Queen Mantis
2025 South Korean television series
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Queen Mantis (Korean: 사마귀: 살인자의 외출) 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 (KST).
| Queen Mantis | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster | |
| Also known as | The Mantis: Original Sin[1][2] |
| Hangul | 사마귀: 살인자의 외출 |
| Lit. | Mantis: The Killer's Outing |
| RR | Samagwi: sarinjaui oechul |
| MR | Samagwi: sarinjaŭi oech'ul |
| Genre | |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Lee Young-jong |
| Directed by | Byun Young-joo |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jo Yeong-wook |
| Country of origin | South Korea |
| Original language | Korean |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers | |
| Cinematography | |
| Editors | |
| Running time | 70 minutes[1] |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | SBS TV |
| Release | September 5 – September 27, 2025 |
| Related | |
| La Mante (French original) Mrs. Deshpande (India) | |
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[5]
- A woman who was imprisoned for being a serial killer.
- Jang Dong-yoon as Cha Soo-yeol / Kim Jeong-ho[5]
- A detective. Jung Yi-shin's estranged son.
- Jo Sung-ha as Choi Jung-ho[6][7]
- A police officer who advised Cha Soo-yeol to become a detective.
- A detective who should be in charge of the investigation but is replaced by Cha Soo-Yeol without knowing his connection to his birth mother.
Supporting
- President of a pottery studio. Cha Soo-yeol's wife.
- Lee Hwang-ui as Jeong Hyeon-nam[9]
- Suyeol's maternal grandfather and Jeong Yi-shin's father. He cared for Suyeol, who grew up without parents
- Kim Min-ho as Bae Seong-gyu[9]
- A member of the serial murder investigation team. He has a deep respect and camaraderie for Kim Na-hee
- Kim Tae-jung as Choi Hyuk[10]
- The youngest detective in the Violent Crimes Investigation Unit.
- Park Wan-hyung as Son Ji-an[9]
- Cyber Investigator in the Investigation Team
- Han Dong-hee as Seo Ara / Kang Yeon-Joong[9]
- A close friend and colleague who runs the same workshop as Jeongyeon.
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, Merry Christmas, and Docu-Factory Vista for SBS TV.[6]
Queen Mantis is Lee's debut as a television series writer. He previously wrote the screenplay for the films Flu (2013), The Witness (2018) and 12.12: The Day (2023).[11]
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.[11]
Casting
On November 14, 2023, the production companies announced that the lead role for the series was offered to Go Hyun-jung.[12] On July 23, 2024, Go and Jang Dong-yoon were confirmed to portray the lead roles.[5]
Ji Chang-wook was offered the role of Cha Soo-yeol but declined due to scheduling conflict.[13][unreliable source?]
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.[6][8]
Filming
Principal photography began in August 2024. Filming was done from October 2024 to February 2025.[6]
Promotion
A teaser for the series was aired on December 21, 2024 during the 2024 SBS Drama Awards.[7][14]
Release
It premiered on SBS TV on September 5, 2025, and airs every Friday and Saturday at 21:50 (KST).[15]
Queen Mantis is available for streaming on Wavve, Netflix[16] (South Korea and selected regions), Kocowa (North America), U-NEXT[17] (Japan), friDay Video, Hami Video and CHT MOD (Taiwan), TrueVisions Now[18] (Thailand) and Rakuten Viki[19] (selected regions).
Viewership
| Season | Episode number | Average | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||
| 1 | 1272 | 1325 | 1341 | 1446 | 1270 | 1098 | 1191 | 1404 | 1293 | |
| Ep. | Original broadcast date | Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[20] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nationwide | Seoul | ||
| 1 | September 5, 2025 | 7.1% (3rd) | 7.3% (3rd) |
| 2 | September 6, 2025 | 6.9% (2nd) | 7.3% (2nd) |
| 3 | September 12, 2025 | 7.3% (3rd) | 7.0% (3rd) |
| 4 | September 13, 2025 | 7.5% (2nd) | 7.5% (2nd) |
| 5 | September 19, 2025 | 6.6% (5th) | 6.9% (3rd) |
| 6 | September 20, 2025 | 6.0% (3rd) | 6.4% (3rd) |
| 7 | September 26, 2025 | 6.3% (6th) | 6.5% (3rd) |
| 8 | September 27, 2025 | 7.4% (2nd) | 7.9% (2nd) |
| Average | 6.9% | 7.1% | |
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