Squid Game creator says season 2 is “much crueller, scarier, and more gruesome” than the first

After the fantastic first season of Squid Game, anticipation is sky-high for season 2. It won’t be easy, but creator Hwang Dong-hyuk seems confident that the new season will live up to the hype with a darker story.

“I believe what we’ve created on Season 2 is a deeper, more advanced story,” Hwang told Empire. “I feel it could even surpass Season 1. But physically, mentally, it was not easy. Some of the sequences we shot were the most challenging in my whole career. It was… hell.” He went on to tease that the second season won’t be a walk in the part. “I even had some concerns because the story told in the second season is much crueller, scarier and more gruesome than the first,” he said. “Honestly, I thought to myself… ‘Is this too much for people to handle?’” Will Squid Game season 2 be the Empire Strikes Back of the series? Time will tell, but it’s already been announced that a third and final season will bring the series to a close.

The official synopsis for the new season reads: “Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport. Using this fortune to fund his search, Gi-hun starts with the most obvious of places: look for the man in a sharp suit playing ddakji in the subway. But when his efforts finally yield results, the path toward taking down the organization proves to be deadlier than he imagined: to end the game, he needs to re-enter it.”

Hwang Dong-hyuk once again serves as director, writer, and producer of Squid Game season 2, with Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo reprising their roles from the first season. New cast members include Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, Jo Yu-ri, and Won Ji-an.

Netflix is also moving forward with a second season of Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality series in which 456 players compete for a US$4.56 million cash prize by competing in challenges based on those in the series… although without all the death. There have also been rumblings that David Fincher is developing an English-language Squid Game series, but nothing has been confirmed. Squid Game season 2 will debut on Netflix on December 26th.