Squid Game season 2: release date rumours, cast, trailer and latest news

By Helen Daly

Published: Friday, 08 October 2021 at 12:00 am

South Korean drama Squid Game has taken the world by storm since arriving on Netflix late last month, with the Hwang Dong-hyuk thriller inspiring TikTok challenges and Halloween costumes as it becomes the streamer’s biggest ever original series.

The hit series has shot to number one in over 90 countries over the past week as fans dive head-first into the numerous Squid Game theories, learn more about the Squid Game cast and turn to Google to work out how much the Squid Game prize money is in Great British Pounds – so I think we can safely declare the Netflix drama to be the biggest show of the month (and possibly the year!).

Squid Game centres around a group of people, all of whom are in huge amounts of debt and are looking for a big payout to remedy their individual situations. Enter a smartly-dressed stranger who offers them the chance to win huge amounts of money by playing games from their childhood.

When they take him up on their offer, they’re transported to a mysterious location, changed into tracksuits and forced to compete in seemingly simple games – however they soon realising that losing will cost them their lives.

If you’ve already binged the series and are still reeling from the Squid Game ending, then you’re probably wondering when exactly the Netflix phenomenon will return with season two (if it gets commissioned at all). Not to worry, we have all the information you’ll need if you want to learn more about a potential second series.

Read on for all the latest news and rumours about the Netflix series.

Is Squid Game a limited series?

While Squid Game has never been advertised as a limited series, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Variety at the end of September that he had no immediate plan to write a second season and didn’t have any “well developed” ideas for a follow-up series. “It is quite tiring just thinking about it,” he added.

Hwang also told RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview that he’s asked himself whether he can make a second series that is “better than season one”, adding: “I do not want people to get disappointed over the new season.”

It also took Hwang over 10 years to get Squid Game to our screens after a number of studios rejected the project for its “bizarre” concept so it would be understandable if the Korean director had only envisaged the hit Netflix series to run for one series.

That being said, we’d be really surprised if Squid Game didn’t return at some point after the huge global success it has become – (it is on track to be Netflix’s most successful original show yet) – and Hwang has since spoken about what he’d do for season two, telling The Times that a new series would look at “the story of the Frontman”.

Squid Game season 2 release date

With the huge success of the first season of the South Korean drama it feels extremely likely that Netflix will see fit to commission a second season of Squid Game.

At this stage there has still been no official confirmation that the show will return. This isn’t however a huge surprise when you consider just what a huge hit the show has been and at just what a pace it has gone from being completely unknown to being one of the biggest ever Netflix originals. It makes sense that it would take time for everyone to catch up with this and work out the next steps. Additionally, with so many people still discovering Squid Game and enjoying the first season, there’s no need for anyone to add to the publicity of the show just yet with a season 2 update.

However, fans who are hoping for a new set of Squid Game episodes anytime soon may have to keep waiting for a while…

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed that a second season of Squid Game is not yet fully formed in his mind and has challenges.

“I do realise there are huge expectations for season two,” he said.  “It’s not that I haven’t thought about season two at all, and I also do have a rough framework for it. But I keep asking myself whether I can make it better than season one. I do not want people to get disappointed over the new season.”

He went on to explain that he may even try to incorporate some of the many fan theories that are circulating online to help him create a pleasing show.

“If I ever make season two, I will try to look up those many ideas, and of course if there are any good ones, I can bring them into the story,” he said. “Since I prefer writing alone, maybe all these ideas on YouTube can function as my writer’s room.”

“Or maybe I can even ask the fans on social media to give ideas. In the meantime, I will try and think more while I work on films.”

So there you go, if you want to help speed up the process of the next season, maybe you need to develop some really great theories and post them on social media. You never know, you might end up in the virtual writers’ room!

But even if and when the show gets greenlit by Netflix and everyone’s on board, it does take time to make great television, so there’s still going to be quite a wait.

