Squid Game creator says he changed the ending of the Netflix show halfway through: "This is not where the story should be headed"

Squid Game may just be about to return with season 2, but a third season is already on the horizon. Earlier this year, Netflix confirmed that their most-streamed show of all time would be ending with season 3, and the creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has revealed some new details about the ending.

He explained that he actually had the final journey all mapped out when he started writing the show, before changing his mind. "Usually when I get to writing a script, I do it where I think of the ending first, and then I try to make the journey, or the path to reach that ending the most entertaining way possible," he explained to GamesRadar+ and other press in a roundtable for Squid Game season 2.

"But this time around, it was actually different. I started out writing the story thinking of a particular ending, but along the way, I realized that this is not where the story should be headed, so I changed the ending mid-process. I think it was the first time that I ever worked that way. I think this time around, the creative process was a little bit different."

The second season picks up just after the first with Seong Gi-hun shortly after he vowed to take down the games once and for all. His method? Returning back to the Squid Game arena to stop them from the inside.

Hwang also explained why he feels the show has to end with season 3. "When you look at Squid Game at the end of the day, it's really all about Gi-hun's journey," he added. "The way he returned and gave up wanting to go see his daughter, returned from the flight, and goes back into the game, wanting to put an end to it. And so the storylines for seasons two and three are going to be about his journey and the viewers wanting to know, 'Will he succeed, will he fail?' And at the end of his journey, 'What would Gi-hun look like?'"

Hwang went on to say: "So I always thought that it had to come to a closure with Gi-hun's story by season 3. I thought that it would be meaningless to tell a story further than that, and I thought that it would only be right to put an end to Gi-hun's journey."

Squid Game is released on Netflix on December 26. For what to watch now, check out our guides to the best Netflix shows and the best Netflix movies currently available.