(Credits: Netflix)

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk claimed that it was only when he was writing season three that he finally realised the villainous VIP characters “resemble” Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

While speaking to Time magazine, Hwang admitted he finally saw the parallels between the VIPs and Musk while crafting their exploitative acts in his creation’s (supposedly) final season. In the show, the VIPs all seem to be Westerners who speak English, and these masked wealthy elites fund the harrowing games designed to prove that human nature is inherently evil. They take bets on which competitors will survive the vicious games and watch them die in real-time from the confines of a lavish suite.

“Elon Musk is everywhere these days, right?” Hwang commented, noting, “Everybody talks about him. Not only is he the head of a huge tech company that controls the world almost, but he’s also this showman. After writing [season three], of course, I thought, ‘Oh, some of the VIPs do kind of resemble Elon Musk’.”

Hwang also revealed the creative decision to have some of the VIPs unmask themselves and take part in the games was inspired by the current political climate in America, which thrives on front-and-centre showmen like Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg.

“In the past, those that really controlled the system and maintained power, they were hidden behind the curtain, almost like this big unseen conspiracy,” the creator reasoned. “However, it’s no longer the case, especially in America. We talk a lot about oligarchy these days, but these so-called big tech owners, they step up, telling everyone who they’re backing with their money.”

He also pointed out how the smokescreen of control is not a necessary armour and that every power-hungry capitalist ruling the roost and destroying the world for profit is wearing their identities on their sleeves.

“The people who really control the power and the system, they no longer hide behind a curtain,” Hwang concluded. “They willingly take their masks off, almost as if to declare, ‘We’re the ones running everything. We’re the ones in control’.”

Squid Game season three shot straight to the top of Netflix’s global chart upon its release on May 27th, proving there is still a massive appetite for Hwang’s satirical, yet highly emotional, dystopian vision. The creator has specified this is the end of his incarnation of the show, but an American spinoff is supposedly in the works, and a prequel has also been discussed as a possibility for the future.