Netflix’s upcoming fantasy-romance series Genie, Make a Wish has unveiled new stills featuring Kim Woo Bin and Suzy, offering a first look at their sharply contrasting characters and the unique chemistry they bring to this unusual love story.
The drama follows Genie (played by Kim Woo Bin), a mysterious spirit who awakens from a thousand-year slumber to grant three wishes to Ka Young (Suzy), a woman who appears emotionless and detached from the world. After unexpectedly becoming the owner of a magical lamp, Ka Young’s orderly life is disrupted by the devilishly chaotic presence of Genie. As he fumbles to adjust to the modern world with his mischievous energy, an unpredictable bond begins to form between the two.
In the new stills, viewers get a glimpse of Genie’s duality. At first, he appears with piercing, almost hypnotic eyes, embodying the aura of a mystical, all-powerful being. But that image quickly crumbles in another shot where he’s seen wearing work pants, muddy boots, and a seat cushion, slumped in the middle of a rice paddy. The once-imposing spirit looks more like a tired farmhand than a fearsome supernatural force.
Ka Young, meanwhile, stands out in a very different way. She’s described as a “strange but striking” figure, with a blank expression that hides something deeper. In one scene, she calmly raises a kitchen knife over a long rice cake, evoking both elegance and unease. Though emotionless on the surface, her quiet presence commands attention.
When Genie and Ka Young appear together, the contrast is even more pronounced. Genie, draped in his otherworldly aura, hovers nearby, trying to seduce or stir her with his powers. Ka Young, however, remains utterly unmoved — her attention fixed instead on her breakfast. The visual irony is sharp: a spirit determined to “corrupt” humanity, and a woman too disinterested to be tempted. Yet in another still, the two are seen standing closely, eyes locked, with a spark of tension hinting that something more intimate may eventually blossom.
Kim Woo Bin described his character as one that “can’t be defined in a single word.” Genie, he explained, is full of contradictions — powerful yet petty, cruel but sometimes cute. To reflect his non-human nature, Kim paid special attention to physical nuances like movement, speech, and styling to subtly separate Genie from the world of mortals.
Suzy’s approach to Ka Young was rooted in restraint. She called the character someone “without emotions” who was raised by her grandmother and now lives strictly by the rules instilled in her. “She isn’t kind in a conventional way and might seem more terrifying than lovable,” Suzy explained. “But in living by rules, she becomes more righteous than anyone else.” While portraying Ka Young, Suzy focused on removing emotional reactions. “She doesn’t truly empathize but pretends to listen when people talk to her,” she said, describing Ka Young’s demeanor as robotic and cold. Even during script reading, Suzy adopted a “Ka Young-style” mindset to stay in character.
Genie, Make a Wish is set to premiere on October 3, just in time for Korea’s Chuseok holiday. Produced by Studio Dragon and Hwa&Dam Pictures, the drama brings together Kim Woo Bin and Suzy for the first time since Uncontrollably Fond, but with characters that promise a very different kind of romance.
With its blend of supernatural myth, emotional restraint, and unpredictable humor, Genie, Make a Wish isn’t just a wish-fulfillment fantasy — it’s a story about two deeply different beings forced into each other’s orbit, both struggling to understand what it means to feel, desire, and change.
