In 2021, Squid Game featured nothing less than a cultural phenomenon.
Previous year, Hwang Dong-dystopian hyuk’s survival drama caught the globe (& Netflix) by storm, accumulating billions of watching hours & fundamentally altering how the streaming service gauges the popularity of its programs.
Therefore, it seems sense that Netflix now officially awarded the second season of Squid Game the “green light” (get it? Despite the lack of plot, character, & releasing date information at such a early stage, we have compiled all the information we currently have on the eagerly anticipated season 2 of the program.
Obviously, continue with care if you don’t want to see spoilers for the initial season of Squid Game. The very initial 9 episodes of the program are still available on Netflix.
Date of release: Squid Game season 2 doesn’t yet have a launch date, however Hwang Dong-hyuk, the series creator, has hinted that it may comeback in 2024 when “other projects he’s concentrating on” right now are finished.
Cast: Actors Lee Jung-jae & Lee Byung-hun are set to make another appearance in season 2 as Hwang has guaranteed how both Gi-hun & The Front Man, In-ho, would return. Although HoYeon Jung & Oh Yeong-su may not be returning, Wi Ha-joon & Gong Yoo as Jun-ho as well as the recruiter, accordingly, might.
Story: Gi-drive hun’s for vengeance is perhaps most probably to be explored as a story element, but showrunner Hwang has also indicated a desire to delve more deeply into the bond among The Front Man & his brother, Jun-ho. Along with the comeback of the show’s infamously gory challenges, we might also see a lot more of the recruiter.
Release Date of Squid Game season 2
In June 2022, almost 6 months following Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos told media that “the Squid Game world has only just started,” Squid Game season 2 is finally given an official Netflix renewal.
Fresh episodes have not yet been officially announced for distribution; however the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has hinted that Squid Game may return in 2024. The filmmaker just sent in a screenplay for his forthcoming film project, Killing Old People Club, & now intends to devote time to focusing on Squid Game season 2.
Inside an open letter posted on Twitter in June, Hwang acknowledged as much & thanked the Squid Game audience for “following & appreciating” his program:
Fans of Squid Game ought to be thankful that even a second season is even being considered, even if 2024 may seem like a long time to wait for new seasons. Squid Game creator Hwang originally refrained from commenting on the possibility of a second season, telling The Sunday Times that this would not happen due to his desire to concentrate on other endeavors, such as his mentioned film project, Killing Old People Club.
The show’s overwhelming popularity, however, that saw viewers tune in for a cumulative of 1.6 billion hours within its first month, appeared to inspire its creator to change his mind about his initial hesitation.
In later talks, Hwang exhibited a growing sense of assurance over prospective Squid Game plotlines. He acknowledged having some concepts for a possible season 2 in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter from October 2021. However, he subsequently admitted to having “a very high-level image” of a potential follow-up tale to The Guardian.
Although Netflix had officially announced it, Hwang later said in November 2017 that “there would certainly be a 2nd season” of Squid Game, saying he was left with “no option” but to continue writing.
Additionally, considering that Ted Sarandos, the head of Netflix, mentioned a “Squid Game universe” when announcing the show’s renewal, we believe it’s improbable that Hwang’s ground-breaking series would end after only 2 seasons.
Cast of Squid Game season 2
It’s tough to guess which actors will appear in Squid Game season 2 since the majority of the season 1 actors (spoilers!) die.
We’re expected to see some (if not all) of Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun, & Gong Yoo returning as Gi-hun, Jun-ho, In-ho, & the recruiter, accordingly, but the majority of season 2’s cast is still up in the air, as we discuss in more details below.
Several of the performers who portrayed those dead characters don’t seem very upset about not being asked back for more, though. For example, Sae-byeok actor HoYeon Jung stated: “I was actually delighted that [Sae-byeok] may die […] so I can get rid of [the] worry” in a theory-debunking video feature with Vanity Fair.
Sae-miraculous byeok’s resurrection has been demanded by fans for Squid Game season 2, but we don’t believe that’s going to happen. A similar statement may be made about the actors Heo Sung-tae & Oh Yeong-su, who in season 1 portrayed Jang Deok-su & Oh Il-nam, accordingly.
Though Lee Jung-Jae, who plays Gi-hun, just gave his own crazy concept for Squid Game season 2. He told Entertainment Tonigh that he expects to be seeing fan favorites like Sae-byeok & Ali returning in upcoming episodes while accepting the Best Actor award at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Just on red carpet, Jung-jae said to media, “My theory is that perhaps the masked guys took the whole of [the deceased characters] away & ensured they returned to life. If that desire comes true, maybe Heo Sung-tae, Kim Joo-ryeong, & Anupam Tripathi will make a comeback in Squid Game season 2 & besides.
But it’s likely that a large number of brand-new performers will join Jung-jae in the next episodes as Gi-hun. Of course, the real issue is how long they stay on the program.
