‘Squid Game’ Season 2 Explained By Creator & Lee Jung-Jae

Squid Game is again with extra blood and a style for revenge.

Netflix’s greatest ever sequence, which launched in September 2021, returns for its second season later this month and it’s simply as dystopian, violent and harsh as the primary with greater than 450 new characters to kill off.

The first season, which scored 14 Emmy nominations together with wins for star Lee Jung-jae and creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk for guiding, was impressed by the Korean monetary collapse.

The world, in line with Dong-Hyuk, in any other case often known as Director Hwang, is simply as screwed up because it beforehand was, inspiring him to return to the island for an additional spherical of Squid Game.  

The second season begins with Seong Gi-hun, in any other case often known as Player 456, performed by Lee, looking for the folks behind the sport, three years after successful it. He’s utilizing the ₩45.6 billion prize to fund this search, helped by a big group of ne’er-do-wells and underworld figures, from the security of a disused motel that he’s became his HQ fortress.

Gi-hun is initially looking for The Recruiter, performed by Gong Yoo, a slender determine in a pointy go well with that lured folks into the sport by taking part in ddakji within the subway.

This all leads Gi-hun to returning to Squid Game so as to try to finish it. Once he’s again inside, he’s launched to a brand new forged of characters together with Myung-gi (performed by Yim Si-Wan), a former cryptocurrency influencer who, after dropping a hefty sum of money and incurring big losses for himself and his subscribers, turns into a fugitive till his involvement within the sport; Jun-hee (performed by Jo Yu-Ri), a strong-willed girl who participates within the sport as a consequence of dangerous investments made on the recommendation of mentioned influencer; Yong-sik (performed by Yang Dong-Geun), a compulsive gambler neck-deep in debt who finds his personal mom is a participant within the sport; his mom Geum-ja (performed by Kang Ae-Sim) and Jung-bae (performed by Lee Seo-Hwan), a longtime pal and former coworker of Gi-Hun’s who was seen in Season 1 playing alongside him on the horse race monitor.

Elsewhere, Lee Byung-hun’s The Front Man, who has seemingly taken cost of the sport following the dying of Oh Il-nam, and Hwang Jun-ho, performed by Wi Ha-jun, a detective who sneaks into the sport searching for his brother, are additionally again.

Gi-Hun has grown within the three years since his first go to. Lee Jung-jae explains that his character has gone by a “transitional interval.” “Because of that emotional change in Season 1, the forms of feelings that he feels when he meets the opposite gamers may be very totally different from what he feels when he meets different individuals in Season 2,” he mentioned. “In Season 2, I noticed that I used to be on set receiving and accepting others’ feelings first, and paying extra consideration to that, so I assumed that was the most important distinction.”

Director Hwang says that the second season has “better scale” than Season 1 and there are clearly new video games. Without revealing the specifics of the brand new and lethal challenges, he mentioned that he thought lengthy and exhausting about which video games to make the contestants performs. He revealed there have been loads of ideas on-line about native Korean video games however he wished them to be “actually easy.”

“The video games are one of many greatest modifications in addition to the characters as a result of, aside from Gi-Hun, the entire characters that play the video games are new so that you’re going to have the ability to see extra endearing characters that you find yourself rooting for,” he added.

Hwang mentioned whereas the engine of the story is Gi-Hun’s quest for revenge on the perpetrators, there’s a a lot greater message in Season 2.

“Do now we have the willpower and power to attempt to make the world a greater place? Does humanity have what it takes to alter the course of the world, and might we really let go of our greed, our needs so as to create a greater world collectively? Those had been a few of the questions that I wished to pose, not a lot about who or how these folks behind the video games like what they’re like,” he mentioned.

