Squid Game became an international hit, but the Netflix series could have been a digital comic instead. Created, written, and directed by Hwang Dong-Hyuk, the series stars Lee Jung-Jae, Park Hae-Soo, Wi Ha-Joon, Jung Ho-Yeon, and O Yeong-Su. Squid Game season 1 follows Seong Gi-Hun (Lee) as he enters a twisted contest in which 456 players compete in deadly versions of children's games to win a cash prize to pay off their debts. The South Korean drama was released internationally on Netflix on September 17, 2021.
Upon its release, Squid Game became a global hit. The series was met with critical acclaim for both Squid Game's central theme and the cast's performances which turned the series into a brutal commentary on economic disparity. Not only did the show become Netflix's most-watched original series, but it also garnered multiple awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for Lee Jung-Jae's performance. Squid Game even gained the attention of Steven Spielberg, who praised the show for its casting choices. Netflix renewed the series for Squid Game season 2 with hints that the show may be expanded to a larger universe.
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk sat down with The Playlist to discuss the hit series and the work he put into it. During the interview, he revealed that before Netflix picked up the series, he considered using the story for a webtoon-style digital comic instead. Hwang explained that his goal with the webtoon was to gain enough popularity to convert the story into a live-action series. However, when Netflix expanded its business into South Korea, Hwang was able to skip the webtoon and bring his vision to life. Read Hwang's full explanation below:
I was actually thinking at the time was looking into creating “Squid Game” into a Webtoon series, and I thought maybe we’ll do a webtoon first, and if the people like it, we can then move it into a live-action. So around 2018, I read it for the first time in 10 years again, because I was thinking about doing a webtoon with it. At the time, Netflix was just beginning its business in Korea, and it was a time when global OTT services were really becoming very popular.
With all of the different roles that Hwang filled while making Squid Game, the survival series truly was his vision. It is no surprise then to hear that Hwang's determination to create the show would have led him to consider pitching the story as a webtoon first. Several popular Korean webtoons have received live-action adaptations recently, including Netflix's popular zombie series All of Us Are Dead. Considering the recent trends, Hwang's plan for the webtoon may have even resulted in Netflix eventually picking up the show anyway.
It is interesting to imagine Squid Game as a digital comic, especially considering Hwang's manga inspirations. Although, if the story had been a webtoon first, some of the show's impact might have been lost because viewers would have already expected its many twists and mysteries. Still, if Squid Game season 2 manages to recreate the success of season 1, Netflix may want to expand the universe with a comic adaptation after all.
Source: The Playlist