Story of Squid Game season 2
What would the real format of this season 2 be?
Again, there aren’t many verified specifics quite yet, although in light of creator Hwang’s early ideas and our own speculations on how Squid Game season 1 ended, we can already envisage a number of potential plotlines for season 2.
Upcoming episodes should mostly focus on Gi-desire hun’s for vengeance. Given the closing shot of the program, it is clear that perhaps the character is incensed by the game’s producers’ relentless pursuit of participants who are struggling, & it is implied that Gi-hun intends to reveal them.
Hwang appears to have a similar interest in detailing Gi-trip. hun’s Gi-hun will return and he will do something beneficial to the world, the author promised in a conversation with The Associated Press in 2021.
The developer said to THR, “[We could] examine a bit more how he’s going to maneuver through his confrontation with the folks who are making the games”.
If the program chooses to proceed in this direction which seems likely it may do it in one of 2 ways. Gi-hun may try to persuade others about the game’s reality in the first one, revealing its corruption & dehumanization from the outside after all, he is now a significantly wealthy man. In the 2nd, Gi-hun could come back to the game after learning more about its mechanics & goals.
Even though it doesn’t actually sound right for Gi-hun to play the same game that almost lost him the life again in the 2nd scenario, the first, more plausible scenario will likely destroy a lot of what makes Squid Game so enjoyable: the games themselves.
Actor Lee Jung-jae, who plays Gi-hun, and Hwang appear to agreed on this point. When asked about Squid Game season 2 by E! just on SAG awards red carpet in February 2022, the latter responded: “I think that [Gi-hun] is certainly likely to win [the games] once more to achieve something positive.” That means Gi-hun may visit the dangerous puzzle-filled island again in upcoming episodes of the program, perhaps in an attempt to learn the reality about how they were created.
Squid Game season 2 would undoubtedly include additional of the show’s infamously dangerous riddles, according to Hwang himself. This further suggests that Gi-hun would perform a spectacular comeback to the isolated facility at the centre of Squid Game’s first season tale.
Inside the aforementioned letter confirming the show’s continuation, the writer-director also promised that season 2 of Squid Game would see viewers “introduced to Young-lover, hee’s Cheol-su,” a reference to the series’ now-iconic killer robot doll.
Young-hee appeared in the initial Squid Game episode, Red Light, Green Light, as a motion-detecting animatron that sent orders to kill any players who moved while in its line of sight. Red Light, Green Light was indeed the bloodiest game covered in the 9 episodes of Squid Game thanks to Young-255 hee’s deaths.
Cheol-su appears to be Young-male hee’s friend, & we anticipate that he will be just as scary. He may even perform his own rendition of the spooky “Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3” jingle from the latter.
In just about any event, if the show’s creator & screenwriters intend to replicate Squid Game’s early popularity while still upholding narrative coherence, they have such a difficult task on the hands. Since Hwang said in the aforementioned May statement that he currently only has “roughly 3 pages’ worth of concepts that he hopes to convert into a screenplay” for season 2, it seems sense that we won’t necessarily see a sequel for at minimum some few years.
Investigating the destiny of Hwang Jun-ho, the covert police officer who uncovers The Front Man to really be his brother In-ho, is one of the potential storylines for Squid Game season 2. There’s a strong possibility Jun-ho survived the confrontation, even whether he was shot & then fell over a cliff. Considering that In-purpose ho’s for serving as even the game’s Front Man remains unknown, this appears to be logical plot line for the program to examine.
Hwang has expressed a desire to continue to explore this topic. In an interview with THR, he said, “I’d want to investigate that plot – what really is going on among those 2 brothers? In the aforementioned fan letter, he even specifically highlighted The Front Man.
It’s worth noting that the show’s creator has indeed alluded to the prospect of paying more attention to the mystery recruiter. Just after show’s 2021 premiere, Hwang told THR, “I might also dive into narrative of the recruiter inside the suit who engages in the game of ddakji alongside Gi-hun & hands him the card in the initial episode.
However, other than that, Squid Game’s initial season will not really leave many unresolved issues since, well, the majority of its characters die.
For Hwang as well as the show’s viewers, it’s crucial that Squid Game season 2 retains the drama, suspense, & dark humor that characterized the first batch of episodes so distinctive. Although we’d love to see a greater number of show’s lethal puzzles & it seems that we will—it would be unfortunate if Netflix approved a subpar second season in order to capitalize on its success.
However, Hwang is well informed of that danger. At the close of the previous year, he admitted to The Guardian that there were “great expectations” for season 2. “I always doubt my ability to improve upon season 1. I don’t want anybody to be let down.
It’s challenging to imagine a writer in television history who is now carrying a larger burden of expectations than Hwang. One thing is clear, though: millions of people would be tuned in to see Squid Game season 2.