{"id":228884,"date":"2025-07-01T08:59:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:59:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228884\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T08:59:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T08:59:18","slug":"squid-game-season-3-originally-had-happy-ending-director-hwang-dong-hyuk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228884\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Squid Game’ Season 3 originally had happy ending: director Hwang Dong-hyuk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Father of \u2018Squid Game\u2019 discusses scrapped games, Cate Blanchett\u2019s cameo and Gi-hun\u2019s downfall<\/p>\n

\"Director Director Hwang Dong-hyuk (Netflix) <\/p>\n

“Squid Game,\u201d director Hwang Dong-hyuk\u2019s brainchild, wrapped its saga with Season 3, which topped Netflix\u2019s global TV charts on FlixPatrol within a day of release on Friday.<\/p>\n

But reviews have been divided \u2014 some lauding its gripping twists and some criticizing it for falling short of the original’s creativity. Much of the backlash also centered on the ending, where Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) dies to save a baby born during the deadly games.<\/p>\n

In a surprise twist, Hwang has revealed that the original plan was for the series to conclude on a much more hopeful note.<\/p>\n

“When I first started thinking about the second season, I had a vague idea that Gi-hun would return to the game \u2014 maybe to destroy it or at least help a few people escape \u2014 and then go to see his daughter in the US,” Hwang said during a press interview held Monday in Seoul’s Samcheong-dong.<\/p>\n

“That was the rough storyline I initially had in mind. But as I began seriously writing the project, I asked myself, \u2018What is the story I truly want to tell?\u2019 And that led me to the realization that Gi-hun\u2019s journey had to end here.”<\/p>\n

\"Lee Lee Byung-hun (second from left) and director Hwang Dong-hyuk (third from left) are seen on the filming set of “Squid Game” Season 3 (Netflix) <\/p>\n

Hwang emphasized that the show has always served as a reflection of contemporary realities.<\/p>\n

“Compared to when I created Season 1, the world has gotten even worse. Economic inequality has deepened, ordinary people\u2019s lives have become more difficult and wars continue to escalate with no sign of ending,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Every year, things seem to grow more serious by the day. But people don\u2019t seem to have either the will or the ability to fix it. If things continue this way, the future looks truly bleak. That\u2019s a reality I felt needed to be addressed.”<\/p>\n

He added that Gi-hun\u2019s tragic arc was meant to underline those themes, portraying \u201cthe painful journey of someone like Gi-hun, an average or even below-average person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lee Lee Byung-hun (left), director Hwang Dong-hyuk (center, back) and Lee Jung-jae (right) are seen at the filming set of “Squid Game” Season 3 (Netflix) <\/p>\n

In addition to the social message the series relayed, one of the elements that helped define “Squid Game” for viewers worldwide was its use of traditional Korean children\u2019s games repurposed into brutal life-or-death challenges.<\/p>\n

For Season 3, selecting the right games was not a straightforward task, according to Hwang.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may seem like any game could work, but when you actually try to adapt it, it becomes challenging,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to figure out how players will be eliminated, and there needs to be enough space in the game to allow character dynamics and story to unfold. The rules also must be clear so that the line between failure and success is well defined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some games did not make the cut. Hwang recalled considering the game \u201cWhy did you come to my house?\u201d which relies heavily on rock-paper-scissors and lacks narrative tension. Another idea involved tying players to a conveyor belt in \u201cOpen the Dongdaemun gate,\u201d but he ultimately rejected it due to the excessive randomness and lack of character agency.<\/p>\n

One game that did survive development was tag, reimagined as a direct battle-to-the-death between contestants.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike the marble game in episode four of Season 1, I wanted the fourth game this time to carry the most emotional weight \u2014 a life-or-death moment for the characters. That\u2019s why I added the element of killing: to heighten the dramatic tension.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cate Cate Blanchett, appearing in “Squid Game” Season 3 (Netflix) <\/p>\n

The finale also featured a surprise appearance by Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, who plays a recruiter conducting a game of ddakji with new candidates in the US. Hwang said casting Blanchett was a deliberate choice aimed at flipping the script.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the person playing the ddakji game in Korea was a man (Gong Yoo), I thought it would be interesting to have a female character appear at the end in the US,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, it’s such a brief scene, who\u2019s the actress who can charismatically command the screen in that short amount of time? She\u2019s someone I\u2019ve always admired, and I thought she was the perfect fit for the role. Our CEO and producers agreed, so we reached out to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US-based final scene and Blanchett\u2019s cameo sparked rumors of an American remake or sequel, but Hwang dismissed the speculation.<\/p>\n

As for the future of the franchise, Hwang left the door open for potential spinoffs rather than direct sequels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already conveyed all the messages I wanted to share in this season, so continuing the main story wouldn\u2019t be meaningful,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, it would make more sense to carry on with a spinoff or side story. For example, something like the private lives of the masked figures. Remember the photo found at Captain Park\u2019s house with the Front Man? It was just a fun little Easter egg we included, but wouldn\u2019t it be interesting to explore what kind of relationship they had and what happened between them?\u201d<\/p>\n

yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Father of \u2018Squid Game\u2019 discusses scrapped games, Cate Blanchett\u2019s cameo and Gi-hun\u2019s downfall Director Hwang Dong-hyuk (Netflix) “Squid…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[77,451,90062,382,16,15,90063,90064,90065],"class_list":{"0":"post-228884","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-netflix","10":"tag-squidgame","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-90063","15":"tag-90064","16":"tag-90065"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114777159627977859","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}