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CNET
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Squid Game Creator Reveals Alternate Ending That Fans Say Should've Been the Real One
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has revealed that season 3 almost had a drastically different ending -- an ending that might have gone over better with fans still divided over how the hit series wrapped. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang said he originally wrote an ending where Player 456, Seong Gi-hun, leaves the deadly games behind for good. That's a sharp contrast to the version that made it to screen, where Gi-hun sacrifices his life in the end for the new Player 222. Hwang shared that his original plan for the Netflix series was far more hopeful. Gi-hun, the show's main character, would have ended the game, left alive and reunited with his daughter in the US. "In the beginning, I had a vague idea about how I would end the story. And back then, it was having Gi-hun end the game, in one way or another, and leave alive and go see his daughter in America," Hwang said. "So originally, I thought the person who witnesses the American recruiter woman would be Gi-hun." But over time, Hwang said the story evolved as he reflected on current events and the show's larger message. "I was witnessing more and more what was happening around the world," he said, and ultimately decided that Gi-hun's sacrifice should carry a heavier meaning. "I thought it was more fitting for Gi-hun to send this powerful and impactful message to the world," Hwang explained, adding that the darker ending was meant to reflect the urgent sacrifices needed in today's world to secure a better future. Read also: How to Watch Squid Game Season 3 on Netflix Audience reactions to the season 3 finale It's a choice that didn't sit well with a big chunk of the Squid Game fanbase. Some felt the final twist betrayed Gi-hun's character arc, especially after he spent two seasons suffering immense trauma and appearing to prioritize his family's safety. Others found it too bleak and open-ended, sparking passionate discussions -- and plenty of memes -- online. This isn't the first time a Squid Game finale has stirred controversy. When Season 1 premiered in 2021, the series became a global phenomenon almost overnight, smashing Netflix records and turning its bleak social commentary into must-watch television. But even then, the final episodes left fans divided. Now, Hwang's ending is fueling speculation about whether the show's final season will actually set up for a US spin-off show. Talk of a possible US spin-off Hwang emphasized that Cate Blanchett's surprise cameo as an American recruiter in the Los Angeles finale wasn't meant to set up a future spin-off, but rather to underline a broader thematic point. He clarified to The Hollywood Reporter that he "didn't end it on that note in order to deliberately leave room for further stories to happen," explaining that the storyline for Gi‑hun and the Front Man in Korea truly came to a close. He said that the American recruiter scene was crafted to symbolize the enduring nature of capitalist systems. That said, Hwang acknowledged rumors of a David Fincher–linked American version and said he'd watch it if it was made, but as of now, there's no official confirmation from Netflix. Read more: Netflix Review: Our Top Pick in a Sea of Streaming Choices
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What the 'Squid Game' baby says about us
Poor Player 222. Many of the doomed, desperate souls featured on 'Squid Game' wound up in Hwang Dong-hyuk's underground, deadly arena because of a few expensive, ill-advised decisions that plummeted their bank accounts deep into the red. But Kim Jun-hee, our Player 222 (played by K-pop star Jo Yu-ri), is there because she has no place else to go and no one to turn to. Orphaned at a young age, she hooks up with a bad boyfriend, crypto influencer Lee Myung-gi (Yim Swian), who persuades her to invest in what turns out to be a scam. In debt by tens of millions and pregnant by Myung-gi, who ghosts her, Jun-hee takes her chances with these death games. When she's introduced in season 2, her pregnancy is far along enough that Player 149, Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim), notices she could go into labor any time. That makes it a foregone conclusion that Jun-hee will give birth at a most inopportune moment, which she does. By then, she's also broken her ankle, lowering her survival chances to zero when the next game is revealed to be jump rope. She recognizes this, hands off the newborn to the show's stoic hero Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), and jumps to her death. Watching this drama unfold from within their luxurious lounge are a group of masked VIPs who have placed bets on certain players. One drunken billionaire accidentally selected 222 and throws a fit when she dies. But then another suggests that the newborn should assume her mother's number and join the fun. 