In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang said he originally wrote an ending where Player 456, Seong Gi-hun, leaves the deadly games behind for good. That's a huge contrast to the version that actually aired, in which Gi-hun sacrifices his life in the end for the new Player 222.

Although the Cinematic Universe, as laid out above, isn’t real, Netflix is certainly not done with Squid Game – not by a long shot. With Season 3 now in the rearview mirror, Squid Game has two official ongoing projects and one that’s still in active development but not yet officially confirmed by Netflix. Let’s break them down:

This is thanks in no small part to the jaw-dropping ending to the final season, which saw Cate Blanchett make a cameo absolutely no one expected and putting the rumor mill into overdrive as the potential future of the series is discussed.

For what it's worth, Hwang has confirmed that the American Recruiter was not shown primarily to set up a future spinoff. Instead, the cameo was meant to show that the end of the Korean game did not mean the end of the societal problems that brought it about.

From his radical weight loss to intense emotional turmoil, Lee Jung-jae reflects on the costs — and meaning — of closing out 'Squid Game.'

Squid Game killed off Seong gi-hun in the final season, perfectly concluding his character arc, even though few shows are willing to take that risk.