Netflix has officially green-lighted Squid Game season 2.
The announcement comes less than a month after director Hwang Dong-hyuk shared some interesting titbits about what to expect in the next instalment and a very short teaser.
What Netflix revealed about Squid Game season 2
A letter to fans from director Hwang
The streaming platform shared a letter written by Hwang to the show’s fans.
“It took 12 years to bring the first season of Squid Game to life last year. But it took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever,” Hwang wrote, referring to the record-shattering run that the show witnessed upon its release on 17 September 2021.
“As the writer, director, and producer of Squid Game, a huge shout out to fans around the world. Thank you for watching and loving our show,” he added.
Gi-hun returns and the killer doll has a ‘boyfriend’
Hwang also shared a bit of the returning characters from Squid Game season 1. He said that the main protagonist Gi-hun is set to return and so will the main antagonist Front Man.
“The man in the suit with ddakji might be back,” he wrote, indicating a possible return of The Salesman character, “You’ll also be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend Cheoul-su.” No details about Cheoul-su were given.
Young-hee is the name of the large, motion-sensing animatronic killer doll that appeared in season 1 and instantly gained fame for singing a haunting Korean phrase during the “Red Light, Green Light” game sequence.
What does the teaser show?
The teaser released by Netflix shows a robotic eye, similar to Young-hee’s. As her animatronic voice sings the phrase, the eye lights up in red and the three famous geometric symbols of Squid Game appear on the screen.
Red light… GREENLIGHT!
Squid Game is officially coming back for Season 2! pic.twitter.com/4usO2Zld39
— Netflix (@netflix) June 12, 2022
“We are working on the script right now and making the form of the story,” executive producer Kim Ji-yeon told Tudum, the official companion site of Netflix. “But there’s definitely a lot of pressure on how to make [Season 2] even better. I know that a lot of the different fans and audiences have enjoyed the series very much, but really we’re focusing on how to make it even more joyful to the global audience.”
Lee Jung-jae played Gi-hun in the first season. For his performance, the Korean acting icon won international honours such as a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.
The character of the Salesman was played by Gong Yoo, another of Korea’s top acting names, while internationally renowned Korean star Lee Byung-hun played Front Man.
Director Hwang’s previous reveals
Hwang has previously spoken about Squid Game season 2 to the media.
He first spoke about it during an interaction with Associated Press (AP) on 9 November 2021 and then gave some details about what to expect from the second instalment in an interview with Vanity Fair on 18 May 2022.
When asked about the theme around the second season of the acclaimed series, the director told Vanity Fair, “I want to ask the question, ‘Is true solidarity between humans possible?’”
“If they were capable of talking with one another, of cooperating with one another, I do agree that there could have been a possibility that we could have seen more winners,” Hwang said.
Earlier, at a screening event for Squid Game in Los Angeles in November, Hwang told AP that there he was left with no choice but to plan a second season because there was “so much pressure, so much demand and so much love” for it.
Numerous accolades on the awards circuit
Squid Game is the first series in a language other than English to receive the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. Besides Lee Jung-jae, HoYeon Jung won the SAG for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. Both Lee and Jung are the first Korean actors to win the honours in the categories at SAG.
Lee also became the first Asian to win the Critics Choice Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series.
O Yeong-su, another main actor from the series, became the first South Korean to win the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in television.
(All images: Netflix)
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
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