You don’t need us to tell you how popular Squid Game became in 2021.
Hwang Dong-hyuk's survival drama took Netflix (and the world) by storm, smashing countless streaming records and literally changing the game for how the streamer measures the success of its shows (fans even smuggled Squid Game into North Korea, it was that successful).
It’s no wonder, then, that Netflix has given the ‘green light’ (get it?) to Squid Game season 2.
Plot, cast and release date details are thin on the ground at this early stage, but we’ve nonetheless rounded up everything we know so far about the show’s sophomore outing.
Naturally, proceed with caution if you want to avoid spoilers for Squid Game’s first season. You can still catch up with the show’s first nine episodes on Netflix.
Release date: No release date has been set for Squid Game season 2 just yet, but given that the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, “has a film and other things he’s working on” right now, we don’t anticipate the arrival of new episodes before 2023 at the earliest.
Cast: Hwang has promised that “Gi-hun will come back” in season 2, meaning we’re likely to see actor Lee Jung-jae again. Wi Ha-joon, Hwang Jun-ho and Gong Yoo could also all return as Jun-hon, In-ho and the recruiter, respectively, but the likes of HoYeon Jung and Oh Yeong-su probably won’t be coming back (given their characters are presumed dead).
Story: The most likely plot thread to explore is Gi-hun’s quest for revenge, but creator Hwang has also expressed an interest in delving deeper into the relationship between the Front Man, In-ho, and his brother, Jun-hon. We could see more of the recruiter, too.
Squid Game season 2 release date
Squid Game season 2 has, at long last, been officially renewed by Netflix, after Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was recently quoted as saying that "the Squid Game universe has just begun."
There’s been no confirmed release date for new episodes, though, and we don’t anticipate seeing Squid Game season 2 before the year is out. Our guess? We'll see the series resume in September 2023, two years after the first.
That might sound like a long wait, but Squid Game fans should be grateful that a second season is in the works at all. Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk was, at first, hesitant to talk about whether or not Squid Game season 2 would happen (he initially told The Sunday Times that it wouldn't), citing his desire to focus on other projects, including an upcoming feature film.
The runaway success of the show, though – which saw fans across the world tune in to Squid Game for a total of 1.6 billion hours during its opening month – seemed to encourage its creator to rethink his early reluctance.
In subsequent interviews, Hwang appeared increasingly confident about potential narratives for the future of Squid Game. In an October 2021 chat with The Hollywood Reporter, he said he does in fact have a few ideas for what a second season could look like, before later telling The Guardian that he actually has "a very high-level picture" of a potential follow-up story.
He then confirmed in November last year that "there will indeed be a second season" of Squid Game – before Netflix itself had revealed as much – with Hwang feeling as though audiences have left him "no choice" but to write more.
What’s more, given that Netflix boss Ted Sarandos spoke of a “Squid Game universe” in his announcement about the show’s renewal, we think it’s unlikely that Hwang’s world-beating series will stop at just two seasons.
Squid Game season 2 cast
Because most of Squid Game’s season 1 characters (spoilers!) bite the dust, it’s difficult to predict which actors may return for season 2.
As we explain in more detail below, we’re likely to see one (if not all) of Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon, Hwang Jun-ho and Gong Yoo return as Gi-hun, Jun-hon, In-ho and the recruiter, respectively, but the jury is out on the rest of season 2’s cast.
It seems as though the actors who played those deceased characters aren't too fussed about not returning for more, either. In a theory-debunking video feature with Vanity Fair, for instance, Sae-byeok actor HoYeon Jung said: "I was quite happy that [Sae-byeok] can die [...] so I can get rid of [the] stress."
As much as fans have called for Sae-byeok’s miraculous resurrection in Squid Game season 2, then, we think it’s highly unlikely she’ll be returning to the fray. The same goes for actors Heo Sung-tae and Oh Yeong-su, who played Jang Deok-su and Oh Il-nam in season 1, respectively.
In all likelihood, then, Squid Game season 2 will feature Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun alongside a host of new actors. How long they last in the show, though, is an altogether larger question.
Squid Game season 2 story
So, what might this second season actually look like?
Again, there’s been no confirmed details just yet, but creator Hwang’s early suggestions – coupled with our own thoughts about Squid Game’s season 1 ending – mean we can envision several possible narrative scenarios for Squid Game season 2.
The most obvious plot thread to explore in future episodes is Gi-hun’s quest for revenge. Evidently, given the show’s final shot, the character is enraged by the game organizers’ continued pursuit of downtrodden contestants, and the suggestion is that Gi-hun wants to expose them.
Hwang seems to share the interest in fleshing out Gi-hun’s journey, too. In his season 2 admission to The Associated Press, the writer said: "I will promise you this: Gi-hun will come back, he will do something for the world."
"[We could] explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games," the creator also told THR.
Should the show decide to go in this direction – as seems likely to be the case – it could do so in two ways. The first might see Gi-hun attempt to convince others of the game’s existence, exposing its corruption and inhumanity from the outside – he is, after all, a much richer man now. The second could see Gi-hun return to the game itself, with greater knowledge of its inner workings and ultimate objectives.
As unlikely as that second scenario sounds – it doesn’t really make sense for Gi-hun to return to a game which almost cost him his life – the former, more realistic scenario would likely eliminate much of what makes Squid Game so entertaining: the games themselves.
Evidently, then, the show’s creator and screenwriters have a job on their hands if they hope to repeat its appeal while also maintaining narrative logic. According to Vulture, Netflix is currently “trying to figure out the right structure," along with Hwang himself, so it’s no wonder we’re unlikely to see a follow-up season for at least a few years.
Other possible plot threads include examining the fate of Jun-hon, the undercover cop who discovers the Front Man to be his brother, In-ho. Although he was shot and subsequently fell off the edge of a cliff, there’s a chance Jun-hon survived the encounter, and given that we still don’t know In-ho’s motivation for becoming the game’s Front Man, this seems a likely narrative thread for the show to explore.
Hwang has shown an interest in developing this thread, too. "I’d like to explore that storyline – what is going on between those two brothers?," he told THR.
Interestingly, the show's creator has also hinted at the possibility of following the mysterious recruiter in more detail. "I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode," Hwang told THR in the same interview.
Elsewhere, though, Squid Game’s first season doesn’t leave a whole lot of questions unanswered – mainly because, well, most of its characters end up dead.
As such, there’s an outside chance Hwang may wipe the slate clean with Squid Game season 2, introducing audiences to a slate of entirely new characters – perhaps from a different city or time period – that allow him to write from the ground up.
Of course, the most likely scenario will see audiences reintroduced Gi-hun, Jun-hon, In-ho and the recruiter alongside several new characters – but there’s still a possibility Squid Game could opt for an anthology format, in the vein of True Detective or American Horror Story.
The most important thing, for Hwang and fans of the show, is that Squid Game season 2 maintains the drama, intrigue and dark humor that made the first crop of episodes so unique. While we’d love to see more of the show’s deadly puzzles, it'd be a shame if Netflix sanctioned a shoddy second run (that doesn't make narrative sense) for the sake of cashing in on its popularity.
But Hwang himself is well aware of that risk. “I do realise there are huge expectations for season 2,” he told The Guardian. “I keep asking myself whether I can make it better than season 1. I do not want people to [be] disappointed."
In the history of television, it's difficult to think of a writer under a heavier weight of expectation than Hwang right now. However Squid Game season 2 turns out, though, one thing is certain: millions will be tuning in to watch it.
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