Netflix teased a new round of both fear and excitement with a trailer for its hit Korean drama series “Squid Game” and a statement from its creator.
The streaming platform tweeted the 10-second teaser Sunday, along with an announcement from Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator, writer, director and executive producer of the series.
“It took 12 years to bring the first season of ‘Squid Game’ to life last year. But it took 12 days for ‘Squid Game’ to become the most popular Netflix series ever,” he wrote. “As the writer, director and producer of ‘Squid Game,’ a huge shout out to fans around the world. Thank you for watching and loving our show.”
Hwang revealed antagonist The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) and protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) would be returning. “The man in the suit with ddakji might be back,” he said, referring to the game’s recruiter (Gong Yoo).
He also revealed that the audience will meet the boyfriend of Young-hee, the enormous killer animatronic doll used in the first game of the competition, “Red Light Green Light.” The doll was modeled after Cheolsoo and Younghee — children’s characters in Korean textbooks.
"You'll also be introduced to Young-hee's boyfriend, Cheol-su," Hwang said.
The show, which was officially greenlighted for season two in January, follows Seong Gi-hun and hundreds of other contestants burdened with immense debt as they participate in competitions playing twisted and violent children’s games for millions of dollars. The competition can only have one winner and those who lose die.
The games used in the series are traditional folk games played by South Koreans in real life. One challenge included carving out shapes in the popular street food dalgona, honeycomb-like flat candy made of melted sugar and baking soda. Other challenges included tug of war and “ddakji,” played with folded paper tiles, in which players must turn over their opponent’s ddakji or win one if it passes a fixed line.
The first season became Netflix’s biggest release ever, logging 1.65 billion hours of viewing in the first month of its release last fall.
