Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has weighed in on the possibility of a second season yet again, this time saying he has "a very high-level picture" of season 2 – and that he's "going to talk to Netflix".
This comes from a fresh interview in The Guardian, where the writer and director maintained that he's considering working on a film before any second season of the show goes ahead. Still, over time, since he's been regularly asked about its next steps and the show's success has become apparent, Hwang does sound closer to committing.
"Of course there is talk. That’s inevitable because it’s been such a success. I am considering it. I have a very high-level picture in my mind, but I’m not going to work on it straight away. There’s a film I really want to make. I’m thinking about which to do first. I’m going to talk to Netflix."
The interview notes that despite Squid Game's colossal success, it hasn't made its creator incredibly rich – Hwang's original contract didn't offer anything like a bonus if it became enormously successful. A second season, though, could be a different matter. “It’s possible,” he tells the newspaper jokingly, “that I have to do season 2 to become as rich as Squid Game’s winner.”
Squid Game saw 456 players compete in a series of deadly games to win a massive prize – plenty of carnage and surprise followed, and a second season isn't necessarily a foregone conclusion from watching the finale. Check out our Squid Game ending explainer for more on how the show wrapped up.
All nine episodes are streaming on Netflix now. Interestingly, Hwang tells The Guardian that he's trying to get the streamer to show his three previous films, Silenced, Miss Granny and The Fortress – which you might assume would find a new audience in the wake of Squid Game's success.
Does every big hit need a sequel?
Not every big Netflix show gets a second season – and it's arguably clear from watching that Squid Game was conceived as a miniseries, rather than as a story meant to continue. Past hits on Netflix like The Queen's Gambit have been and gone without a second season, despite their success, simply because there's no more story left to tell.
Netflix clearly sees this one as a special case. “He [Hwang] has a film and other things he’s working on,” Bajaria explained to Vulture earlier this month. "[He's looking to] collaborate with other writers. We're trying to figure out the right structure for him."
There are a few shows that illustrate the perils of turning a miniseries into an ongoing series. Just look at HBO's True Detective, for example, which famously followed up an acclaimed first season with a divisive second. Big Little Lies, starring Reese Witherspoon, had a similarly fraught follow-up.
Sometimes, it's best leaving things as they are. But it's surely not that easy when 142 million households have watched your show, just as they have with Squid Game.
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