Squid Game creator explains why season 2 featured a trans character

Netflix's global hit series Squid Game just dropped its second season, which features an already controversial transgender character.

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Viewers meet Player 120, Hyung-ju, during the Squid Game. As described by Decider, the character "immediately stands out thanks to her tall height and her noble brand of courage. During the first game, 'Red Light, Green Light,' Gi-hun does his best to save as many players as possible, coaching them when to freeze, when to run, and when to stand in single-file to minimize their target. After Gi-hun crosses the finish line, he doubles back and returns to the killing field to bring a fallen player who has only been shot in the leg to safety. Only Player 120 joins him, ensuring all three finish in time."

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk compared the character's purpose to Ali, who was a fan-favorite character on Squid Game season 1.

“I saw the people who come to join the games in Squid Game as people who are usually marginalized or neglected from society, and not just financially speaking,” Hwang told Decider. “In season 1, the representative character for that was Ali, who was a foreigner working in Korea, which is one of the most representative minority groups in Korea."

"Today, unfortunately, in Korean society, the gender minority is a group that is not as accepted widely within society," he went on. "Which is why I created the character Hyun-ju as a male-to-female transgender woman."

He added that transgender rights in Korea are getting better but "when you are a gender minority, it is not as widely accepted yet. Unfortunately, you are still seen to be very much out of the norm."

Hwang also revealed to TV Guide that they struggled to cast Hyung-ju.

“In the beginning we were doing our research, and I was thinking of doing an authentic casting of a trans actor,” he said. “When we researched in Korea, there are close to no actors that are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately in the Korean society currently the LGBTQ community is rather still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking.”

Cisgender actor Park Sung-soon, who has played multiple queer characters throughout his career in Korea, stepped up to the plate.

"I have watched his work ever since his debut, and I had complete trust in him that he would be the right person in terms of talent in portraying this character," Hwang explained. "By creating a character much like Hyun-ju and through her choices, her actions, and the way she carries herself in the game, I hope that that could raise awareness of these issues that we face today."

Squid Game season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.