Film

Disney+ Will Claim Bridgerton’s Crown With Its Ultimate Successor in 2026

24 January 2026

It’s been a little over a year since Netflix’s Bridgerton dropped Penelope and Colin’s season, and the series is already ready to make a comeback, this time with a Cinderella-inspired romance centered around Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek. That said, given the mixed reception Season 3 received, there’s certainly some apprehension going into the newest season.

Amidst this doubt and excitement, Disney+ has unveiled its own Bridgerton in The Remarried Empress, and it seems like this K-drama could truly become the diamond of the season instead.

Disney+ Has the True Bridgerton Successor Coming in 2026

Based on the webtoon of the same name, The Remarried Empress live-action K-drama was recently announced as part of Disney+’s 2026 slate and is expected to release in the latter half of 2026.

With only a few sneak peeks, the series has already impressed long-time fans of the webtoon and web novel with its accurate portrayal, on-point casting, and staying true to the series’ Western setting, despite being a Korean drama.

Hyping its upcoming releases, Disney+ recently shared a new teaser, featuring multiple new clips of The Remarried Empress, featuring key moments such as Navier and Heinrey’s first meeting, Navier at her wedding, Sovieshu kissing Rashta, and much more.

The new glimpses at Rashta in particular have dispelled any lingering doubts about the casting, with Lee Se-young truly nailing Rashta’s feigned innocence and naïveté down to her facial expressions. Coincidentally, Lee Se-young’s latest appearance as Rashta in the teaser has also spurred comparisons to Daphne Bridgerton with her wavy auburn hair.

The Remarried Empress Has One Advantage Over Bridgerton

The Remarried Empress Truly Puts the “Drama” in K-Drama

All in all, from the sets to the costume designs, The Remarried Empress‘ live action is beginning to look more and more impressive with every new look, and it could truly grow to be Disney+’s answer to recreating Bridgerton’s massive success.

After all, despite the anticipation surrounding Penelope and Colin’s story, Season 3 of Bridgerton did end up being a bit of a letdown for many. Though they were the stars of the season, Penelope and Colin oddly received very limited focus, distracted by several unnecessary subplots.

Even the costume design that fans had initially fallen in love with seemed to stray from its roots, with even the makeup taking a distracting modern turn. Naturally, there are concerns that Season 4 could go down the same path, and this is precisely where The Remarried Empress could swoop in.

While it does have a few fantastical elements, The Remarried Empress is at its core a period piece. Much like Bridgerton, The Remarried Empress is all about the romance, following the budding relationship between Empress Navier and Prince Heinrey when Emperor Sovieshu takes Rashta as his new mistress.

Even without Whistledown, The Remarried Empress manages to turn the drama up to a hundred, especially when it comes to the gentle politics of high society and the royal court. This aspect of the series might particularly appeal to fans of Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte spin-off.

Most importantly, however, with Benedict’s story out of the way, Bridgerton is getting closer and closer to running out of Bridgerton siblings. Eloise or Francesa will likely be next in line, leaving just Gregory and Hyacinth, though it’s unclear if the series will still be able to keep fans around until it’s the turn of the youngest two, or even if the last two stories will still be compelling enough.

On the other hand, The Remarried Empress has close to 250 chapters worth of webtoon source material to work with, which could keep the live-action series going for years, long beyond Bridgerton. Of course, for fans of both series, 2026 is looking to be a good year all around.