Though Squid Game is now Netflix’s most-watched series ever, it’s still not yet clear whether or not the South Korean drama will return for another season. Its creator, however, has recently confirmed that season 2 talks are happening.
“Of course, there is talk,” Hwang Dong-hyuk told The Guardian when asked if there are plans for a Squid Game season 2. “That’s inevitable because it’s been such a success. I am considering it. I have a very high-level picture in my mind, but I’m not going to work on it straight away. There’s a film I really want to make. I’m thinking about which to do first. I’m going to talk to Netflix.”
Hwang, who is currently lobbying the streaming giant to screen three of his past movies, doesn’t want to be known simply as the “Squid Game guy.” Despite this, he certainly hasn’t ruled a Squid Game sequel out – if only for one very material reason. “It’s possible that I have to do season 2 to become as rich as Squid Game’s winner,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m not that rich,” Hwang admitted at some point during his The Guardian interview. “But I do have enough. I have enough to put food on the table. And it’s not like Netflix is paying me a bonus. Netflix paid me according to the original contract.”
Due to the stress of writing and producing the nine-episode season 1 of Squid Game, Hwang told Variety in September that he would likely recruit a staff of writers and directors to help him should the second season of the series gets greenlit.
While Hwang doesn’t have a well-developed narrative plan for the potential Squid Game season 2, he told British newspaper The Times earlier this October that the next batch of episodes may focus more on the story of the Front Man, aka Hwang In-ho (Lee Byung-hun), and incorporate more about the police.
“I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late in acting on things,” he said. “There are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise.”
In a separate interview with Singaporean news outlet The Straits Times, Hwang revealed that he also wanted to explore the relationship between the Front Man and his policeman brother Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), as well as the background of the salesman character played by Gong Yoo.
Though Hwang hasn’t shared much about his plans for Lee Jung-jae (Seong Gi-hun) ― the lead character and the winner of the titular game in season 1 of Squid Game, the latter is expected to return for the potential season 2, as he ultimately chose to uncover the people who are running the games instead of boarding his flight to Los Angeles to reconnect with his daughter.
In addition to Seong Gi-hun, Wi Ha-joon, Lee Byung-hun, and Gong Yoo, the ensemble cast of Squid Game season 1 also includes Park Hae-soo, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung.