Squid Game creator reveals alternative season 1 ending
Hwang Dong-hyuk says that the hit series could have ended very differently for Seong Gi-hun. **CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk recently confirmed that there would be a second season of the hit Netflix show – and now he's revealed that the first run almost ended very differently.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the writer said there was an alternative ending that would have seen protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) get on the plane to visit his daughter, rather than turning back to seek revenge.
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"We actually wrestled between two different scenarios for the ending," he explained. "There was one, the other alternative ending, where Gi-hun would get on the plane and leave.
"And then there was of course the one where he would turn back and walk towards the camera. We constantly asked ourselves, is it really right for Gi-hun to make the decision to leave and go see his family, to pursue his own happiness? Is that the right way for us to really propose the question or the message that we wanted to convey through the series?"
He added: "We came to the conclusion that the question that we wanted to propose cannot be done if he left on the plane.
"The question that we want to answer – why has the world come to what it is now? – can only be answered or can only be proposed if Gi-hun turned back and walked towards the camera. So that's how we ended up with that ending in the finale."
Squid Game has been a monumental global hit since it launched on the streamer in September, and there had been significant pressure for a second season given the extremely positive reaction to the first run.
And although a second run has still not been officially confirmed by Netflix, Hwang's comments that "there will indeed be a second season" seem to be pretty definitive.
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Squid Game is currently streaming on Netflix. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best TV series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
