The third and final season of Netflix’s Squid Game is filled with unforgettable moments. Series finales usually are. But even after everything is wrapped up in the games themselves, the show had one final surprise for audiences, and it’s a doozy. We’ve written about it here but now, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has weighed in about what he meant with the scene, what it implies, and why he cast that person. Of course, major spoilers follow.
At the very end of Squid Game 3, the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) is driving through the streets of Los Angeles when he sees a familiar sight. It’s two people playing ddakji, the game his team uses in Korea to recruit people for the bigger event. He’s seemingly taken aback because it’s confirmation of what he’s surely always thought—these games are happening everywhere. And we, as the audience, are taken aback because the person doing the recruiting is Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett.
While this scene clearly seems to be teeing up some future American Squid Game spinoff, that was not Hwang’s main intention. “I didn’t end it on that note in order to deliberately leave room for further stories to happen,” the creator told the Hollywood Reporter. “Gi-hun [Lee Jung-jae’s character] and Front Man, through these characters, the Games in Korea have ended. And because this story started out with me wanting to tackle issues about the limitless competition and the system that’s created in late capitalism, I wanted to leave it on a note highlighting the fact that these systems, even if one comes down, it’s not easy to dismantle the whole system—it will always repeat itself. That’s why I wanted to end it with an American recruiter. And I wrote that scene wanting an impactful ending for the show, not in order to open rooms for anything else.”
Though, of course, it does just that, especially when you cast a major A-list actress like Blanchett. Hwang also talked about how that came to be. “In the beginning, I was tossing around different ideas. I thought, ‘Should it be a man that we see as the recruiter?’ But I thought that, unlike in [the] Korea [version], having a woman who’s a recruiter for the American system would be a nice contrast and also quite a powerful, impactful element,” he said. “So we were set on having a woman. Then I thought, ‘Who would be the right fit for that?’ It’s a very short scene. There’s only one line, so we needed someone who had that level of presence and charisma to completely dominate the screen in that instant. And that naturally led me to Cate Blanchett. I’ve always been a fan of hers. She’s someone who can instantly grab your attention with a single stare. So that’s how that’s how we set on her.”
Hwang also admits that he has no plans to do another Squid Game, nor has he heard anything about what David Fincher has reportedly been working on. But if and when any of that does happen, he’ll be watching. “Honestly, nothing has been said to me officially by Netflix about this,” he said. “I’ve only read it in articles myself as well. I’ve always been a huge fan of David Fincher’s work —from Seven and I’ve loved his films. So if he were to create an American Squid Game, I think that would be very interesting to watch. I would definitely click on it immediately after it’s released, if it were to happen.”
To read more from Hwang Dong-hyuk about the end of Squid Game 3, such as the decision to kill Gi-hun and more, head over to the Hollywood Reporter. All three seasons of Squid Game are now on Netflix.
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