The director of “Squid Game” revealed what game he would be great at

Within a month of release, “Squid Game”became Netflix’s most popular series, breaking records as the first Korean and foreign-language show to receive a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nomination.

Riding the wave of unprecedented success, Netflix has expanded the franchise with a reality competition series inspired by the drama, set to premiere in November 2023.

The Squid Game franchise is currently gearing up for its highly anticipated second season.

Teasers for the second season have confirmed that Gi Hoon will once again take part in the deadly competition, and the latest trailer hints at his new role. This time, he seems to have focused on helping the contestants survive and possibly rebel against the game’s organizers. However, his success will depend on his ability to help them overcome their inherent greed.

Gi Hoon’s return marks the beginning of a bigger battle as his fight against those who control the competition is expected to continue in the third and final season.

While promoting the highly anticipated second season, director Hwang spoke with PEOPLE magazine about the success of the show. He even revealed that he would most likely excel in a competition with honeycombs. Reflecting on his childhood, he remembered using the same saving grace as Seon in Season 1: licking the honeycombs to weaken the figure’s outline, making it easier to remove.

The Honeycomb Challenge (or Dalgona Challenge) is one of the most memorable and tense moments from The Squid Game Season 1, appearing in Episode 3: The Umbrella Man.

Based on a popular South Korean children’s game called ppopgi or dalgona candy, the competition requires contestants to carefully cut a shape — such as a circle, triangle, star or umbrella — out of a flat honeycomb candy using a small needle. The goal is to remove the mold without cracking or breaking the delicate candy, as failure results in elimination, which in the show means death.

The difficulty of the task depends on the shape chosen: simpler designs such as a triangle are easier to carve compared to a complex umbrella, which is an almost impossible task. In one of the show’s standout moments, Song Gi-hoon (player 456) cleverly realizes that licking the back of a candy softens it, making it easier to cut out the shape without breaking it, a quick strategy that saves his life.

Rooted in South Korean street snack culture, Dalgona candy was a nostalgic treat for many children who would win another snack or free candy if they successfully removed the mold. This cultural reference resonated deeply with Korean audiences, and the suspenseful gameplay captivated international audiences.

After the show aired, the honeycomb competition went viral on social media platforms like TikTok, with fans around the world trying to recreate the game using homemade dalgon candies.

Hwang indicated to the outlet that the “pressure” is on write a second season was “really huge”, especially since he never thought of doing anything past the first one.

“I thought to myself: can I do this? Will I be able to create or write something that surpasses the first season?” he said IndieWire. “But once I started writing and once I got into the story of Gi Hoon (Lee Jung Jae) coming back to the game with his own motives, things went a lot better than I thought.”

He added, “I was able to create a story that I thought was more intriguing, come up with more interesting characters, and come up with more original and intriguing games.”

In June 2022, Netflix renewed The Squid Game and later announced that the series would be renewed for a third season, cementing its place as one of the platform’s flagship franchises.

“Along the way, I think that feeling of heaviness or pressure actually turned into a source of joy, and I slowly gained confidence that we were creating something that the fans of the first season wouldn’t be disappointed with,” Hwang told the publication. . “Having said that, it was obviously no easy feat. However, I think with that confidence I was able to go into it with a better approach.”

The Squid Game 2 premieres December 26 on Netflix.