“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 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.
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.
Season 2 will drop on Dec. 26, while the third season 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.