvel Boy; or a S.W.O.R.D agent - more of a supporting role.

In the trailer for 'The Marvels' on 11 April 2023, more hints were given about the character that Park Seo-joon will play in the film.

Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

An increasing number of fans have concrete theories about what role Park Seo-joon will play in the film, despite Channel News Asia's claim that his role was a mystery back then.

Image: bn_sj2013 / Instagram

Unlike the previous guesses that many have come up with, Park Seo-joon was largely theorised that he might play a big role as Prince Yan, Captain Marvel's husband.

Image: bn_sj2013 / Instagram, Marvel Comics

Fans no longer have to wait till November 10 to find out what role the K-star will be playing, as Screenrant confirmed on October 19 that Park Seo-joon will be playing Prince Yan with the release of official poster images for the film.

Image: MarvelStudios / X

After the show's debut, fans waited for the premiere of 'The Marvels' to see Park Seo-joon's performance on the big screen. But there was a catch.

Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Despite his significant role as Prince Yan, Park Seo-joon's role in the film was described as a "glorified cameo" by The Straits Times. Fans were disappointed that his on-screen time was even shorter than the time required to cook instant noodles, and they felt duped that his image was heavily used in the film's promotion.

Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures