Netflix has officially given the green light to Squid Game Season 2, releasing a brief teaser and a message from creator, writer, director and executive producer Hwang Dong-Hyuk.
A second season of the critically acclaimed series is exactly what you would expect after its extraordinary run on Netflix.
At its peak, Squid Game was the No.1 show in 94 countries, with 95 per cent of its viewership coming from outside Korea. It broke records left, right and centre, racking up 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first four weeks of its release in September.
A second season was sure to happen and, by January, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos said as such.
What will it entail? Well…
‘A whole new round is coming’
The 10-second teaser for the new season features a close-up of Young-hee, the gigantic animatronic doll from the premiere episode.
In Round 1 of Squid Game, players were given five minutes to cross a field. When Young-hee’s robotic voice called out ‘green light’, players ran, and when she declared ‘red light’, players froze.
With her black hair in pigtails, her yellow collared T-shirt and orange pinafore, Young-hee looked harmless.
But her eyes would dart across the field during ‘red light’, scanning for movement and glowing red when she found players who broke the rules. And they were shot dead on the spot.
Is it all coming back to you now? Yes? Good, because Season 2 will introduce Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su.
And if he is anything like Young-hee, then players are in for a world of pain.
“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,” creator Hwang said in a statement that accompanied the teaser.
Hwang originally wrote Squid Game as a feature film in 2009, but nobody wanted to finance it.
It wasn’t until 2018, when Hwang showed the script to Netflix, that the project took off.
“And now Gi-hun returns. The Front Man returns. Season 2 is coming. The man in the suit with ddakji might be back. You’ll also be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su,” the statement continued.
“Join us once more for a whole new round.”
The returning characters
As Hwang shared, the two characters who are returning are Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) and the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun).
Gi-hun won Squid Game and, despite some initial reluctance, had planned on moving on with his life using the prizemoney. But the cruel games aren’t over for him, not when they continue to take advantage of so many people.
The Front Man, meanwhile, oversees the games. He is the leader of the Masked Men and, as it was eventually revealed, the missing brother of detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon).
After he revealed his identity to his poor brother, the Front Man shot him and watched him stumble over the edge of a cliff to his (off-screen) death.
Whether Jun-ho is dead or alive remains a mystery.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the man in the suit, played by Train to Busan star Gong Yoo, returns too.
The man in the suit, or salesman, recruits potential players to the Game. He preys on gamblers and those in debt, tempting them with a game of ddakji.
Promising money, the salesman plays multiple rounds with the potential players before offering them the infamous Squid Game calling card.
Play more games, make more money.
When will we have more Squid Game?
Hwang told Vanity Fair in May that he predicts the next season won’t be ready until the end of 2023 at the earliest. Or even 2024.
At the time of the interview, the director was in final discussions about the second season with Netflix. Vanity Fair noted that he had “about three pages’ worth of ideas that he plans to turn into a script”.
But with Netflix behind him this time, at least we won’t have to wait 12 years for a second season.
