hankyoreh

Still from Netflix’s cast reveal for Season 2 of “Squid Game.” (still from Netflix YouTube)

The Season 2 cast reveal for Netflix’s “Squid Game” has invited a surge of questions and criticism online about the lack of women in the line-up. In response, Netflix has stated that additional cast members will be announced soon.

Netflix Korea announced on Sunday that Im Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, and Yang Dong-geun are joining the cast of the action thriller in its second season.

In the “Squid Game” Season 2 cast reveal video released by Netflix, the new cast members are joined by Season 1 stars Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon, and Gong Yoo.

None of the eight actors featured in the video are women.

Fans around the world pointed out the lack of women in the reveal.

“[A]re you kidding me no girls cast!???!” read one comment that received more than 2,000 likes on Netflix Korea’s Instagram post with the reveal.

“If you’re going to reveal eight of the cast members, you should have made at least one of them women,” commented another user, while another wrote, “[T]here’s no way that there are no female actors. Let’s not jump to conclusions, but wait and see.”

Another argued that the series will undoubtedly feature women, but that it was a problem that these women weren’t part of the first billing.

Commenters on YouTube also expressed surprise at the lack of women in the cast reveal.

“Female characters like Ji-yeong, Sae-byeok, Mi-nyeo really stood out to me in Season 1, so it’s a shame that there aren’t any female actors,” one person commented.

“I wanted to know who the women on the show would be. They’re going to give us more information, right?” another person wrote.

There were also comments expressing hope that the caliber of male actors cast is an indicator of women that will be cast for the season as well.

Many women featured in the first season of the thriller drama show became overnight sensations and went on to be lauded for their performances. Jung Ho-yeon, who played the North Korean defector Sae-byeok, was selected as best performance by a female actor in a drama series at the SAG Awards in February 2022. The next month, she was honored at the US Critics Choice Super Awards as best actress in an action series.

Lee Yoo-mi, who played Ji-yeong in the show, was picked as an outstanding guest actress in a drama series at last year’s Emmy Awards, making her the first to win an Emmy for a non-English television series and the first Korean actor or actress to win an Emmy.

Speaking to the Hankyoreh on Monday, a Netflix insider commented that they “could not disclose at this time whether female cast will appear in Season 2 of ‘Squid Game,’” stating that additional casting will be “announced soon.”

Season 2 of the show is expected to start filming later this year and will be directed by the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk.

By Yi Ju-been, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]