Villains (2025) Review & Release Guide: The Korean Crime Thriller Turning “Super Notes” Into a National Threat
- K-Drama Team
- 53 minutes ago
- 3 min read
What if a single counterfeit banknote could shake an entire country?
That chilling idea sits at the heart of Villains, a razor-sharp South Korean crime action series that blends financial warfare, revenge, and moral decay into one relentless thriller. Premiering on TVING on December 18, 2025, Villains doesn’t waste time easing viewers in — it drops straight into a world where money is power, and everyone is corruptible.
With a dead man found bearing a mysterious “Super Note” in his mouth, the series ignites a chain reaction involving former intelligence agents, master counterfeiters, crooked cops, and criminal masterminds — all colliding in a conspiracy too big to bury.
What Is Villains (2025) About?
At its core, Villains is a crime action drama about counterfeit “superdollars” — near-perfect fake banknotes capable of destabilizing South Korea’s economy.
The story begins when a corpse is discovered with a Super Note lodged in his mouth — a signature that signals the return of an infamous criminal planner known only as “J.”
That single clue pulls multiple damaged lives back into orbit.
The Central Conflict
A criminal genius chasing perfection
A disgraced intelligence agent chasing truth
A counterfeiting prodigy chasing revenge
A corrupt detective chasing money
Everyone wants the Super Notes — but for very different reasons.
Meet the Key Players
🧠 J — The Phantom Mastermind
Played by Yoo Ji-tae
J is not a street criminal — he’s an architect of crime. With a 100% success rate, he refers to every operation as a “masterpiece.” Calm, invisible, and terrifyingly precise, J treats the financial system like a chessboard.
💼 Cha Ki-tae — The Fallen NIS Agent
Played by Lee Beom-soo
Once the head of a financial crimes unit at the NIS, Ki-tae lost everything due to a crime J orchestrated five years earlier. Now disgraced and obsessed, he’s the only man who understands how big this conspiracy truly is.
🖨️ Han Soo-hyun — The Counterfeit Queen
Played by Lee Min-jung
Her life was destroyed by J’s plan. Instead of breaking, she learned. Trained by an ascetic master, Soo-hyun becomes the best counterfeit artist alive, capable of recreating currency indistinguishable from the real thing. Her goal isn’t money — it’s revenge.
🚔 Jang Joong-hyeok — The Corrupt Detective
Played by Kwak Do-won
Greedy, compromised, and dangerous. Joong-hyeok uses his badge as leverage, shaking down criminals while quietly skimming from everyone. In Villains, the police are not the moral high ground — they’re just another gang.
Why Villains Feels Different From Other Korean Crime Dramas
Most crime series focus on who committed the crime.
Villains focuses on why systems allow crime to flourish.
What Sets It Apart
💵 Financial crime as a national weapon
🧩 Criminals smarter than institutions
⚖️ No clear heroes — only competing villains
🔥 Personal vendettas fueling large-scale chaos
The Super Notes aren’t just counterfeit bills — they symbolize how fragile trust really is when money becomes fiction.
Episode Release Schedule (Confirmed)
Episode | Release Date |
Episode 1 | December 18, 2025 |
Episode 2 | December 18, 2025 |
Episode 3 | December 25, 2025 |
Episode 4 | December 25, 2025 |
Episode 5 | January 1, 2026 |
Episode 6 | January 1, 2026 |
Episode 7 | January 8, 2026 |
Episode 8 | January 8, 2026 |
Where to Watch Villains
South Korea: TVING
Asia-Pacific (17 regions): HBO Max
Japan: Disney+ Japan
Each episode runs 35–45 minutes, making it fast, tight, and binge-friendly.
Creative Team & Production Strength
Writers: Kim Hyung-jun
Directors: Jin Hyuk, Park Jin-young
Production Companies: CJ ENM, Taewon Entertainment
Music: Chung Yae-kyung
The direction keeps tension high, favoring quiet menace over flashy action, while the score leans into paranoia rather than spectacle.
Final Verdict: Are Villains Worth Watching?
Absolutely — especially if you enjoy:
Dark Korean thrillers
Financial crime stories
Morally complex characters
Slow-burn conspiracies with explosive payoffs
Villains isn’t about justice winning.
It’s about what happens when everyone believes they’re right — and everyone is dangerous.
This is one of TVING’s most ambitious crime dramas of 2025, and it has all the ingredients to become a sleeper hit internationally.