'Squid Game' Director Hints at Season 3 As He Dishes on Talks With Netflix

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Squid Game, the Netflix K-drama that took the world by storm last year, is poised to make a return in not only a second season but perhaps also a third, according to the show's writer-director.

In a recent interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Squid Game's creator Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed that he is "discussing Season 2 and 3 with Netflix." He added that he thinks "there should be some sort of conclusion soon," according to reports in JoongAng Ilbo and other Korean news outlets.

Hwang said he was aware "so many are awaiting [the new episodes of Squid Game] and "everyone is working hard to prepare for the next season."

On the same day that Hwang's KBS interview aired, December 28, a Netflix spokesperson told South Korea's Edaily newspaper: "We are discussing various aspects and possibilities for Squid Game, including the production of Season 3, but nothing has been decided yet."

The release date for Season 2 and a possible Season 3 have yet to be announced, but the director has dished more details about the "big plot" that will drive the second season.

In Season 1, Seong Gi-hun (Contestant No. 456, played by Lee Jung-jae) won the extreme survival competition in which hundreds of desperate and cash-strapped people fought to the death for the chance to win a huge cash prize.

The intriguing final episode showed Gi-hun running out of an airport, following a cryptic phone call from the Front Man who runs the brutal contest.

Hwang explained that "the story of the people Gi-hun meets and chases after will be the big plot for Season 2," according to Edaily.

The Squid Game director also promised there was more to come from Contestant No. 456 in an interview with the Associated Press back in November.

Hwang told the AP: "Gi-hun will come back, he will do something for the world."

In an October interview with CNN, he said he wanted to explore "the unexplained past" of the Front Man as well as the story of Hwang Jun-ho, the policeman played by Wi Ha-jun, who infiltrates the gaming facility.

Hwang also hopes to reveal the secrets of the Salesman—a mysterious character played by acclaimed actor Gong Yoo, seen recently in Netflix's The Silent Sea as well as in various hit Korean films—who recruits the contestants via a game of ddakji, a traditional Korean childhood game played with squares of folded paper.

Newsweek has contacted Netflix for further comment.

A still from "Squid Game" on Netflix.
A still from "Squid Game." The show's writer-director said he was discussing a second season—and potentially a third—with Netflix. Netflix

About the writer

Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean


Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more