The Marvels lets down K-drama fans with Park Seo-joon’s screen time

Gabriela Silva
Park Seo-joon in The Marvels as Prince Yan

The MCU has added another South Korean A-list actor to their roster. The Marvels cast Itaewon Class actor Park Seo-joon as Prince Yan, but his screen time had K-drama fans disappointed.

Park Seo-joon has graced the small screen in hit K-dramas like What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, Fight For My Way, and Itaewon Class – the K-drama that had him noticed by director Nia DaCosta. The actor now joins Don Lee as one of the few South Korean actors in the MCU.

He plays the role of Prince Yan, who has a surprise connection to Carol Danvers in the movie. While fans were aware that Prince Yan was not a focal point of The Marvels, he was included in various trailers. The actor also appeared in behind-the-scenes interviews over his excitement about the role.

But K-drama fans were left dismayed when watching The Marvels just to see Park Seo-joon’s screentime be almost non-existent.

Fans kept track of Park Seo-joon’s screentime in The Marvels

According to fans, Park Seo-joon appeared in The Marvels for less than three minutes, leaving them wanting more.

In a report by Koreaboo, a Korean fan attended an early screening of The Marvels and timed Park Seo-joon’s appearances. The fan claimed he only appeared for a total of two minutes and 47 seconds, with a five-second margin for error. It was also reported that Prince Yan appeared roughly one hour into the movie but as flashbacks to his connection with Carol Danvers. He later appears to help the three female leads in the big fight. Our Dexerto team clocked Park’s appearance for almost four minutes.

Director Nia DaCosta had previously mentioned the actor’s role as Prince Yan would be short, saying “he is a character with impact.” But some fans didn’t see it that way and were upset at his lack of time in the movie that could be described as a cameo.

Koreaboo commented a fan’s response saying, “I thought he was one of the lead characters. I can’t believe his screen time is less than the time it takes to cook cup noodles… Not going to watch.”

Another fan commented that the total amount of screen time in the movie is roughly the same as what fans saw in the trailers. One fan said it’s less time than what it takes to cook Cup Ramen.

On Twitter, one fan said Park Seo-joon fans went to see The Marvels just for the actor. “This #TheMarvels movie is probably getting all the views because of Park Seo-Joon. Yes, I said it, most the PSJ fans are watching it because of his little airtime,” said the fan.

Another said, “Park Seo-joon was brilliant, but could have been given more to do/more screen time. The film would have still been brisk with another 10/15 minutes with Prince Yan and Aladna.”

Despite his short time on screen, he left a lasting impression. Kenny@Disney+ said, “I think we need to shout out Park Seo-joon more for his role in #TheMarvels. Park did his thing great as Prince Yan and deserves way more screen time, now thinking about it.”

Park Seo-joon is well aware of his short screen time

The South Korean actor commented that while his time in The Marvels was short, his character is important to Carol Danvers’ storyline development.

In an interview with SBS Star, Park Seo-joon was asked about fans’ dismay over his short role in a 105-minute movie.

“I think Aladna and Prince Yan are the place and the figure that is important for showing the growth of Carol Danvers. Some might think my part in the movie is too short, but I believe it plays a crucial part in the overall narrative of The Marvels,” explained the actor.

For now, fans can only hope that Park Seo-joon’s role in The Marvels opens the door to more opportunities in the MCU.

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About The Author

Gabriela is a Senior TV and Movies Writer for Dexerto covering Netflix, Disney+, K-Dramas and everything in between. She has a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Fordham, and was previously a TV Writer for Showbiz Cheatsheet and List Witer for Screenrant. You can contact Gabriela at gabriela.silva@dexerto.com