Kingdom Season 3: Has Netflix Canceled or Renewed the Korean Zombie Series?

Kingdom – Copyright. Netflix

It’s been over three years since the second season of Kingdom was released on Netflix. We were treated to a special feature-length episode in 2021, and a second was rumored to be on the way, however, for the past two years we’ve heard nothing from Netflix. So has Netflix silently canceled Kingdom? Most likely, here’s why.

Kingdom is a Netflix Original South Korean horror series written by Kim Eun-hee. The series is based on the book Land of the Gods, which was also written by Kim Eun-hee. First arriving in 2019, the horror series has since become one of the most popular non-English titles available to stream on Netflix.

Has Kingdom been renewed for season three?

Official Netflix Renewal Status: Pending (Last Updated: 30/08/2023)
Our Renewal Prediction: Canceled

We’re over two years on since the release of the special feature-length episode of Kingdom, Ashin of the North, and over three years have passed since the second season was released.

Thanks to the period of time it was released, we have no viewing statistics for the main series to compare to other titles in Korean titles such as Squid Game, and fellow zombie horror series All of Us Are Dead.

However, we do know for certain that Kingdom: Ashin of the North was watched in the global top tens for 37,140,000 hours over the course of four weeks from July 23rd, 2021 to August 15th, 2021. When you compare it to many other K-drama titles on Netflix, sadly Ashin of the North can be categorized as a huge failure.

Our confidence in ever seeing the series return for a third season has been greatly diminished with each passing month. At this point it is highly likely that Netflix has been canceled by Netflix.

Previous and positive signs that Kingdom could return for a third season resided in the energy of the show’s screenwriter, Kim Eun-hee, who was interviewed alongside director Park in-je, who were both interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter.

When asked about the amount of story and number she had left, Kim Eun-hee had the following to say:

Strangely enough, Kingdom is a series that gives me more energy the more I write it. The cast and crew all have great chemistry, and there’s so much more to tell. If viewers allow, I would love to see it develop even up to season 10.

The last we’ve heard from Kim Eun-hee was her discussing what role Jun Ji Hyun may have to play in season three:

I think Jun Ji Hyun will become a central role alongside the main characters from season one and two.

Ten seasons is always incredibly ambitious. But it seems a shame we may never see the story conclude.

What is the cast up to now?

Since Kingdom season two came to an end, the cast has been exceptionally busy.

Joo Ji Hoon (Prince Lee Chang) starred in movies such as Gentleman and Project Silence. He is due to star in three upcoming drama shows such as Dominant Species, The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, and Shop of the Lamb.

Bae Doo Na (Seo Bi) has continued to star in multiple Netflix shows since Kingdom, having starred in The Silent Sea and the second season of Stranger. She will also star in Zack Snyder’s upcoming sci-fi blockbuster Rebel Moon. Bae Doo Na is also set to star in the lead role in the upcoming K-drama The Killer Miss Lee.

Kim Sung Gyu (Young Shin) has been busy starring in the leading role in the drama King of Pigs, and starring in supporting roles in the movies Hansan: Rising Dragon, and Noryang: Deadly Sea.

Jun Ji Hun (Ashin) will soon star in the upcoming drama Polaris, and is rumored to be starring in an upcoming romance movie I Love You From the Future.

Jun Suk Ho (Jo Bum Pal) has been exceptionally busy starring in guest and supporting roles across many different dramas such as The Uncanny Counter, Jirisan, School 2021, Call it Love, Yumi’s Cells season 2, and more. The actor has also been busy starring in movies such as Ssanahui Sunjeong, Dream, The Roundup: No Way Out, and more. He will soon star in two upcoming movies Amazon Bow Master, and Jung Family’s Farm.

Judging by the schedules of the main cast members, it’s hard to see where they will be able to find the time for months of filming for a third season of Kingdom.

What to expect from season three of Kingdom

Below we’ll be discussing what we can expect to see from the third season of Kingdom.

*Spoilers for Kingdom season two*

Outbreak in the North

After seven years and three months since Prince Chang faked his death, we learned from Young-Shin, in a reunion with Cho Beom-Pal, that his royal highness had been investigating the resurrection plant, hunting it all over Korea. We learned that the resurrection plant had been growing in regions all over Korea, and a mysterious seller from the Chinese/Korean border had been selling it to the common folk.

