Directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, the survival thriller Squid Game has been the latest K-Drama to take the world by storm with its riveting premise laden with violence and gore, going on to become Netflix’s most popular show.
After a fascinating season one, star HoYeon Jung has hinted at the possibility of a rumoured second season on the streaming platform. Owing to its immense popularity and massive fan following, a sequel would not be unprecedented.
The series is a survival thriller game that sees a group of people competing against one another for a whopping 45.6 billion Korean Won in prize money. They need to follow the instructions of an unknown masked overseer with a panoptic gaze and participate in childhood games, whose innocence has been perverted with sinister means and do or die deads.
Set in present-day Korea with a dystopian outlook, the film is a scathing commentary on capitalism, class divides and power dynamics.
Jung plays the role of the North Korean refugee Kang Sae-byeok whose resilience and perseverance on the show has helped her garner a massive fan following. She participates in the game to win the prize money to save her family and reunite with them across the border.
[Spoilers inbound] After successfully completing the five games, Sae-byeok is injured fatally by the shard of glass and dies in the penultimate episode without putting up a fight when the ruthless and desperate Sang-woo stabs her.
While Jung’s character died a tragic death, she was perhaps one of the most well-liked characters. She hinted at a possible season two which might take off from Gi-hyun returning to the game to unmask the unknown hosts as indicated in the finale of season one.
However, she dismissed the hopes of her character returning in the next season because she is “dead”, as she told The Korea Herald.
Jung has urged the audiences to “wait together” to witness the “brilliant imagination and ideas from the director and Netflix”.
Jung expressed her gratitude to the fans for showering her with love and praises. “I am honoured and feel thankful [to the audience] for loving my performance in the series,” she said.
Adding: “But I am well-aware of how much work I have to do and learn to become a better actor.”
Recently, Hwang was asked if there would be a possible second season to which he replied that he would want to work with “multiple experienced directors”, “consider using a writer’s room” and “certainly not do it alone”.
Also starring Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon and others, the series ended on an ambiguous note and fans are eagerly anticipating a second season.
Check out the trailer for the series below:
