--- ---  # Behind the High-Stakes Creation of _Squid Game 2_  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Dec 20, 2024 12:00 PM UTC  Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game 2 Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game 2Courtesy of Netflix  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Dec 20, 2024 12:00 PM UTC Hwang Dong-hyuk has his work cut out for him. There are two more seasons of _Squid Game_ coming up—the second premiering Dec. 26, and the third set for a [2025 release](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19OjTyfl2aAUOlcDshR3j80BjjcawcsDorb-caEssCDY/edit?tab=t.0). Creating what has become one of South Korea’s most valuable intellectual properties—a [12-year ordeal in itself](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cetij8DsKDT/)—has come at a price, and that’s not just counting the [at least eight teeth he lost](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr41jyz340o) due to the stress of filming the first season. “I had to write, create and shoot seasons two and three, back to back,” he tells TIME. “Just the sheer physical volume of it all was very intense.” No one foresaw the runaway success of _Squid Game_, which was meant to be, like other South Korean dramas, a one-off. But after the 2021 show blew up and caught the attention of audiences worldwide, Netflix and the show’s creator have been working to one-up their initial offering, in hopes of expanding the legacy the series has created. ## **Creating the cultural phenomenon**  Contestants in one challenge of Netflix's Squid Game Courtesy Netflix To everyone’s surprise, _Squid Game_ ended up as Netflix’s most viewed series to date, going on to win six Emmy awards—including a [historic](https://people.com/tv/2022-emmy-awards-history-making-moments/) Best Director for Hwang—out of 14 nominations. The show would create almost $[900 million](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-17/squid-game-season-2-series-worth-900-million-to-netflix-so-far) in value for the company—more than 40 times the cost of producing the nine-episode dystopian drama. Its success was a testament to _Parasite_ director Bong Joon-ho’s message when he won a [Golden Globe](https://x.com/Variety/status/1213999361341804544) for that film just one year before _Squid Game_’s premiere: people can, indeed, overcome the barrier of subtitles for a promising story. Even greater than the laurels was _Squid Game_’s indelible impact on pop culture. _Squid Game_ significantlyextended the global demand for Korean entertainment beyond K-pop. The [trademark green tracksuits](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/high-demand-squid-game-tracksuits-cheers-skoreas-struggling-garment-sector-2021-10-22/), [sneakers](https://time.com/6109560/squid-game-vans-sneaker-sales/), [masks with the triangle-circle-square trinity](https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202110/1236105.shtml), and even [_dalgona_ candy](https://ny.eater.com/2021/11/9/22772466/squid-game-dalgona-candy-trend-nyc-restaurants) the show featured flew off the shelves, and [video game versions](https://www.polygon.com/22700182/squid-game-roblox-netflix-show) spawned in the show’s wake. But it wasn’t just a passing fad: in the years that followed, the success of _Squid Game_ has inspired an ever-expanding universe of content, fueling the appetite for shows echoing its themes. _Culinary Class Wars_, a cook-off series released earlier this year with similar ideas related to the social hierarchy, has been [perceived by some audiences](https://www.mamamia.com.au/netflix-culinary-class-wars/) as “_MasterChef_ meets _Squid Game_.” MrBeast promised [the largest cash prize](https://time.com/6958163/mr-beast-amazon-prime-game-show/) in TV history for a similar winner-takes-all game show; his company was [sued](https://time.com/7022218/mrbeast-amazon-class-action-beast-games-sexual-harrassment-contestants-employees/) for allegedly poor treatment of the contestants during its production. _Squid Game_ gave way to [its own Netflix reality game show,](https://time.com/6336243/isquid-game-house-of-villains-mean-reality-tv/) replicating the premise of pooling together individuals to fight to the (figurative) “death” for a $4.56 million cash prize. David Fincher reportedly [will be part of ](https://deadline.com/2024/10/squid-game-david-fincher-tv-series-1236159538/)an English-language adaptation of the show for Netflix. No Korean content from Netflix has come close to _Squid Game_’s success. The streaming platform is actively [searching for its successor](https://time.com/6339351/netflix-squid-game-asia-expansion/), pumping [as much as $2.5 billion](https://time.com/6289170/netflix-invests-south-korea-content-k-dramas/) into K-productions. “While Squid Game has become a global phenomenon, we continue to partner with local creators to tell stories that resonate with local audiences,” Don Kang, Netflix Vice President of Content for Korea, tells TIME. For now, the streaming platform continues to squeeze everything it can out of the IP: selling[ tracksuits and other Squid Game merchandise](https://www.netflix.shop/en-sg), making massive [Young-hee dolls appear in cities](https://7news.com.au/news/netflix-launches-squid-game-experience-in-sydney-ahead-of-season-two-of-popular-show-c-17063916) to generate buzz for the new season, and [releasing its own online video game](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/making-the-squid-game-unleashed-mobile-game-free-for-everyone). Brands are continuously attaching themselves to what has now become a bankable franchise: Burger King France will allow customers to order from _Squid Game_ menus, Xbox will have its own _Squid Game_ controller, and Johnnie Walker has designed _Squid Game_ bottles. The capitalist feast is ironic given the franchise’s anti-capitalist critique, and Netflix has [received](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2023/11/30/netflixs-squid-game-the-challenge-controversy-explained/?sh=445614f34c39) [criticism](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/10/07/column-squid-games-blunt-critique-of-capitalism-has-been-great-for-netflixs-pursuit-of-capitalism-never-mind-the-irony/) for