The drama sequence stays considerably political. “The one factor that I had most in thoughts was this present world and the way it makes all of us divided, it separates us from the opposite group, creates totally different sides to develop into hostile,” he mentioned, talking days earlier than Donald Trump received the U.S. presidency for a second time. “There are so many issues that divide us in the present day, whether or not it’s race, faith, language, the haves and the have nots, the generational divisions, and lately, with the crucial vote that you’ve got this week, we take a look at the political division, the left towards the best, the conservatives towards the progressives, and issues like this result in such a division the place it nearly looks like there may be this line that completely can’t be crossed. It appears that the world leaders are creating these partitions and divisions and it leads us to assume that everybody who’s on the opposite facet, who doesn’t assume as you do, is an enemy that can’t ever be forgiven.”

Highlighting this in Season 2 is one other one of many greatest variations between the seasons: voting. The contestants on this newest spherical of murderous kids’s video games are handed a vote after every problem to resolve whether or not they need to proceed or to hold on and accrue extra money.

“Even extra so than the stress that comes from the video games themselves, I felt extra intense emotions of suspense and pressure from these votes, since you can’t however surprise what’s going to occur if the video games are going to go on, who’s going to vote,” Hwang mentioned. “That results in the folks within the video games considering no matter [is chosen], I’m proper, you’re improper. I’m an angel. You’re absolute evil. All all through Season 2, I used to be specializing in that situation of, is there really hope for us?”

He mentioned that he created Season 2 as a result of he doesn’t need to reside in a divided society. You can’t put a worth on human life, both, he added.

“I’m not so naive that I consider that we will do fully away with any sort of discrimination on this world that we reside in,” Hwang mentioned. “However, I don’t consider persons are totally different. There are variations by way of what sort of skills now we have, what we’re able to. People have totally different skills. However, I feel it really it turns into an issue when these variations result in discrimination to an unacceptable stage the place people who have much less skills, or people who have skills which can be deemed of much less worth in society, are pushed to the all-time low of society with none sort of system to take care of them. That is one thing that now we have to cease. If we fail to do this, I don’t assume that we are going to ever see a society with a wholesome social system. We want to maneuver in a method the place we settle for the variations of people, however be sure that it doesn’t result in discrimination. Unfortunately, I feel that’s what the world is at the moment doing.”

Season 2 of Squid Game premieres on Netflix on December 26. It shall be adopted subsequent 12 months by the third and ultimate season.

DEADLINE: Director Hwang, you’ve mentioned that Season 1 of Squid Game was fairly anxious. How did you each really feel going into Season 2?

HWANG: Season 1, as you understand, was an immense success, and because of that success we might create a Season 2, however we knew that there was a lot expectation and anticipation for Season 2, so it did come to me as a little bit of stress. I wished to channel that stress right into a constructive method ahead, so the season one finale was [Seong] Gi-hun not getting on the flight, saying that he’ll discover the fellows [responsible]. I knew that I needed to do one thing with that and end the story of Gi-hun, in order that’s how I went on with Season 2.

I’ve been engaged on this challenge like nearly like 10 years from the writing. Finally, we’re on the level of launching and it makes me excited, for certain, additionally on the identical time, I’m nervous, as a result of folks love Season 1 a lot.

LEE: When we had been filming Season 1, I saved asking Director Hwang if we had been going to have a Season 2. And he mentioned, “Never, ever.” But as a result of we received a lot love and help from the worldwide followers, I feel it was our method of returning that like to the followers by making a Season 2, so I used to be very completely happy to return and reprise my position as Gi-hun. I did really feel a little bit of a stress, however I additionally, similar to Director Hwang, wished to make use of that as a constructive driver.

Season 2, in a method, appears like a method of returning the like to the followers. It’s my first time feeling this manner in my profession. But it doesn’t really feel like a product or content material, it appears like a present or current we’re giving to their viewers, which makes me much more nervous, as a result of we don’t know if they are going to like the current or not.

DEADLINE: Season 1 was influenced by the South Korean monetary disaster. What was your inspiration for Season 2?

