Netflix recently announced that Squid Game season 2 is set to premiere on the streaming service on December 26th – and during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said that this new batch of episodes is all about the idea of taking sides.

Hwang is the director, writer, and producer of the show. Squid Game season 2 has the following synopsis: 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.

Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo are 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.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang said, “I want to highlight the theme of taking sides. In Korea these days, we’re seeing much worse conflict between the elderly and the younger generation. And you see demarcation everywhere. There’s no room for debate, only hostility. So I was inspired by the direction the entire world is taking. I was inspired by the sheer fact that everywhere you turn, people are drawing lines, whether it’s by generation, class, religion, ethnicity or race. I wanted to tell a story about how the different choices we make create conflicts among us and to open up a conversation about whether there is a way to move toward a direction where we can overcome these divisions.“

Through Squid Game, he’ll be able to explore these ideas because the players have the option to end the game at any time through majority vote. As The Hollywood Reporter explains, in this season, the vote to continue is mandatory after each round, and it divides players into clearly labeled camps. One side is motivated by economic anxiety and the belief that they have the qualities to prevail over the rest, winner take all. The other pleads that a vote for the opposition will lead to everyone’s certain destruction. To read more about the new season and the making of Squid Game, click over to the THR link.

Hwang Dong-hyuk has let it be known that Squid Game will be wrapping up with season 3, so we have more episodes to look forward to beyond season 2. In addition to the next two seasons of Squid Game, 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 rumors that David Fincher is still working on an English-language version of the series.

Are you looking forward to Squid Game season 2? What do you think of the themes the new episodes will be exploring? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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