“Squid Game” writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk and two of the show’s stars, Lee Jung-jae and Wi Ha-Jun, made the trek to Italy’s Lucca Comics and Games on Thursday and revealed new details of the hit Netflix series’ second season.
Asked about what fans of the mega-hit Korean-language survival drama should expect, Hwang, during the first global promotional event for the new season, teased the “biggest difference” between the first and second seasons.
“If Season 1 was about the story of Gi-hun [Lee], or player no. 456, entering Squid Game for the first time and about how he survives and leaves the game as a winner, Season 2 is going to be about Gi-hun [being] faced with his memories of the first game — the experiences of going through a new realization and awakening and returning once again to the game in order to stop this unjust game,” he said.
Related Stories
Hwang — who was the first Asian to win an Emmy for outstanding directing in a drama series — also told the crowd of mainly Italian fans, who packed Lucca’s 17th century Teatro del Giglio to the rafters, that the second season will feature two Italian songs: Giacomo Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma,” from the opera “Turandot,” and “Time to Say Goodbye” (aka “Con te partirò”) performed by Andrea Bocelli.
Popular on Variety
The “Squid Game” creator also revealed why at the very end of “Squid Game” 1, Gi-hun at the airport is sporting red hair.
The inspiration, said Hwang, “came from an unexpected place.” “The red hair of Seong Gi-hun at the end of Season 1, I got it from my favorite comic book ‘Slam Dunk,’” he added, revealing his reference to the popular Japanese sports manga series.
For Lee Jung-jae, who plays Gi-hun, the transition to red hair “came very naturally,” he said.
“After going through such a tremendous experience, in order for him to live a new life I thought that dying his hair red was sort of the beginning of his new-summoned courage,” the star who plays player no. 456 went on to add.
Wi Ha-Jun, who plays South Korean police detective Hwang Jun-ho who who infiltrates the game facility in search of his lost brother said that in season 1 his character “quite literally turned away from the gates of death and in, order to find his brother – and to chase those cruel people behind the game –has to put an end to this unjust brutal game.”
“What kinds of things will he [now] go through? How determined will you find him, and his charisma along the way? I hope all of you look forward to watching that,” he added.
Season 2 will drop on Dec. 26, while the third season of “Squid Game” will premiere in 2025.
The first season of “Squid Game” ranks as the most-watched season of television in Netflix history. The series received 14 Emmy nominations with six wins. Beyond Hwang’s win, Lee also won for best actor in a drama series and Lee You-mi won guest actress in a drama.