HWANG: Season 1 got here out in the course of the pandemic, and it’s been about three or 4 years, and now, in the event you see the world and the atmosphere that we reside in, I feel it’s spiraling downwards. It’s not getting any higher. We nonetheless see gaps between gender and the poor exacerbating and we see wars across the globe, and now we have conflicts between races, faith, class. Looking in any respect that, and I additionally really feel just like the younger folks simply need a jackpot as a result of they don’t have that ladder they will climb up, they don’t have that anymore. I feel as a result of this stuff are nonetheless taking place in our world, I may very well be influenced by that, and I might create a Season 2.

DEADLINE: JJ, your character is barely extra mature in Season 2, you’ve gone by Squid Game and are available out profitable. Did you method the character otherwise in Season 2, figuring out what you knew?

LEE: This time round, Gi-hun is stuffed with vengeance, and he desires to place an finish to the sport. I’m sort of unhappy that he now not is the naive and childlike person who he was in Season 1, simply fairly lovable. But this time round, he has a really sturdy objective, and a factor that he desires to make occur. As an actor, typically when my character has that sturdy objective, I feel I’m empowered by that, so I used to be very completely happy filming Season 2.

DEADLINE: Director Hwang, you wrote Season 1 largely by your self. Did you could have different writers for Season 2 and did you movie in the identical areas?

HWANG: When I used to be writing the scripts for Season 2, I did have a few assistant writers assist me, however often they had been doing a lot of the analysis, and the principle writing was finished on my own. For the areas, about 80% of all the filming for Squid Game takes place on a set or a sound stage, so we used the identical soundstage for Season 2, and for the scenes that don’t require to be on set, we discovered areas that had been appropriate for the scenes.

DEADLINE: Hwang In-ho, The Front Man, is rather more of a significant character now following the dying of Oh Il-nam. Do we discover out extra about how he grew to become in command of Squid Game?

HWANG: This could be a little bit of a spoiler, so I can’t give an excessive amount of away, however I can let you know that all through seasons two and three, you’ll find components of his backstory.

DEADLINE: You determined to deal with the guards slightly extra in Season 2. Why did you resolve to do this?

HWANG: In Season 1, I used the cop who infiltrated the sport, Hwang Jun-ho, as a approach to introduce the lifetime of the employees there. But in Season 2, I wished to focus extra on the troopers and the managers with the triangle or the sq.. This time round, you possibly can see a sneak peek into the lives of the troopers and managers and the way they got here to be who they’re.

DEADLINE: JJ, since Squid Game launched you grew to become a Jedi Master in The Acolyte. Did that Star Wars sequence have any affect on the way you approached returning to Squid Game?

LEE: Being in manufacturing for The Acolyte, was certainly a really particular expertise and a reminiscence that I’m very keen on, however I feel that challenge may be very totally different from Squid Game. Instead of utilizing the expertise from The Acolyte, I relied extra on my expertise of filming Season 1 of Squid Game. I attempted my greatest to attach what I discovered from Season 1 after which use that in Season 2.

DEADLINE: Season 2 of Squid Game is seven episodes, in comparison with 9 in Season 1. Was that your resolution? Did you movie Season 2 back-to-back with Season 3?

HWANG: I wrote seasons two and three on the identical time, and we had been in manufacturing for each concurrently, and at the moment we’re within the post-production course of for Season 3. When I used to be writing the script for the 2 seasons, I felt like there was an enormous turning level or an inflection level, and that was the top of episode seven, so I assumed that it will do it justice to have a separate season after that. That’s why I had first seven episodes as Season 2 after which the remainder of Season 3.

DEADLINE: We reported that David Fincher is engaged on an American model of Squid Game. How does that make you are feeling? Could we probably see different worldwide variations of the present, because the VIPs allude to Squid Games happening everywhere in the world?

HWANG: It’s been a few 12 months or two speaking about David Fincher coming into the story. But I don’t know something official about that, however why not, he’s David Fincher, I respect his work. I like his movies so if he does, I’m excited and I’ll look ahead to it.