it. ## **A bigger, better sophomore season**  Lee Byung-hun as Front Man in Squid Game 2 Courtesy of Netflix But Hwang knows it all comes back to a quality show underpinning everything now in its orbit. The pressure is on him and his team to replicate their earlier success, a tall order considering what a factor the sheer surprise of the phenomenon, impossible to replicate now, played back in 2021. Hwang does not shy away from the primary reason he created a second—and third—season: “[Money](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr41jyz340o).” He says he didn’t make much during the first season—as he was paid [according to his contract](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/26/squid-games-creator-rich-netflix-bonus-hwang-dong-hyuk) and not according to how well the show performed. A follow-up could give Hwang the return on his investment, and he’s promised that the show’s sophomore season will be bigger and better. “While I didn't have any specific plans for a subsequent season, I did leave in a few untied knots in Season 1 for a story to further develop,” says Hwang. Those unanswered questions include how protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) would exact vengeance on the deadly Games’ overseer, the Front Man’s backstory, and what happens to the detective who managed to infiltrate the game—only to be shot in the end. Hwang says those loose ends “will allow for a natural and organic flow of the story,” and that expanding the in-show universe was “not that huge of a challenge.” Choice—and the consequences of one’s choices as they “create different conflicts and divisions”—is Hwang’s focus this season. The set has been redesigned: a huge X (no) and O (yes) is now the centerpiece of the player dormitories. Now, all that’s needed for players to leave the game is a majority vote at the end of each round, and the accumulated earnings at that point would so far be equally split among the survivors. Hwang says he hopes to convey the importance of a vote to the show’s Korean audience, especially after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol threatened to end democracy in the country with a [martial law declaration](https://time.com/7199919/south-korea-martial-law-yoon-impeach-what-next/) earlier this month. “It will be yet another opportunity for all of us to reflect on why we should be more involved and more interested in politics, why one vote that we each get to cast is so precious,” he says. ## **New games and new faces**  Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju in Squid Game 2 Courtesy of Netflix With a new installment also comes the debut of new games, as well as a whole new cast coming in after almost everyone was killed off in the last season. Lee Byung-hun, who plays the masked Front Man, says this is reason for excitement. “I think the cast itself empowers _Squid Game_, and in this season, they have all performed extremely well with very convincing and alive roles,” he says. Season 1’s cast was rewarded for their performances: Lee Jung-jae with an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and former cast members Oh Young-soo, [Lee You-mi,](https://time.com/6218245/lee-you-mi-2/) and [Jung Ho-yeon](https://time.com/6104461/jung-ho-yeon-squid-game/) with various accolades for their first season characters. And while some are reprising their roles, including Wi Ha-jun as the detective and Gong Yoo as the Recruiter, _Squid Game 2_ welcomes Korean industry veterans Kang Ae-sim, [_The Glory_](https://time.com/6261820/the-glory-netflix-true-story/)’s Park Sung-hoon, and _Sweet Home’s_ Park Gyu-young and Lee Jin-uk. Also joining the cast are pop stars with established followings, including Jo Yu-ri from former girl group Iz\*One, and actor-singer Yim Si-wan. “The second season is not only a lot more dynamic, but it's also a lot greater in scale,” Lee Byung-hun adds. A new player roster also presents several new personal and grounded storylines: from a mother and son pairing, to a transgender woman who needs money for gender-affirming surgery, to a YouTuber who lost large sums in a cryptocurrency scam. Lee Seo-hwan, who briefly appeared in Season 1 as Gi-hun’s friend at the horse race, takes on a bigger role as he joins the Game just as Gi-hun reenters. “I guess he's a big risk factor to Gi-hun regarding his big plan,” Seo-hwan tells TIME, given the personal connection between his character and Gi-hun. Meanwhile, Lee Byung-hun says his character, whom we knew little about last season, will have his story fleshed out. Lee Jung-jae says his measure of success for his own performance is telegraphing the complex morality of his character, as Gi-hun constantly calculates the correctness of his choices.“He ultimately tries to do the right thing, but along the path to doing the right thing, there are so many temptations to choose little things that are bad,” Byung-hun tells TIME, even if those little things ultimately serve Gi-hun’s greater end goal. It remains to be seen how the new episodes will stack up against the first set among audiences and critics, though _Squid Game 2_ got an early boost when it was nominated for a [Golden Globe](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/golden-globes-squid-game-nominated-season-2-1236081367/) for Best TV Drama before its premiere. For Hwang, awards aside, the show must entertain, first and foremost. “I hope that you can spend the year end watching the show, just have a blast, escape from reality and have a lot of fun,” he says. “As a creator, nothing will be more rewarding than that.” The Making of ‘Squid Game 2’ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7203067/squid-game-2-netflix-hwang-dong-hyuk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7203067/squid-game-2-netflix-hwang-dong-hyuk/"},"headline":"Behind the High-Stakes Creation of Squid Game 2","datePublished":"2024-12-20T12:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:51:45.235Z","description":"The beloved South Korean Netflix series is coming back for a second season. 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