Squid Game will be played again. Let me repeat: Squid Game will be played again.
Netflix on Sunday officially announced that it has renewed the Korean drama for a second season, following its record-breaking launch.
The news follows much talk and many long-running rumors about potential Seasons 2 and 3, but Sunday’s news now makes the series’ return a solid green light.
The streamer’s announcement included a letter from the series’ director, writer and executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk. “It took 12 years to bring the first season of Squid Game to life last year,” he wrote. “It took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever.”
In addition to confirming Gi-hun and the Front Man’s return, he also promised to introduce Young-hee (the ominous giant doll)’s boyfriend, Cheol-su, in the sophomore season. As for the man in the suit with ddakji, he “might be back.”
Speaking with Vulture in late September, Bela Bajaria — Netflix’s Global TV chief — was “upbeat” about a renewal, though she said it would depend on Hwang’s schedule and interest. “He has a film and other things he’s working on,” Bajaria said. “We’re trying to figure out the right structure for him.”
Season 1 ended with (mild spoilers alert!) one player emerging as the victor of the brutal six-round competition, though it is unclear if that character will continue on into Season 2.
Hwang himself has said that any possible Season 2 would likely bring on an actual writers’ room as well as other directors, and that — without spoiling much of anything — any follow-up might explore the issue of police officers “not acting fast enough.“
Squid Game is the biggest show to launch on Netflix to date. It’s the first Korean series to reach No. 1 in the U.S. series Top 10. Ninety-five percent of Squid Game viewership came from outside Korea. At its peak, it was No. 1 in 94 countries — every country in the world where Netflix has a Top 10 list.
The series, which released nine episodes on Sept. 17, is more fully described as “an imaginative, unorthodox story in which 456 contestants risk their lives in a mysterious survival game — involving multiple rounds of childhood games — for a chance to win 45.6 billion won” (or about US$40 million). It stands as Netflix’s most sampled original series ever, having reached 142 million accounts in its first 28 days of release. (Netflix at that time counted two minutes of any program as a “view.”)
It also topped the all-encompassing Nielsen U.S. streaming ranking for multiple weeks, at times amassing more than 3 billion minutes viewed across its full season.
Hwang (The Fortress) wrote and directed all nine episodes, while the cast features Lee Jung-jae (Chief of Staff), Park Hae-soo (Yungnyong-i Nareusya), Yeong-su Oh (The Great Queen Seondeok), Wi Ha-Joon (The Greatest Divorce), fashion model Jung Ho-yeon, Heo Sung-tae (Your Honor), Anupam Tripathi and Joo-ryeong Kim.
Excited to re-enter the Game? Watch Netflix’s brief tease below, then fire away in the Comments!
Red light… GREENLIGHT!
Squid Game is officially coming back for Season 2! pic.twitter.com/4usO2Zld39
— Netflix (@netflix) June 12, 2022