Queen Mantis


Queen Mantis is a 2025 South Korean mystery-thriller-police procedural television series written by Lee Young-jong and directed by Byun Young-joo based on the 2017 TF1 series La Mante. Go Hyun-jung and Jang Dong-yoon portray the lead roles. It aired on SBS TV from September 5, to September 27, 2025, every Friday and Saturday at 21:50.

Synopsis

A woman was imprisoned as a serial killer a long time ago. The story unfolds as someone begins committing a series of murders imitating her.

Cast

Main

  • Go Hyun-jung as Jung Yi-shin
  • Jang Dong-yoon as Cha Soo-yeol / Kim Jeong-ho
  • Jo Sung-ha as Choi Jung-ho
  • Lee El as Kim Na-hee

    Supporting

  • Kim Bo-ra as Lee Jung-yeon
  • Lee Hwang-ui as Jeong Hyeon-nam
  • Kim Min-ho as Bae Seong-gyu
  • Kim Tae-jung as Choi Hyuk
  • Park Wan-hyung as Son Ji-an
  • as Seo Ara / Kang Yeon-Joong
  • Lee Chang-min as Park Min-jae
  • Lee Tae-gu as Seo Gu-wan
  • Lee Yoon-geon as Hong Seung-pyo
  • Han Si-a as Kim Eun-ae
  • Gil Eun-seong as Kim Woo-tae
  • Cha Sun-bae as Park Eun-bae

    Production

Development

The eight-episode series is written by Lee Young-jong and directed by Byun Young-joo. It is planned by Studio S, which also co-produced the series with Mega Monster,, and Docu-Factory Vista for SBS TV.
Queen Mantis is Lee's debut as a television series writer. He previously wrote the screenplay for the films Flu, The Witness and 12.12: The Day.
In an interview with OSEN, Lee said that the initial plan was to adapt La Mante into a film; however, Mega Monster recommended a series adaptation instead, which later prevailed.

Casting

On November 14, 2023, the production companies announced that the lead role for the series was offered to Go Hyun-jung. On July 23, 2024, Go and Jang Dong-yoon were confirmed to portray the lead roles.
Ji Chang-wook was offered the role of Cha Soo-yeol but declined due to scheduling conflict.
Kim Bo-ra previously portrayed the role of Ha Seol in the 2024 MBC TV Friday-Saturday drama Black Out, which was the debut television work of director Byun Young-joo.

Filming

began in August 2024. Filming was done from October 2024 to February 2025.

Promotion

A teaser for the series was aired on December 21, 2024 during the 2024 SBS Drama Awards.

Release

It premiered on SBS TV on September 5, 2025, and airs every Friday and Saturday at 21:50.
Queen Mantis is available for streaming on Wavve, Netflix, Kocowa, U-NEXT, friDay Video, Hami Video and CHT MOD, TrueVisions Now and Rakuten Viki.

Viewership