Squid Game: Will there be a season 2 of the ‘most watched’ Netflix series?
Violent drama has quickly become one of platform’s most popular releases to date
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Your support makes all the difference.Since its release on 17 September, Netflix’s Korean language thriller Squid Game has quickly become one of the platform’s most popular releases to date.
Starring Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-jun, and Park Hae-soo, season one explores a dystopian reality, in which a mysterious organisation recruits people in debt to compete in a series of apparently childish games for the chance to win a life-changing amount of money.
The games are based on classic children’s games, some of which are specific to Korea, while others, such as “Red Light, Green Light”, are known worldwide.
Unlike typical children’s games, however, those in Squid Game have deadly consequences for the losers.
Currently, the biggest question revolving around the hit series is whether there will be a season two.
Netflix hasn’t dropped any hints on whether the show will return, however director Hwang Dong-hyuk recently admitted in an interview that he wasn’t in a hurry to develop another season.
“I don’t have well developed plans for Squid Game 2. It is quite tiring just thinking about it,” he told Variety, adding: “But if I were to do it, I would certainly not do it alone. I’d consider using a writers’ room and would want multiple experienced directors.”
Hwang additionally revealed that he found writing Squid Game without help from anyone else very time-consuming, as he generally makes movies rather than TV shows.
“In my earlier days, I’d drink half a bottle of soju (Korean liquor) to get the creative juices flowing. I can’t do that any more,” he said. “Writing [Squid Game] was harder than normal for me as it was a series, not a film. It took me six months to write and rewrite the first two episodes. Then I consulted verbally with friends, and picked up clues for improvements through my own pitching and from their responses.”
Prior to bouncing straight into the next season, the director said that he may return to movies before working on a sequel.
Normally, Korean shows comprise of only one season, however, taking into account that other K-dramas like Kingdom, and Love Alarm got a renewal from the streaming giant, Squid Game season two can’t be ruled out.
If the show does end up getting renewed any time soon, there will be a significant wait for its premiere.
The first season was announced in 2019, with production taking two years to finish. Therefore, even with the most hopeful timetable, season two presumably wouldn’t air until 2023.
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