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Season 2 to feature larger cast and more intriguing games

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Season 3 already in post-production, English version

hinted

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Lee Jung-jae's character seeks revenge and justice in new

season

By Hanna Rantala

LUCCA, Italy, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Revenge will be in the

air in the hotly anticipated second season of "Squid Game", the

TV show's creator Hwang Dong-hyuk says, promising a bigger cast

of characters and more absorbing challenges than the original.

Attending the first global promotional event for the new

season in the Tuscan city of Lucca, Hwang told Reuters a third

edition of the Korean drama was already in post-production, and

hinted an English-language version may be in the offing too.

The first season of "Squid Game" became Netflix's ( NFLX ) most

watched series of all time when it was released in 2021.

Hwang went on to win an Emmy for outstanding directing for a

drama series, while Lee Jung-jae scored a best actor in a drama

Emmy Award. Both were the first Asians to take home those titles

and the first for a non-English language series.

Given the huge viewing figures, the dystopian show was

inevitably renewed and is due to hit the streaming service on

Dec. 26, with the third and final instalment set for rollout in

2025.

"In Season 2, Gi-hun (played by Lee), who survived Season 1,

returns to the games, not to win this time around, but to put an

end to these games," said Hwang, the show's writer, director and

producer.

"There is going to be a larger number of characters this

time and more intriguing games that are all worthy of a lot of

the viewers' love and support," he said.

The thriller series follows cash-strapped contestants who take

part in deadly survival challenges featuring childhood games for

a chance to win a fortune.

The new season takes place three years after the events of

the first and sees Lee's character Seong Gi-hun returning to the

life-or-death game with new participants

Also attending the Lucca Comics & Games event, Lee told

Reuters there was pressure to improve on the original, adding

that his character, a former gambling addict, is a changed man.

"Gi-hun is a very different person in Season 2. This time

around he wants revenge. He wants to catch the people behind the

games and he wants to bring them to justice," he said.

The Hollywood news site Deadline, reported this week that

U.S. director David Fincher, who made the 1999 hit "Fight Club",

was working on an English-language version of "Squid Game" for

Netflix ( NFLX ).

"I don't think it's official yet, so I cannot tell much

about it. But, you know, I respect him as a filmmaker and

creator," Hwang said when asked about the report.

"So if he does it, you know, I'm looking forward to seeing

it, watching it."

(Editing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Sharon Singleton)