The fate of the Squid Game was almost entirely different.
With Seong Gi-hun, a.k.a Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), having decided not to board a plane to see his kid; instead, he reversed course on the jet bridge in order to seek revenge on the vicious game that almost took his life as well as those of the other 455 contestants who perished during the games. It was previously reported that there will be not one, but two seasons of Squid Game. Season 1’s final sequence is axed by the developer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who explains that Gi-hun’s life-altering choice swung in the opposite direction in an earlier version.
“We struggled when we had to choose between two different endings,” Hwang explains. “The ending you did not see, the other alternate conclusion, had Gi-hun boarding the plane and leaving. Then there was also the one where he would go back and walk towards the camera. Is it really appropriate for Gi-hun to make the decision to leave and go home to see his family in order to pursue his own happiness? Is it the most effective approach for us to present the question or message we wanted to convey through the show?”
Hwang decided to end the series on a cliffhanger, hinting at a potential second season, owing to the deeper meaning behind it. “We discovered that the problem we wanted to address cannot be solved if he boards a plane.,” Hwang says. “The solution we seek to solve — why has the world gotten to where it is today? — may only be answered or suggested if Gi-hun turned back and walked towards the camera, which is why we ended up with that conclusion in the finale.”
Despite the fact that Netflix has not yet renewed Squid Game for season 2, Hwang recently stated to the Associated Press that “there will be a second season,” but it is “too early” to say when it will air. Hwang talks about how the show will “surpass” fan expectations if and when it returns, how far he’s gotten in preparation for a second season, and as well as where he is in planning a sequel.
The Squid Game is blowing up all over the world! What has it been like to watch it grow into a worldwide phenomenon, especially because you’d spent so long working on it?
HWANG DONG-HYUK: When you’re making something like this, do you think it’s possible, or even likely? I wonder if we’ll be able to get No. 1 in the United States. Maybe our series will be appreciated all over the world. But we had no clue and didn’t expect this to happen so fast, or in so many places around the world. Of course, I had no clue that Squid Game would become Netflix’s most-watched program ever, so I’m still in awe. Over the past two months, I’ve gone through a roller coaster of feelings.
Squid Game’s second season has yet to be greenlighted, but the finale nicely prepared for a second season of Gi-hun’s tale. What are your thoughts on Squid Game Season 2?
Season 2 has been generating a lot of interest and comments, as you might imagine. I do have a general idea of what will happen. I’m currently working on the finer points, but nothing has been decided about the second season of Netflix or how it will end; therefore, I’ll just say that I have a basic story line in mind.
What will you do differently for the second season of Squid Game, now that it has such a large global following?
It’s tough to meet the fans’ expectations. I go to YouTube and see all of these fans who have invented what the second season should be like or will be like, and their imaginations are going wild. If there were to be a second season, I’d want to stick to the basic narrative that I have in mind. I’m hoping that it exceeds the fans’ expectations, but I have no idea how difficult this will be. Their desires are incredibly vast and numerous, so I believe it’ll be tough to figure out exactly what the fans want.
What was the most important thing you learned throughout the first season that you’ll be able to utilize when making Season 2?
It’s been a wonderful journey, and it’s far exceeded my expectations. There are so many little things about it that the fans have noticed and interpreted to even greater heights than I had imagined. I’m not sure how I feel about this, but sometimes they’ll take little things that are in fact blunders or happy coincidences and turn them into something entirely different. As a result, I was forced to pay greater attention to the small stuff. I will not make any mistakes, however small they may be, regardless of how long the episode lasts. I’d try to add more joy to the fans and, if possible, more Easter eggs in the future seasons.
How have your achievements as a creator been impacted by Squid Game’s success?
So I’ll say there is a lot of pressure, because we got so much more love and support and encouragement than we could have ever expected. While the success is fantastic, it has also granted me many opportunities and opened up many doors for me, and it is a tremendous opportunity; at the same time, the amount of love, support, and attention I’ve gotten has certainly built up a massive level of expectation in terms of what I’m going to offer into the world next. There’s definitely a lot of tension. I’d say that the success of Squid Game has given me an amazing opportunity, but it has also brought with it a great deal of stress. It’s a sort of, “What if?” scenario that occurs to me a lot. What if the world is really obsessed and interested in Squid Game? It makes me want to work really hard to produce something that will address contemporary problems as well as social issues we will see in the near future in a similar way to how Squid Game does it, which is entertaining, intriguing, satirical, and restorative at the same time.
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