Netflix has made history by producing the first non-English language show to be nominated for an Emmy with the excellent Korean survivor thriller, Squid Game.
The streaming service celebrated the milestone on Twitter, including Squid Game‘s nomination for Outstanding Drama and acting nods for its stars, Lee Jung-jae, Jung Ho-yeon, Park Hae-soo, and Oh Young-soo. On top of those nominations, Squid Game creator Hawng Dong-hyuk also got recognition by way of being nominated for directing the episode “Red Light, Green Light” and writing the episode “One Lucky Day.”
Following all the headline-grabbing news, Netflix also took the opportunity to officially announce Squid Game would be returning for a season two, something that had already been all-but-formally confirmed. We knew this was coming, but it’s welcome news regardless.
In addition, Netflix also shared a message from Hwang himself about the news, in part alluding to the real-life hardship that it took for him to get the show made in the first place.
“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. 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.”
Many beloved characters are set to make a return, Hwang said. That includes Gi-hun, The Front-Man, and maybe even a certain ddakji-peddling man in a suit who likes to haunt train stations looking for new recruits.
Hwang also alluded to a new character known as “Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su.” For the uninitiated, Young-hee isn’t one of your run-of-the-mill TV characters, but an animatronic doll used to moderate a deadly game of Red Light, Green Light in the show’s pilot episode. Presumably, Cheol-su will be another mechanical character employed to intimate contestants in the second season.
According to IndieWire, Squid Game snagged a staggering 14 Emmy nominations in total.