'Squid Games' recently concluded to mixed reactions, although the third season's six episodes garnered 60.1 million views worldwide between its June 27 premiere date and June 29, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That represents the largest three-day tally Netflix has ever recorded in its internal rankings. Whether it met expectations or fell short, enough people were invested in finding out whether Lee's empathetic Gi-hun would manage to survive this hell again. Entering the baby into the game, however, probably wasn't a move most people saw coming. It's preposterous. So is the idea of risking one's life by playing children's playground games for a shot at 45.6 billion won, equivalent to more than $33 million. Why shouldn't a baby have a shot at earning what its mother couldn't? After all, if it were born outside the arena, it would inherit Jun-hee's debt. Justifying why this pile of helplessness would be placed in competition with a group of bloodthirsty adult men might mean we're focusing on the wrong thing. Again. The same goes for the other predominant question about the baby: was it real, or CGI? Turns out it was a real . . . prop. In some scenes, Jo held a silicone dummy and in others, a robotic puppet. (Our last glimpse of the baby features a real child actor since the scene takes place in a safe environment.) But since Hwang intends 'Squid Game' to be a grand parable about late-stage capitalism, then each of its players must evoke some element of society, right? The third season features a scam queen shaman who builds a small cult of followers that she sacrifices to men hunting them with knives; a minor, failed pop star whose narcissism and drug habit make him dangerous; and a slimy executive who excels at talking his way out of disadvantageous situations. One might think of Jun-hee and her little girl as stand-ins for the women and children swept into limbo as a result of careless politics. But after watching 'Squid Game In Conversation,' an auxiliary episode featuring Hwang in dialogue with Lee Jung-jae and Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man, it seems even that is reading too much into the value of Player 222. From what we can surmise, the baby is a device to showcase the nobility of the show's male characters or lack thereof. That's it. Nothing more. Of course, devices have their use. In 'Squid Game In Conversation,' Hwang tells his actors that 'the most important decision in Season 3 was to give birth, to have the baby be born and to give Gi-hun his mission to protect it and finally save the baby by sacrificing himself,' he said. 'Everything led me there. When I finally landed on that idea, I realized, 'Ah, it was all for this.'' Maybe that's one reason the ending was dissatisfying. Please understand, this doesn't imply a belief that most people watching 'Squid Game' care about the fates of anyone in this show besides Gi-hun, let alone notice that no other female characters made it to the final game besides Player 222 2.0. Fewer may see the irony in the remaining women being killed off by a round of jump rope, a playground game predominantly played by girls.'Squid Game,' for all its bluntness, tries to hold up a mirror to the real world, where a cursory look around lets us know how little society values the lives of women and children. There have been many stories about the backlash against feminist discourse in Korea, stemming from protests about the wide wage gap between men and women, along with the general normalization of misogyny. Yoon Suk Yeol's anti-feminist platform is cited as one of the planks that won him the presidency in 2022. After Donald Trump was re-elected president, some American women began considering the principles of South Korea's 4B movement more seriously. The name is shorthand for bihon, which translates to 'no marriage'; bichulsan, which means 'no childbirth'; biyeonae, meaning 'no dating'; and bisekseu, which means 'no sex.' That sounds extreme until you read a few headlines. Right now, Georgia law is keeping a brain-dead woman on life support so her months-old fetus can gestate to term. Her family had no choice in that decision; state law grants fetuses personhood and bans abortion after the point at which an ultrasound can detect cardiac activity in an embryo. On Thursday, our Republican-held Congress passed an unpopular bill that strips funding from Medicaid and food assistance for low-income families. The New York Times quotes a sobbing Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, as saying, 'The amount of kids who are going to go without health care and food — people like my mom are going to be left to die because they don't have access to health care. It's just pretty unfathomable.' Hyung's sidelining of women in his violent fiction ranks much lower on our collective list of problems with the world, but you can't accuse him of being out of touch with politics. Even so, once you realize the role of women in this show is to sacrifice themselves in service of men's stories, you might also notice how much suffering is piled on some of them in the name of entertainment. As USA Today critic Kelly Lawler mentioned to a mutual friend, there was no need to break Jun-hee's ankle before sending her into a game she had no chance of surviving. She'd just pushed another human out of her body on the hard floor of some deadly maze. Hopping around after that is not in the cards for anybody. But giving birth is not enough. To ensure the audience cares about the robot baby, its mother must suffer greatly. Geum-ja is another mother willing to die for her worthless son, entering the games in the hope of paying off his debts without knowing he'd also signed on. She bravely stabs him to protect Jun-hee and her baby, but hangs herself shortly afterward. Women in 'Squid Game' are there to break in the most fetching ways. Jun-hee's anguish has a similar purpose to that of first-season favorite Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon), who is nearly broken when she talks Gi-hun out of a morally reprehensible act. Soon after that, Gi-hun and Sae-byeok's shared adversary murders her in her bed, which certainly makes Gi-hun look like the better man. Her ghost reappears in the final