Revealed : July 1, 2025 – 14:42:05 Up to date : July 1, 2025 – 15:46:37
Hyperlink copied!
Father of ‘Squid Sport’ discusses scrapped video games, Cate Blanchett’s cameo and Gi-hun’s downfall
“Squid Sport,” director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s brainchild, wrapped its saga with Season 3, which topped Netflix’s international TV charts on FlixPatrol inside a day of launch on Friday.
However evaluations have been divided — some lauding its gripping twists and a few criticizing it for falling wanting the unique’s creativity. A lot of the backlash additionally centered on the ending, the place Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) dies to save lots of a child born in the course of the lethal video games.
In a shock twist, Hwang has revealed that the unique plan was for the sequence to conclude on a way more hopeful notice.
“Once I first began desirous about the second season, I had a imprecise concept that Gi-hun would return to the sport — perhaps to destroy it or a minimum of assist just a few folks escape — after which go to see his daughter within the US,” Hwang mentioned throughout a press interview held Monday in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong.
“That was the tough storyline I initially had in thoughts. However as I started significantly writing the challenge, I requested myself, ‘What’s the story I really need to inform?’ And that led me to the conclusion that Gi-hun’s journey needed to finish right here.”
Hwang emphasised that the present has at all times served as a mirrored image of up to date realities.
“In comparison with after I created Season 1, the world has gotten even worse. Financial inequality has deepened, abnormal folks’s lives have turn out to be tougher and wars proceed to escalate with no end in sight,” he mentioned.
“Yearly, issues appear to develop extra critical by the day. However folks don’t appear to have both the need or the power to repair it. If issues proceed this fashion, the longer term appears actually bleak. That’s a actuality I felt wanted to be addressed.”
He added that Gi-hun’s tragic arc was meant to underline these themes, portraying “the painful journey of somebody like Gi-hun, a mean and even below-average individual.”
Along with the social message the sequence relayed, one of many parts that helped outline “Squid Sport” for viewers worldwide was its use of conventional Korean kids’s video games repurposed into brutal life-or-death challenges.
For Season 3, deciding on the proper video games was not a simple activity, in response to Hwang.
“It could look like any sport might work, however while you really attempt to adapt it, it turns into difficult,” he mentioned. “You must work out how gamers will probably be eradicated, and there must be sufficient area within the sport to permit character dynamics and story to unfold. The principles additionally have to be clear in order that the road between failure and success is effectively outlined.”
Some video games didn’t make the reduce. Hwang recalled contemplating the sport “Why did you come to my home?” which depends closely on rock-paper-scissors and lacks narrative pressure. One other thought concerned tying gamers to a conveyor belt in “Open the Dongdaemun gate,” however he in the end rejected it as a result of extreme randomness and lack of character company.
One sport that did survive growth was tag, reimagined as a direct battle-to-the-death between contestants.
“Just like the marble sport in episode 4 of Season 1, I wished the fourth sport this time to hold essentially the most emotional weight — a life-or-death second for the characters. That’s why I added the aspect of killing: to intensify the dramatic pressure.”
The finale additionally featured a shock look by Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, who performs a recruiter conducting a sport of ddakji with new candidates within the US. Hwang mentioned casting Blanchett was a deliberate selection aimed toward flipping the script.
“Because the individual enjoying the ddakji sport in Korea was a person (Gong Yoo), I believed it might be attention-grabbing to have a feminine character seem on the finish within the US,” he mentioned.
“I used to be considering, it is such a quick scene, who’s the actress who can charismatically command the display in that quick period of time? She’s somebody I’ve at all times admired, and I believed she was the proper match for the function. Our CEO and producers agreed, so we reached out to her.”
The US-based remaining scene and Blanchett’s cameo sparked rumors of an American remake or sequel, however Hwang dismissed the hypothesis.
As for the way forward for the franchise, Hwang left the door open for potential spinoffs slightly than direct sequels.
“I’ve already conveyed all of the messages I wished to share on this season, so persevering with the primary story wouldn’t be significant,” he famous.
“If something, it might make extra sense to hold on with a derivative or aspect story. For instance, one thing just like the non-public lives of the masked figures. Bear in mind the photograph discovered at Captain Park’s home with the Entrance Man? It was only a enjoyable little Easter egg we included, however wouldn’t it’s attention-grabbing to discover what sort of relationship they’d and what occurred between them?”
Herald Interview
A sequence of in-depth interviews.
S. Korea at coronary heart of Saudi Imaginative and prescient 2030’s good metropolis challenge: NMDC CEO
We will 'select' to make AI assist people, not change them: UNDP official
Would you prefer to subscribe?
So Ji-sub discusses 'Mercy for None,' iconic webtoon become sequence
‘Child field is final refuge for single moms’
Drug scene 'embarrassing' for 'Squid Sport' actor Choi Seung-hyun, previously Massive Bang's T.O.P
'Expensive Hongrang' explores thriller, sibling romance, trauma
Interview: Ok-pop idol-turned-actor Cha Hak-yeon comes into his personal
Korea steps up as science connector in Asia-Pacific
Doyoung soars with wider musical spectrum
Interview: Byron Mann's Hollywood-to-Seoul stint
Strategic pivot, not pullback, if US troops relocate from Korea, says Harris
Herald Interview
A sequence of in-depth interviews.
From the Scene
Tales informed from the place they’re taking place.
Weekender
Newest tendencies in Korean tradition and society.
Tackle : Huam-ro 4-gil 10, Yongsan-gu,Seoul, Korea Tel : +82-2-727-0114 On-line newspaper registration No : Seoul 아03711
Date of registration : 2015.04.28 Writer. Editor : Choi Jin-Younger Juvenile Safety Supervisor : Choi He-suk
The Korea Herald by Herald Company. Copyright Herald Company. All Rights Reserved.
