The first season of Squid Game captivated the world when it premiered in 2021 – and now it’s time to strap yourself in for round two.
As we near the release date for the new season, we’re rounding up everything you need to know before watching.
What is the plot of the Squid Game?
In the first season of Netflix series Squid Game, gambling addict Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) was the last contestant standing in the murderous, winner-takes-all competition depicted in the South Korean thriller. Despite outlasting the other 455 contestants to be awarded the multibillion-dollar prize, Gi-hun vowed revenge against the twisted puppetmasters behind the game, including the nefarious masked Front Man (Lee Byung-hun).
Picking up three years later, Season 2 sees Gi-hun return to the competition to put an end to the bloodbath and save as many people as possible. “He’s so determined to make sure those who made all of this happen will be punished,” Jung-Jae told Netflix Queue. “That mindset played the biggest role in his motivations this season. He has a strong sense of purpose that he has to change it all.”
Gi-hun also tracks down the game’s recruiter and will secure a face-to-face meeting with the elusive Front Man. But is he really the sick mastermind behind it all? And in a crazy twist, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) returns. Yep, he’s not actually dead. OK, that’s enough spoilers!
What the creator of Squid Game says
The show’s creator and director Hwang Dong-Hyuk told Deadline he drew inspiration from the world’s current political climate for Season 2. “There are so many things that divide us today, whether it’s race, religion, language, the haves and the have nots, the generational divisions,” Dong-Hyuk explained. “It seems that the world leaders are creating these walls and divisions and it leads us to think that everyone who is on the other side, who does not think as you do, is an enemy that cannot ever be forgiven.” He added that second time around, we’ll have a stronger attachment to more of the characters.
“The games are one of the biggest changes as well as the characters because, except for Gi-Hun, all of the characters that play the games are new so you’re going to be able to see more endearing characters that you end up rooting for.” Dong-Hyuk said there’s another message at play in Season 2. “Do we have the willpower and strength to try to make the world a better place? Does humanity have what it takes to change the course of the world, and can we truly let go of our greed, our desires in order to create a better world together?” It’s these questions that are a reflection on the said political climate.
Is Squid Game season 2 out?
It feels like a lifetime ago that Netflix announced a second season of the award-winning, and totally original, Korean-based series. Finally, it’s back! Squid Games 2 premieres on Netflix on December 26. But first, we recommend turning back the clock and refreshing your memory with a binge of the first season.
Is Squid Game season 3 confirmed?
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the award-winning director said Season 3 is on it’s way, and he’s “nearly done with the editing portion”. He also confirmed that the third season would be the last. “When I was thinking about the idea for the ending of Season 3, I think it sort of naturally came to me that this was the finale.” It also sounds like Gi-hun will live to see another day beyond Season 2. “I believed that with that story, I was able to tell everything that I wanted to tell through the story of Squid Game and also in the perspective of Gi-hun as a character, and I thought that we don’t need any further stories from here.”
