Squid Game creator reveals major change to show's ending

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has revealed that a major change came to the series’ ending as a result of working on the show’s second season.

For those living under a rock, Squid Game was a massive hit for Netflix when it was first released in 2021.

Based on the class divide and capitalism Hwang witnessed in South Korea, the show is about a contest where financially strapped players compete to win a big cash prize, with every other player being killed off in the games.

Hwang developed the series way back in 2009, but struggled to find a network that would fund the series until Netflix took an interest ten years later.

After a successful first season launched in 2021, winning many awards and becoming one of Netflix’s top shows, the series is back later this month for a second season, with a third and final season slated for 2025.

Check out the teaser for Squid Game Season 2.

Now, Hwang has revealed that the show’s ending has changed from his original conception as a result of working on Season 2.

“I wrote Seasons 2 and 3 at the same time,” Hwang told IndieWire. “Along the storyline, there is a turning point that takes place, and that leads to a series of different events, and also leads to a significant change in the character.”

“Relatively speaking, the ending for Season 2 came to me quite early on. However, the ending to Season 3, actually ended up [in] a different direction than what I had initially conceived of.”

“While I was working on the story and working on the script, I saw this new path that I wanted to go down, and so the ending of Season 3 actually changed in the process of creating Season 2.”

It’ll be interesting to see how the show turns out by the end of the third season, and if Hwang will ever reveal his original idea for the conclusion.

Seasons 2 and 3 of Squid Game were filmed back-to-back, which is something seen more in film than TV. In many ways, this can help keep costs low and allow the release schedule to be more consistent.

For example, each film in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed back-to-back over around 14 months, and it meant each movie could be released a year apart.

Squid Game Season 2 releases on Netflix on 26th December.