In an alternate timeline, Netflix’s “Human Vapor” might have been one of this year’s grandest summer blockbusters. It still is, in a way — just on the small screen.

This big-budget reboot of a classic 1960 Japanese sci-fi movie started out as a collaboration between Toho Studios and South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho (of “Train to Busan” fame) before the streaming giant got involved during the COVID-19 pandemic. A planned film became an eight-part series, without skimping on the cinematic spectacle.

Co-written by Yeon and Ryu Yong-jae and directed by Shinzo Katayama, “Human Vapor” embraces the legacy of Toho’s tokusatsu (special effects) movies as enthusiastically as Takashi Yamazaki did with “Godzilla Minus One” (2023) — but with a dynamism and mastery of genre that’s more typical of South Korean fare.

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