The success of Netflix’s Squid Game cannot be overstated. Since hitting the streaming service last month, the survival drama has skyrocketed to Netflix’s most watched series of all time, crashing websites, garnering plenty of Emmy buzz, and spawning real-life versions of show’s dark competition as it blazes the trail for Korean television in North America. Naturally with such success, there’s one big question on everyone’s mind: will there be a season two? While Netflix and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk have kept quiet about what’s next for the show, Hwang has now confirmed it’s a possibility.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang opened up about how personal Squid Game‘s story was to him, being “dumbfounded” by the show’s success, and the possibility of working with Netflix on a second season. While Hwang stated he felt the way season one ended provided “good closure for the whole story,” ending with the powerful message that “you should not be dragged along by the competitive flow of society, but that you should start thinking about who has created the whole system — and whether there is some potential for you to turn back and face it,” the writer and director says there are still plenty of stories he could work with.
“There are some other stories in the series that have not been addressed. For example, the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, the Front Man. So if I end up creating season two, I’d like to explore that storyline — what is going on between those two brothers? And then 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. And, of course, we could go with Gi-hun’s story as he turns back, and explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games. So, I don’t know yet, but I’ll just say there are a lot of possibilities out there for season two storylines.”
Whether or not we’ll see these stories play out is still up in the air, as neither Netflix nor Hwang have confirmed they’ll be reuniting for a second season or any additional spinoff projects. According to Hwang, he is still undecided on if he should even do another season, as with “such a big audience waiting for season two,” the “pressure” on the creator is “huge now.” However, Hwang also stated the amount of love for Squid Game could be seen as ” a big box of inspiration” for what’s to come.
“The pressure on me is huge now, with such a big audience waiting for a season two. Because of all that pressure, I haven’t decided yet whether or not I should do another season. But if you look at it in a positive way, because so many people loved season one and are expecting good things for season two, there are people everywhere in the world offering their opinions about where the show should go. I could actually pull ideas from fans all around the world to create the next season. I think that’s what I’m wrestling with right now — that I shouldn’t just view it as a huge amount of pressure, but think of all of this love and support I’m receiving as a big box of inspiration that I can leverage for season two.”