episodes to utter the same words she told him then: 'Mister. Don't do it. That isn't you. You're a good person at heart.' Baby 222 lands on a more fortunate ending because, at least for now, killing infants for sport on TV is a terrible look. Granted, Myung-gi, the third surviving player at the end and the baby's father, looks willing to do that instead of becoming a single dad. Thanks to Gi-hun's knack for hanging on to the bitter end, we never have to find out what Myung-gi would have done. Gi-hun then trades his life for that of an infant with no parents, no name and no traceable identity. Front Man could have done anything with Player 222 Jr., but — nobly, again — leaves her in the care of his more principled brother Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), a former cop. Then he delivers the remainder of Gi-hun's winnings to his daughter, who now lives in the United States, and declares she wants nothing to do with him before she learns her father is dead. One of the last women seen in 'Squid Game' is an American recruiter played by Cate Blanchett, who grins at Front Man watching from his limo as she slaps some indebted fool. By then, we've mostly stopped thinking about that baby, which is just as well. She never really mattered in the first place. The following article contains spoilers for "Squid Game" The post What the 'Squid Game' baby says about us appeared first on
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Squid Game' Star Lee Jung-jae on His Hopes for Gi-hun's Daughter and the ‘Harsh' Finale Diet That Pushed Him to the Edge
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers from the 'Squid Game' series finale, now streaming on Netflix. Lee Jung-jae's Seong Gi-hun has always been the beating heart of 'Squid Game,' and his ultimate sacrifice allows the dour finale to have a flash of humanity shine through. More from Variety 'Squid Game' Success Validates Netflix Korea's Local-First Philosophy, Says Content Chief Don Kang (EXCLUSIVE) 'Squid Game 3' Sets Netflix Record With Massive 60.1 Million Views in Three Days 'Squid Game' English Dub Actors on Voicing Emotional Finale Scenes: 'I Just Want to Jump Out of My Body and Be This Character!' (EXCLUSIVE) Lee spoke with Variety about the day he learned Player 456's fate, his conversations with 'Squid Game' creator Hwang Dong-hyuk about the series finale and his hopes for Gi-hun's daughter. Now that it's all been released, I think the ending was definitely something that a lot of the audience didn't expect to see. I know there are a lot of people with a wide variety of different opinions about the ending, and I'm following up on all of them. I know a lot of you like to express what you thought about the ending on social media, so I'm trying to check all of them. I got the entire script for Seasons 2 and 3 at the same time, and I read everything the day that I got it. That's when I learned about my character's fate and the ending. I was very shocked too, because it was not something I had expected to see. I remember speaking a lot about this ending with Director Hwang, and I asked him, 'Did you have different endings in mind? Were there different versions?' And he told me that he did think of other endings. However, he did share with me that he believed this was the right way to end the story of 'Squid Game.' He also shared with me that I shouldn't look at Gi-hun's sacrifice as just simply a sacrifice itself, but what if we could look at it as something that shows or symbolizes hope for humanity? That was part of the many conversations between the director and me, and we thought a lot about how the audience was going to respond to Gi-hun making his choice before he finishes what he was saying. I remember, even on the day that we shot that sequence, I believe a lot was going through his mind. I think he was also considering a different version of Gi-hun finishing what he was saying. I was also thinking a lot about different versions of that, too. But I believe Director Hwang wanted the audience to finish the sentence in their own way and in their own interpretation. I believe he designed the scene and the sequence so that the end of the sentence belongs to all of the audience, and they are the ones who will finish it with their own emotions and their own journey. Of course, it was that very last scene, that last moment of Gi-hun. I had been on a very strict diet for about 14 months leading up to that point. Especially for the last two months, I was on an extremely harsh diet compared to before we shot the series. I had lost about 10 kilograms from my regular weight. I really wanted to make sure that not only did I express Gi-hun's emotions, but I also wanted the audience to know just how completely dry and depleted he was just by looking at him. I also remember we had to shoot that last moment for a very long time. It took a lot longer than you might expect on that filming day. That was the only scene we were able to shoot, so it was extremely important and also very challenging. Thinking about the 'Squid Game' storyline, I would like to see Gi-hun's daughter dismantle the entire system. But on a personal note, I hope she doesn't learn anything about the truth of it all. I hope she doesn't know anything about her dad. I just wish she would live a very happy and stable life with her stepdad and mom. This interview was conducted through an interpreter and has been edited and condensed for clarity. Best of Variety Oscars 2026: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Wagner Moura and More Among Early Contenders to Watch New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts?
