No Netflix? No problem. Disney+ steals the spotlight with Lee Dong-wook’s noir K-drama

Lee Dong-wook walks through shadows like they belong to him.

Lee has always been a pro at playing parts that straddle the boundary between myth and man, whether it's the eerie melancholy of Goblin, whose pale, foxlike features contained centuries of sorrow, or the sleek, supernatural charisma of Tale of the Nine-Tailed.

Now, he's back in noir mode with The Good Man, playing Park Seok-cheol, an heir to the mafia whose conscience is torn between doing his job and seeking forgiveness. And this time, he’s not arriving through Netflix’s familiar door. He’s stepping onto Disney+.

That’s what’s turning heads. Dramas from JTBC have long found a home on Netflix, but now The Good Man is breaking that pattern. For Lee Dong-wook, it’s a return to familiar territory. But for the industry, it’s a sign that the streaming battlefield is shifting in real time.

Disney+ vs. Netflix: the K-drama battleground

Wait, this one’s not on Netflix?

That was the collective double-take when fans realized The Good Man wouldn’t be landing where they expected. For years, JTBC dramas have slipped smoothly into Netflix’s global library, feeding the K-drama hunger of audiences everywhere. It was routine. Predictable. Comfortable.

But suddenly, here’s Lee Dong-wook, stepping into noir territory, and it’s Disney+ holding the rights. The news spread with a ripple of surprise, sparking questions, comparisons, even a bit of streaming envy.

After all, Disney+ has been building its own K-drama arsenal, stacking titles like A Shop for Killers alongside edgy newcomers. And now, it’s not just competing with Netflix. It’s reshaping the balance, pulling the ground right out from under one of Netflix’s usual partners.

The air feels charged. Fans aren’t just curious about the drama. They’re watching the platforms, sensing that something bigger is moving behind the scenes.

The dark allure of The Good Man

There’s something magnetic about watching Lee Dong-wook step into roles laced with danger. In The Good Man, he becomes Park Seok-cheol, the heir to a mafia family, a man torn between the shadows he was born into and the faint light of a heart still capable of love.

It’s a setup that feels almost cinematic. Noir thrives on moral tension, on the quiet pulse of violence just beneath the surface, and Lee Dong-wook wears that atmosphere like a second skin. His Park Seok-cheol isn’t just a gangster or a lover or a lost soul. He’s all of it at once, tangled and messy, forcing the audience to question where sympathy should fall.

The romance here doesn’t float above the darkness. It grows inside it, shaped by secrets, betrayals, and the relentless pull of old loyalties. That’s what makes The Good Man so compelling. It’s not offering easy answers or soft moments. It’s pulling Lee Dong-wook deeper into a world where survival comes at a cost, and love is as dangerous as any enemy.

Lee Dong-wook: the perfect noir lead

Few actors can balance charm and menace the way Lee Dong-wook does. From fox spirits and gods to assassins and grim reapers to terrifying psychotic serial killers, his career has been formed by intriguing and unpredictable characters. Lee is exceptionally well-suited to noir roles because he has honed the skill of shifting between tenderness and danger with each part.

In The Good Man, Lee Dong-wook brings all that complexity to Park Seok-cheol. He’s not a cold-blooded villain, nor is he a naïve hero. He’s a man defined by contradictions, a character who pulls viewers close even when they know they should recoil. That tension, that emotional edge, is what elevates Lee’s performance beyond stereotype.

Fans know this isn’t just another tough-guy role. Lee Dong-wook has built a reputation for finding the humanity inside even the darkest characters, and here, surrounded by family ties, old grudges, and the weight of impossible choices, he’s poised to deliver one of his most layered performances yet.

The plot behind The Good Man

The Good Man follows Park Seok-cheol, the eldest grandson of a three-generation gangster family. His life is a constant balancing act between the heavy demands of family loyalty and the fragile hope of building something of his own.

Every relationship Seok-cheol enters is fraught with the possibility of treachery, and any peaceful moment could be interrupted by violent outbreaks. Despite the risk to his integrity, he must persevere through changing allegiances, risky concessions, and an overwhelming need to safeguard those he cares about.

The cast brings this world to life

Lee Dong-wook anchors the drama as Park Seok-cheol, but he’s surrounded by a cast designed to deepen the emotional stakes. Kang Mi-young, played by Lee Sung-kyung, is Seok-cheol's romantic interest. Mi-young lives in a dangerous environment where his ambitions of being a singer clash with reality.

Oh Na-ra portrays Park Seok-gyeong, the older sister with complicated links to the family's past, and Ryu Hye-young plays Park Seok-hee, Seok-cheol's younger sister, bringing new dimensions to the sibling rivalry and allegiance.

The main cast is completed by Park Hoon, who brings energy to a supporting character and is expected to inject even more intrigue and drama. Together, this ensemble forms a web of alliances, secrets, and emotional currents that will define the shape of the story.

The powerhouse team behind the camera

The creative forces steering The Good Man are no strangers to compelling, layered storytelling. Director Song Hae-sung has already made his mark with films like Failan and Boomerang Family, both known for their emotional depth and sharp character work.

Paired with screenwriter Kim Woon-kyung, celebrated for dramas like The Moon of Seoul, There Are Blue Birds, and Yoo Na's Street, the project carries the fingerprints of a team that knows how to balance human vulnerability with larger societal forces.

Production companies SLL, Hive Media Corp, and HIGROUND complete the picture, bringing together industry experience and the resources to elevate The Good Man beyond a simple noir romance. The result is a drama positioned to make waves not only in Korea but across international audiences.

The changing path of JTBC dramas

For a long time, JTBC dramas felt almost tied to Netflix. Hits like Sky Castle and Itaewon Class slipped easily onto the platform, bringing Korean stories to global audiences and building a kind of expectation among fans: if it was JTBC, it would land on Netflix.

But lately, things have been taking a new turn. Disney+ has stepped into the K-drama space with determination, grabbing titles like Snowdrop and reshaping how these stories travel beyond Korea.

What once seemed like a predictable route now feels more scattered, more competitive, with streaming giants moving behind the scenes to claim the next big hit.

For fans, it’s a reminder to look twice, to check where each new release will appear. And for JTBC, it marks a moment of expansion, branching into multiple platforms and making sure its stories reach as many screens as possible, whether that’s through Netflix, Disney+, or whoever claims the next spotlight.

Disney+ is rewriting the K-drama playbook

What draws audiences back again and again are the stakes they can feel in every scene, the faces they can’t forget, and the power of stories that cross borders and settle deep under the skin.

With Lee Dong-wook leading The Good Man and Disney+ expanding its collection of striking, carefully crafted K-dramas, this is no passing trend. It’s a landscape in motion, pulling viewers along for the ride.