If Netflix hadn’t renewed Squid Game, canonically the streamer’s most-watched original series, well, it would’ve been a damn shame. But the corporate gods smiled upon us, and in October 2021, the South Korean survival drama was confirmed to be coming back for a second season, with plans to turn the hit series into an entire Star Wars-esque universe. We’re still far off seeing it, but the cast has started to expand — and a K-pop star is in the mix.
After the good news came from the mouth of the series creator himself, writer and director Hwang Dong-Hyuk has now given a few more details about where future episodes of Squid Game might go. Even Netflix themselves have weighed in, giving us teasers of the show’s expansive future and commissioning over 20 South Korean TV series and movies off the back of its success. Reportedly, there’s even the potential for actors behind the many killed off characters of season one, such as Hoyeon, to return within the SGCU (Squid Game Cinematic Universe).
For those anticipating the arrival of Squid Game season two, here’s what we know about the show — and that rumoured American remake — so far.
What’s the plot of Squid Game season two?
In a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Hwang said he had three pages of ideas that he will use to write the next season, implying that the script for season two is still very much a draft and subject to change. He did however explain the themes he hopes the next season will explore. “Humanity is going to be put to the test through those games once again… I want to ask the question, ‘Is true solidarity between humans possible?’”
Does this mean the contestants in the next games might work together to complete the games? Could there be more than one winner? Hwang has suggested that it might be possible, if participants weren’t “focused on wanting to kill each other off” but instead refused to compete against each other in the games. “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.”
What we do know is that the challenges are set to get even wilder. In an interview with Discussing Film, the show’s star Oh Young-soo — who played the game’s mastermind Oh Il-nam — revealed that there are many classic Korean childhood games that Hwang intended to bring to the show. “He actually told me that he has some that are more dramatic,” Young-soo said, “so I’m looking forward to it.”
In previous interviews, Hwang has also shared more on where he would like to go with some of the returning characters. In “the first season, we saw Gi-hun as a character whose humanity is shown through or exposed in certain situations,” Hwang told a virtual SAG panel hosted by Entertainment Weekly. “In other words, his humanity is shown through a very passive manner. But I would think that in the second season, what he has learned from the games and his experience in the first season, they will all be put to use in a more active manner.”
Hwang also hinted that the series will explore The Front Man and how he came to oversee the games in more depth. In the SAG panel discussion, he continued to imply this storyline was of interest using a Star Wars analogy. ‘“As for the Front Man, who was also a past winner but became a Front Man, it’s like Darth Vader,” he said. “Some end up Jedi and some become Darth Vader, right? I think that maybe Gi-hun will go through a certain critical point where he is put through a test as well.”
Will anyone in the cast of Squid Game season one be returning?
At Netflix’s Tudum event in Brazil, it was confirmed that Lee Jung-Jae would reprise his role as the final surviving gamer Gi-hun in the show’s next season. Season one ended on a cliff hanger, with him seemingly leaving behind freedom and his family to go and stop the games for good. Alongside him are the other actors who played survivors in the show: Lee Byung-Hun, who played Front Man; Wi Ha-joon, who played Hwang Jun-ho; and Gong Yoo, who played The Salesman.
Will other cast members be returning? “No, because most of them are dead,” Hwang told Deadline at the PAG Awards. “I’ll try something to bring them back to season two.” Hwang suggested a potential return for i-D cover star Hoyeon, though, who played the late fan-favourite character Sae-byeok. “Let’s say maybe she has a twin sister, you’ll see,” he added. Hoyeon then laughed and chimed in saying: “I could change my hair colour. Let’s do a little, like, plastic surgery.”
With a whole universe planned, maybe spin-offs and additional seasons may work as prequels or origin stories.
Who is in the cast of Squid Game season two?
In June 2023, a handful of new cast members were announced for Squid Game season two, also at the Tudum event in Brazil. The most significant was Im Si-wan, former K-pop idol as part of the group ZE:A. He was announced alongside Kang Ha Neul, Park Sung Hoon and Yang Dong Geun, the latter from Disney+’s popular K-drama Connect. Who they’re playing? We’re yet to find out.
The jury’s equally out on the show’s latest eight additions – Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Lee Jin-uk, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, and Won Ji-an – but we imagine that a good number of them will be contestants in the games. Chantal needs fresh meat, after all.
Will there be further seasons of Squid Game?
Netflix have since revealed they are planning to create a wider Squid Game franchise, rather than simply future series. In a conference tied to Netflix’s fourth quarter earnings, the company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that “the Squid Game universe has just begun”.
That alludes to the idea of Netflix treating this like Disney do Marvel. Could the eye watering success of the show have the streaming service thinking bigger than a traditional story arc? A spin-off series perhaps? Where’s the Squid Game theme park?!
All this must be quite overwhelming for Hwang, who set up the show to end ambiguously, but was satisfied with this being the show’s standalone season. “It’s true that season one ended in an open-ended way, but I actually thought that this could be good closure for the whole story, too,” he told Hollywood Reporter in October 2021.
He’s also said that there was originally an alternative ending to the first season, which, if followed through, would have completely changed the future of the show.
So what’s this about an American remake of Squid Game?
Jeff Sneider, a columnist for Hollywood insider newsletter The Ankler first raised the idea of an American Squid Game remake on his podcast The Hot Mic on 14 April 2023, stating that the rumour was Netflix wanted David Fincher to helm it. Then, a week later on the same podcast, he said the project was good to go — and that Fincher, known best for movies like Se7en, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and his own Netflix series Mindhunter, had formally agreed to do it. Of course, this has not been officially confirmed, but certainly points towards an interesting development in that so-called Squid Game universe.
What’s the release date of season two of Squid Game?
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hwang estimated that the show would materialise “by the end of 2023 or 2024”.
It’s also been reported that he wants to work on a film first, and is negotiating with Netflix to have a multi-project contract with them, Ryan Murphy and Shonda Rhimes-style, so that he’s not just known as “The Squid Game guy”. Get your coin king!
The possibilities! The intrigue! If it’s anything like its firecracker first season, Squid Game’s return is sure to be one hell of a ride.