Hit webtoon ‘The Remarried Empress’ to release spinoff ahead of live-action series

The hit Naver webtoon "The Remarried Empress," which is set to premiere as a live-action series next month, will release a webtoon spinoff at 10 p.m. Thursday.

The spinoff will also be available worldwide through Naver Webtoon's global platform.

Written by HereLee and illustrated by Sumpul, the original webtoon adaptation debuted on the platform in October 2019, based on the original web novel of the same name by Alphatart. The webtoon's fourth season concluded on Jan. 1.

The story follows Empress Navier Ellie Trovi, who responds to the emperor's decision to divorce her by choosing to remarry.

Available in 10 languages, including Korean, the webtoon had accumulated 2.97 billion views worldwide as of July, according to Naver.

The new side stories will explore the newlywed life of Navier and her second husband, Heinrey Alles Lazlo, who have welcomed twins, as well as the lives of supporting characters whose stories were not fully explored in the original series.

The release will also feature alternate-universe stories, dubbed "IF" spinoffs, that reimagine key events from the original plot. These include a scenario that revisits the day Emperor Sovieshu announced his decision to divorce Navier and another in which Rashta, the emperor's mistress, becomes Navier's maid.

"I'm delighted to reconnect with readers who have cherished 'The Remarried Empress' for so long through these new side stories," HereLee and Sumpul said in a press release Thursday. "I hope readers enjoy discovering more about the characters whose stories we couldn't fully explore in the original series."

"The fact that 'The Remarried Empress,' which has reached readers around the world through Naver Webtoon, is now returning with new webtoon side stories and a series adaptation is all thanks to the love and support of our readers," they added. "I hope readers look forward to experiencing 'The Remarried Empress' in different ways, each with its own unique appeal."

Naver Webtoon will also increase the number of episodes of the original webtoon "The Remarried Empress" available to read for free from episode 10 to episode 24 through Dec. 1 to celebrate the spinoff's release.

The platform will also roll out a series of promotional events: an Easter egg that appears when users search for "The Remarried Empress" in the Naver Webtoon app, an interactive "Debutante Test" that lets participants imagine themselves as young noblewomen entering the Eastern Empire's high society and a mobile pixel-art wedding invitation featuring Navier and Heinrey's remarriage ceremony.

Naver Series will also make all chapters of the original web novel available to read for free on Nov. 7 to mark the premiere of its live-action adaptation on Disney+.

Set for release on Wednesday, the upcoming Disney+ series will star actors Shin Min-a, Ju Ji-hoon, Lee Se-young and Lee Jong-suk.

BY KIM JI-YE [[email protected]]