The mastermind behind (arguably) the series of the year Squid Game last year confirmed season 2 is coming, and Netflix has assured us it’s a priority for them to get it to our screens. As if we were ever really in doubt.
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for the 2021 Netflix show Squid Game.
Yeah, a second season is probably the most obvious news to come out about Squid Game, isn’t it? Here’s some background info and everything else you need to know about the horror series that kept us all captivated last year.
What is Squid Game?
If you somehow managed to avoid being one of the millions of people around the world that were mesmerised by Squid Game, here’s a bit of context:
Squid Game is a South Korean survival drama television series about hundreds of cash-strapped players who accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Why? Because the prize is a tonne of money and they’re in severe debt. Seems quite wholesome, right? Completely wrong, death is often the penalty for losing in a round of one of the ‘children’s games’.
The premise can be described as The Hunger Games meets Saw meets every movie or TV show that asks the age-old question: am I a good person? It’s gruesome, dark, sad and absolutely holds a mirror up to real life.
It’s said to be one of Netflix’s most popular shows – so popular that a South Korean ISP sued the streaming giant for the network traffic issues the show was causing.
But, it had a very open ending. Why did he step away from the plane while talking to Frontman on the phone? What is he doing, just why. We need answers. Good thing we have *some*.
What do we know about Squid Game season 2?
Back in November, Squid Game’s writer and director Hwang Dong-Hyuk confirmed season 2 was in its early days of development.
“It’s in my head right now. I’m in the planning process currently,” he said to AP at the time. “I do think it’s too early to say when and how that’s going to happen. So I will promise you this – Gi-hun will be back and he’ll do something for the world.”
Something for the world? Do we get an answer to the phone call?
We then got confirmation from the streaming giant itself earlier this year. In January 2022 Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos opened up about the platform’s plans for a second season of Squid Game and the ‘Squid Game Universe’. He said season two is “absolutely” happening.
‘The Squid Game universe has just begun,” Sarandos said.
Something about Sarandos calling it a “universe” is a little worrying, because Netflix is seemingly going to do their best to turn Squid Game into a tentpole franchise. That’s fine if all of the content remains as sharp and incisive as the original series, but if there’s Squid Games official merch and video games and theme park, it might water down the show’s anti-capitalist message just a bit. Costumes from the show were already a disturbing Halloween trend among kids in 2021.
Anyway, details are scant to say the least on what to expect from season 2 BUT Variety is reporting Dong-Hyuk hopes to have the next instalment of the show stream on Netflix by the end of 2024. Mind you, that same article, Variety reports that the writer is also working on developing Killing Old People Club, a new film inspired by a novel penned by Umberto Eco, the revered Italian intellectual and essayist. He reportedly called it “another controversial film”. Yikes.
Who is going to be in season 2 of Squid Game?
Obviously Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), the main character of Squid Game, will be returning and we can probably safely say that the other lead characters, in particular Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae Soo), Oh Il-nam (Oh Yeong-su), Kang Sae-byeok (HoYeon Jung) and Abdul Ali (Anupam Tripathi)… Won’t be returning – given they all died during the various death games in the show.
Honestly, that’s a bit of a let down, given their incredibly interesting stories and the great acting of the cast. Frontman (Tom Choi) will likely be returning as the gamerunner, and it’s likely his brother, the cop who tried to uncover the mysteries of the games (Hwang Jun-ho, played by Wi Ha-joon) may return, after he was shot and fell off a cliff into the ocean. Look, we’ve seen enough TV to know that his story can’t end there.
Release date
For now, we don’t have a release date set in stone for Squid Game Season 2, but given the high production value of the first season, the amount of set pieces needed and the amount of actors on set, we’d likely be waiting until the latter half of that 2024 timeline.
Squid Game is available on Netflix, where you’ll find heaps of Squid Game-adjacent shows to watch while you wait for season 2.
This article has been updated since it was first published and we’ll continue to make changes as we learn more.