There is no doubt that Squid Game is still reigning supreme as a global cultural phenomenon. Ever since it first premiered back in 2021, Squid Game became wildly popular with audiences all over the globe owing to its immaculately crafted characters and dramatic narrative.
The second season of Squid Game premiered on December 26, 2024, and achieved the rare feat of matching up to the debut season's success. The second season ended with an intriguing cliffhanger, leaving the door open for the impending third and final season which is slated to be released sometime this year itself.
Squid Game creator and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, recently spoke in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in which he hinted at the possibility of helming a spinoff based on the original show, sometime in the future.
Hwang Dong-hyuk has been clear about his position of not wishing to continue the main narrative beyond three seasons. However, he hasn't entirely ruled out the possibility of creating a spin-off show based on either of the original show's recurring characters, including the Front Man, played by Lee Byung-hun, and the Recruiter, played by Gong Yoo.
Squid Game is a South Korean show that features a group of desperate contestants fighting out a contest of survival while playing children's games. Meanwhile, the whopping prize money of 45.6 billion won hangs in the balance.
What did Hwang Dong-hyuk say about the possibility of a Squid Game spin-off?
Speaking in the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dong-hyuk hinted:
"When we were doing season one, I was saying there was never going to be another season, and so if the time comes, and it just so happens that I’m able to come up with a character or a different story, then maybe there might be a comeback. But I’m thinking more along the lines of a spinoff.”
This comes as good news for the fans of Squid Game, who might just have the opportunity to watch their favorite show beyond the end of its third season. Regarding the plot of the spin-off, Dong-hyuk added:
"One of the ideas I’m tossing around is what happened between season one and two. There’s a three-year gap. So, for example, what was the Front Man doing during those three years? What was the Recruiter doing? When I have some downtime, I like to just toss some ideas around and go wild with my imagination. So I guess we can be open to anything."
Hwang Dong-hyuk opens up about the third season
Speaking in the same interview, Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed that the third season will once again focus on the clash of ideas between Gi-hun and the Front Man, following the former's abortive attempt at rebellion by the end of the second season. Dong-hyuk stated:
"The third season will really explore that sense of loss and failure, that guilt weighing so heavily on Gi-hun. How’s he going to navigate the story further with all of that weighing down on him?"
He further added:
"I see the third season as being the finale to this story… because I believe I’ve had closure to the story I wanted to tell about society through the character of Seong Gi-hun, If I ever wanted to go back to the world of Squid Game, it would be about different characters with a different story arc. For example, the masked guards. How did they end up here? What do they do in their downtime? Something like that, maybe.”
All episodes of Squid Game are exclusively available on Netflix.
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