Geek Tyrant
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
SQUID GAME Creator Still Torn on Season 3 Finale, but the Cast Says It's a Wild Ride — GeekTyrant
With Squid Game Season 3 marking the end of Netflix's biggest series, fans were met with a conclusion that will no doubt spark conversations. But, the show's creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, admits he's still wrestling with how he feels about the final moments. He said: 'Even when I was writing season 3, I had to make a big decision at the end of the season. Because it's a finale of the whole series, the whole show. 'That decision was so difficult to make. I'm still thinking whether it's good or not, but the audience, the viewers will see. I cannot spoil that.' That's not exactly a confidence boost, but not all the voices involved are as uncertain. Series lead Lee Jung-jae, who plays Seong Gi-hun, believes Hwang landed exactly where he needed to. 'I thought that director Hwang's decision that he had made, he was very determined, and he knew what he was doing, but I'm sure that he went through a lot of internal debate and struggles.' Lee pointed out the unique challenge of ending a cultural phenomenon like Squid Game , especially with a character as layered as Gi-hun. 'Because, as we all know, it's just a hugely successful series. So when it's a story that big, how do you bring that to closure as director, writer, and creator? And especially for a character like Gi-hun, where do you leave his journey?' He also revealed that Hwang didn't make that call in a vacuum. 'He listened to a lot of other people's ideas as well. We would have discussions among ourselves, among the cast. He would also discuss it with me and the crew as well. 'But I believe that director Hwang came up with the most adequate, the most unpredictable, the most meaningful, and the most intriguing and entertaining ending possible. 'So personally, I am very happy with the finale, and you all are going to be able to see where it all ends soon, but I can guarantee you it's not going to be what you think.' And then there's Lee Byung-hun, who plays the mysterious Front Man, adding: 'Director Hwang keeps saying it's a finale, but when I first read it, I felt it could be a finale, [but] at the same time, it could be a new start. I'm not sure about that, it's my personal opinion, but if the audience's love and support increases, we never know what happens.' Whether it's truly the end or just the beginning of something else, Squid Game Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix. If you watched it, what did you think about the end?
UAE Moments
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UAE Moments
Did Squid Game Season 3 Live Up to the Hype?
After the success of Squid Game Season 2, which was released after a hiatus of more than two years, fans had high expectations for the third and final season of the South Korean series; however, the series did not live up to fans' expectations. Rebellion Squashed, Games Resumed The third season picked up from the second season's conclusion when Seong Gi-hun's (Lee Jung-jae) rebellion falls apart after the death of his friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan). He is returned to the remaining players, and the games are resumed. The following games are deadlier than the last, including hide and seek, jump rope, and push, with the players left with no choice but to resume. However, given the vital plot twist in the last season, one expected that Seong Gi-hun would attempt an escape again, but he does not do so. He seeks revenge from Kang Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul) and continues with the games in a defeated manner. He constantly tries to persuade the remaining players to avoid their brutal intentions, but he cannot change their decisions. If the writer and director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, wanted to resume the maniacal killing and relentless greed, he should have added these episodes to the previous season itself. There was no need to split this season into two because it was not worth it. The Women are Killed, But the Men Remain? Since the games were resumed, each player was eventually killed off like dominoes falling. However, it is still disappointing that the diverse cast is slowly being killed off, including the transgender woman Cho Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), the pregnant woman Jun-hee (Kim Jun-hee), and the old mother Jang Geum-ja (Kang Ae-shim). First, the uprising is crushed, then the creator quickly rids the show of these characters who make it so far. Their survival challenges gender norms, but their death defeats the purpose they were introduced for in the first place. The fans have already understood the classist and the survival of the fittest themes of the series from the first season, why do the lessons need to be reinforced? The fans get the point. The rebellion gave Hwang Dong-hyuk the perfect opportunity to create a plotline where the players can possibly outsmart the games and make their escape, but he stuck to reinforcing the lessons from the first season. It does not make sense when Seong Ji-hun risks his life and returns to the game. He did not need to be a superhero, but why make him return only for a tragic ending? If nothing can change, why even try? The VIPs in Squid Game David Sayers, Jane Wong, Bryan Bucco, Jordan Lambertoni, and Kevin Yorn play VIPs who fund the games and get a chance to control how the games work in the final season. They revel in the violence of the games, like the VIPs from the first season. They dehumanize the players completely, enjoying their misery, but if the inhumanity of the wealthy has been shown in the first season, was there any need for it in the final season? No, because fans already know how brutal they can be. They introduce nothing new to the plot, and the opulence they lounge in while they watch the games is caricature-like. The Final Season's Subplots The police officer Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) continues his search for the island, but that subplot does not have a satisfying end either. Like Seong Ji-hun, Jun-ho is adamant on finding the island ending the games for good, but he also remains helpless in the end. Despite the shortcomings of the final season, Kang No-eul's (Park Gyu-young) subplot keeps viewers hooked and ends on a positive note, but it does not redeem the rest of the plot. The third season of 'Squid Game' was a terrible disappointment. There was a hint at an American version coming at the end of the season, which has raised fans' hopes. Nonetheless, viewers did not expect such a disappointing ending to this globally hit series.
