The making of ‘Squid Game’: View behind-the-scenes images of a Netflix sensation
(Credit: Netflix)

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The making of 'Squid Game': View behind-the-scenes images of a Netflix sensation

With his epic 2021 success Squid Game, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk introduced the world to its current Korean pop-cultural high. With nine intense and riveting episodes, the show smashed all records on Netflix, becoming one of the streamer’s biggest revenue generators. It also sparked an increased interest in local, foreign-language content, putting Netflix ahead of all other big names in the streaming wars.

Starring Lee Jung-Jae, Park Hae-Soo, Jung HoYeon, Wi Ha-Joon, Anupam Tripathi and many more in a varied ensemble, Squid Game struggled to get picked up for nearly a decade before Netflix hit the jackpot by acquiring the streaming rights.

Hwang said, “I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we’ve all met in real life.”

A searing commentary on the power play, capitalism, existing hierarchies, economic crises and the degradation and depravity of human morality, Squid Game features a group of 456 participants compelled to partake in a series of twisted childhood games for prize money of 45.6 billion Korean Won. Forced into confined spaces with various shapes and strange masked men constantly supervising them, the premise, set in dystopian, modern-day Korea, is gruesome and sinister.

After its unimaginable success on Netflix, the streamer renewed the show for a second and third season. While the creator was still at a loss about the upcoming season, he made sure to end the first season on an ambiguous note to accommodate the hopes for a second season.

According to the new teaser and letter confirming season two, the lead character, Seong Gi-hun, will predictably return along with the deadly Front Man. The gigantic animatronics doll named Young-hee will get a presumably more violent “boyfriend” named Cheol-su.

The second season will be “more violent than ever”, as promised by Hwang, and will delve deeper into deconstructing humanity and its subsequent morals.

Ahead of the release of the second season that will unravel Gi-hun’s fate, take a look at some of the behind-the-scenes pictures from season one below:

(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)
(Credit: Netflix)