The director of Netflix’s Squid Game has opened up about why the show’s second season features a much younger cast compared to its first.
Serial bingers rejoice because Squid Game is officially back. The sophomore outing of the South Korean thriller premiered on the platform earlier this month, with a fresh batch of money-strapped contestants vying to survive and smuggle home a whopping 45.6 billion Won jackpot.
The dystopian TV programme puts Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae) back into the hot seat as player 456 - but this time he’s determined to rescue more than a handful of players.
The show also heralds the return of detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun), meanwhile, former K-pop star Yim Si-wan (Myung-Gi), When the Camellia Blooms actor Dae-Ho (Kang Ha-neul) and Gyeong-Seok (Lee Jin-uk) have joined the Squid Game series two cast.
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If you continue scanning through the official cast list, you may begin the notice that this year’s cast seems to be much younger than its previous iteration.
In season one, Squid Game focused on more middle-aged players who were taking part in the survival play to wipe off debts.
Seong Gi-hun had a gambling addiction, Kang Sae-byeok wanted to reunite her family and Han Mi-nyeo suffered from a plethora of financial debts.
But in Squid Game’s second season, 53-year-old director Hwang Dong-hyuk wanted to explore how stock investment and cryptocurrency are affecting the younger generation.
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Speaking about the much younger cast of his Netflix show, Hwang told The Wrap: “There are a lot of younger generations who are already neck deep in debt.
“Because [this season’s players] are younger, it led to the increase of diversity within the games and also a sense of wildness.
“They have a lot of adrenaline and energy. This took the craziness of the games to another level.”
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Despite only releasing on Netflix last week, some fans have already steamed through the seven-partner and seemingly have a lot to say about one major change.
In the first episode of season two, only two people die - a number worlds away from the staggering 255 kills that featured in the first season’s premiere.
Speaking about the ‘underwhelming’ lack of violence, a TV source told The Sun: “Squid Game introduced the world to Korean drama and became a phenomenon.
“Most of that was down to the eye-popping murder games, the likes of which had never been seen beyond Hunger Games and Battle Royale.”
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They continued: “Instead of hooking fans with the same kind of horror in series two, makers have done the exact opposite.
“You’ll find more than two murders in an average episode of a British soap.”
Despite some complaints, Squid Game season two has a solid 82 percent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer and a 64 percent score on its audience-voted Popconmeter.
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Give it a spin for yourself on Netflix and tell us what you think!
Topics: Squid Game, TV And Film, Netflix
Ella Scott