Zombies are ubiquitous these days. Taking their purpose literally, the undead have infested films, television, comics, and even classic literature. No genre is safe from these convenient metaphors for everything from natural disaster to social commentary on consumer society. As such, it takes a lot for a new piece of zombie media to really stand out from the crowd. Whether it’s the introduction of fast zombies in 28 Days Later or the short film The First Wave, which asks what would happen if we actually found a cure for the outbreak, to the recent Santa Clarita Diet and The Girl With All The Gifts, creative ways to look at the zombie genre keep popping up like so many decomposing bodies.
Now Netflix is taking the walking dead to a new location and era: Medieval Korea. According to Deadline, director Kim Seong-hun (Tunnel) has been tapped along with writer Kim Eun-hee (Signal) to create the series, which will run for eight episodes. Set during the Joseon Dynasty of Korea’s history, Kingdom follows one one crown princes’ who is sent to investigate a mysterious outbreak. What is meant to be a suicide mission — mostly likely to do with the line of succession — turns into discover that threatens not only Korea, but the entire world. The Joseon period lasted from 1392 until 1897, but Kingdom has not yet stated where in the timeline it will take place.
Produced by Korean production company Astory, Kingdom will arrive on Netflix sometime in 2018.