Squid Game's Hwang Dong-Hyuk & Lee Byung-Hun Share Season 2 Script Secrets

Hwang Dong-hyuk and Lee Byung-hun are back for Squid Game season 2. Dong-hyuk, the creator of the series, finds himself once again in the director's chair for all seven episodes. Byung-hun, a Korean actor familiar to American audiences for his work on Hollywood franchises like G.I. Joe and Terminator, returns for a more pronounced role in the sophomore installment as the mysterious Front Man, spending more of these episodes fully unmasked.

Last he was seen, Byung-hun's Front Man was congratulating Lee Jung-jae's Seong Gi-hun for winning the 33rd Squid Game, a victory that resulted in Gi-hun walking away with ₩45.6 billion in prize money. Prior to this, Front Man's true identity was revealed to be Hwang In-ho, the brother of Squid Game contestant Hwang Jun-ho.

In celebration of Squid Game season 2's streaming release on Netflix, ScreenRant spoke with Dong-hyuk and Byung-hun to discuss how long the second and third season's scripting process took compared to the initial batch of episodes in 2021 and how the Front Man's rivalry with Gi-hun will continue to evolve moving forward.

Answers were given in Korean and translated into English during the interview.

Squid Game's Evolution From 2009 Film Script To Multi-Season Series

"I was able to write a lot more in a lot shorter period of time."

ScreenRant: How much longer did it take you to develop the stories for both season 2 and season 3 in comparison to season 1, especially as you were filming them back to back?

Hwang Dong-hyuk: As for season 1, I wrote the script for it as a feature film in 2009 in the beginning, and that took about eight or nine months for me back then. And then it was later in 2019 when we changed that. I changed the film script to two eight or nine-episode series. So, if I count the sheer time that went into developing the script, it would be over a year.
However, with seasons 2 and 3, I was only given about six months time, given the fact that we had a date that we wanted to launch the series. So counting backwards, it meant that I had to be done with the writing aspect of it by then. And so, compared to season 1, you can say that I was able to write a lot more in a lot shorter period of time.

The Front Man Wants Gi-Hun To "Learn His Lesson" In Squid Game Season 2

"He wants to prove Hun wrong."

An edited image of Gi-hun looking shocked and In-ho holding the Front Man mask in Squid Game season 2.

Byung-hun, In-ho is singularly focused on Gi-hun in season 2. What fascinates him most about this adversary?

Lee Byung-hun: Hun is someone who comes back into the game wanting to bring down the entire system, and Front Man is someone who joins the game in order to stop Hun from bringing down the game, and another purpose he has is he wants to prove Hun wrong. He wants to let him know. He wants him to learn his lesson, that his beliefs are wrong, and he wants to prove that he is right. And in the second season, there's the aspect of the Front Man being himself, the Front Man, who has this past and a backstory that he tells Hun.
The story about how he came to be such an extremely pessimistic person. Then there's yet another layer of Young-il who's a fabricated character that he takes on with the other players of the game. So being able to portray such a wide variety of different personalities in one character, that was the biggest challenge and task for me as an actor. And it was also something that I had a lot of fun with, although it was quite challenging, I'll have to say.

More About Squid GameSeason 2

Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk

Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 gave up going to the states and comes back with a new resolution in his mind. Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won.

Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who made history at the 74th Primetime Emmys® becoming the first Asian to win Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, once again helms the series as director, writer, and producer. Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo reprise their roles from Season 1 with an impeccable list of new cast members including Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, Jo Yu-ri, and Won Ji-an rounding out the ensemble of colorful characters in the new season.

Check out our Squid Game season 2 interview with Lee Jung-jae and Lee Seo-hwan, as well.

Squid Game season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix.

Source: ScreenRant Plus