Taking Prince Chang, Seobi, and his guard north, they discovered an abandoned village. Upon investigating, they soon discovered that the village had become infected. After dispatching one of the undead, the further ringing of bells amongst the trees indicated, even more, infected were on the way.

With only three trained fighters among them, from what we saw, it’s highly likely that Prince Chang may need to retreat from the north. Without the relevant number of soldiers to take down zombies, there could be another outbreak in the north.

More undead on the way…

Who is the plant seller?

Tracking the mysterious seller north, it was finally revealed the person trying to spread the plague was a woman. Her motives are unclear at this point, but as one of the peasants revealed he had purchased the resurrection plant from the border between China and Korea, so she could be working for the Ming Dynasty.

The intention could be to annihilate the population of Korea, then allow Chinese forces to conquer with ease.

Alternatively, she may just want to watch the world burn.

Who is she!?

The new undead prince?

Despite removing the worms from the young Prince as a baby, of at least one of the parasites remained in his system, laying dormant until his brain had developed enough for it to take over.

For now, all we know is that the worm carrying the infection has spread to the Prince’s brain. Taking into consideration it has been lying dormant for seven years, it may impact the young royal differently to other victims.

Personally, it would be too easy for infection to claim the prince, turning him into a mindless monster and spreading the plague within the palace walls. It’s likely we’ll see a new form of contamination, one that may corrupt his mind until eventually turning him into a smarter and even deadlier zombie.

Will a cure ever be found?

Seobi had spent the better part of seven years trying to discover a cure for the undead plague. Other than the discovery that submerging a victim in water destroys the worms, very little progress had been made.

In her research, Seobi was able to round up all that we knew about the virus;

The worms are affected by weather, favoring colder temperatures over warmth, but are highly volatile when exposed to extreme heat.
The undead lay dormant during the months of Spring and Summer
In Autumn and Winter, the undead are only active during the night when temperatures drop
After the Winter solstice until the first day of Spring the dead remain active day and night.
Submerging the victims in water before infection takes hold will destroy the worms inside of the body

Sadly, Seobi had been mistaken about newborns immunity, as the worms laid dormant within the prince even after submerging his wounds.

Seobi’s research has been left in the hands of Cho Beom-Pal, in case of another outbreak, which may arrive sooner than anyone would have expected.

Kim Eun-hee’s update

In the same discussion where screenwriter Kim Eun-hee spoke of Jun Ji Hyun’s role in Kingdom, she revealed a little of what we can expect from the third season:

Season one told the story of hunger and season two told the story of blood. If Netflix agrees, I want season three to tell the story of resentment. Season two brought attention to the concept of ‘temperature’ and I think if the story were to travel north, the different ecosystem in the North would act as a hint.

Casting news for Kingdom Season three

We said goodbye to plenty of cast members in the second season, many sadly falling victim to the undead plague.

One cast member we’ll definitely be seeing more of for the third season will be Jun Ji Hyun. While that may name be unfamiliar for some, the South Korean actress was seen in the dying seconds of Kingdom season two, revealing her to be the culprit spreading the resurrection flower around Korea.

It was revealed in late 2019 that Jun Ji Hyun had been cast, but her role had been kept a fiercely guarded secret. We can now understand why, because her being cast all but confirms a third season of Kingdom.

Cast members, we’re expecting to see returning for season three are:

Role	Actor/Actress	Where have I seen/heard them before?
Crown Prince Chang	Ju Ji-Hoon	Asure: The City of Madness \| Antique \| The Spy Gone North
Seo-Bi	Bae Doo-Na	Sense8 \| Cloud Atlas \| The Host
Young-Shin	Kim Sung-Kyu	The Outlaws \| Tunnel \| The Accidental Detective
Jo Beom-Pal	Jun Suk-Ho	Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon \| Intruders \| Lucid Dream
Moo Young’s Wife	Ahn Eun Jin	Hospital Playlist \| Stranger From Hell \| The Crowned Clown