The first season of the show went into production in 2019, and although it was delayed by the pandemic, without a new season in production and much of 2021 already passed, it’s unlikely we’ll see Squid Game season 2 until late 2022 at the earliest, and more likely not until 2023.

Squid Game season 2 cast

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CONTAINS SPOILERS!

It’s probably no spoiler to reveal the majority of the Squid Game cast who played the 456 in season one won’t be returning for season two. The nature of the series means that contestants are killed when they are eliminated from the game, so unless the new season took the form of a prequel or had flashback sequences, we won’t be seeing many returning cast members or characters.

It is a spoiler, however, to note Lee Jung-jae could return as the winner of the first games, Seung Gi-hun. There’s no guarantee of this of course, but the possibility remains open depending on where the creator and writers would want to take it.

We also met the recruiter of the games in the first series, so it’s likely revered actor Gong Yoo will make an appearance in season two, perhaps to delve more into the behind-the-scenes of the deadly challenge.

Squid Game season 2 plot theories

While Seung Gi-hun triumphed during the first games, it seems the horror isn’t over yet.

He discovers the challenges are still continuing with a different team, so there’s plenty of scope for Gi-hun to become the ultimate hero and stop them all.

One thing’s for certain: this edition of the game wasn’t the first and doesn’t seem to be the last, so the series could really go in any direction, in a similar vein to the Saw franchise.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk recently told The Times that he would like a second season to look at the Korean police after focusing mainly on the contestants in the first series.

“While I was writing season one, I thought about the stories that could be in season two if I get to do one — one would be the story of the Frontman. I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea.

“I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late on acting on things — there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise. Maybe in season two I can talk about this more.”

While we did get a glimpse into what life for the Game employees was like when police officer Hwang Jun-ho snuck into the facility, we don’t know a lot about how the workers were recruited and why they chose to work there. We find out that Jun-ho’s brother is the Front Man, having taken on a senior role at the Game after winning as a contestant in 2015, but we don’t know why he decided to join forces with the competition that made him kill several people.

A second series could explore the employees’ stories more, with Hwang telling RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview that he may look into the theory around the colour of the Ddakji cards a contestant chooses, with some thinking that choosing the blue card makes you a contestant while choosing the red card makes you an employee.

“What an intriguing theory!” he said. “I might use it if we’ll ever have a season two!”

Hwang also said that he would be open to exploring the back story of Old Man Oh Il-nam, a contestant who is revealed to be a wealthy investor behind the games.

“It seems, however, the way how he yearns for the happy moments of his past shows that he has lost many things including his family and his humanity at the cost of success. If there will be a season two, we might reveal a little more about his past story,” he said.

While we find out that Il-nam was one of the wealthy VIPs who helped set up the Game for rich people who became disillusioned with the thrills of normal life, we don’t know a huge amount the life he had with his wife and son, who he mentions during the marbles game. There’s one particular Squid Game fan theory which thinks Il-nam could turn out to be Gi-hun’s father as the two seemed to develop a familial relationship throughout the games while Il-name told Gi-hun on his death bed that it had been “fun to play with him”. Perhaps diving into Il-nam’s backstory could confirm this potential plot thread?

Hwang added that he may turn to the fans for ideas for a second series, saying: “Since I prefer writing alone, maybe all these ideas on YouTube can function as my writer’s room. Or maybe I can even ask the fans on social media to give ideas. In the meantime, I will try and think more while I work on films.”

Hwang seems to have changed his mind on writing by himself since then, recently telling Variety that if he does make a second season, he “would certainly not to it alone”.

“I’d consider using a writers’ room and would want multiple experienced directors,” he added.

Read more about Squid Game:

Squid Game season 2 trailer

Unfortunately there isn’t a trailer for Squid Game season two yet as it hasn’t been confirmed, let alone produced. We’ll update this page as soon as there is one.

Until then, here’s the trailer for season one again, simply because it’s a visual treat.

Squid Game is now available to watch on Netflix. Check out our lists of the best TV shows on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix or alternatively head to our TV Guide for something to watch tonight.