[24] Hwang confirmed that he had begun conceptualization work on a second season during a press event in November 2021, with plans to bring back Lee Jung-jae to reprise his role of Gi-hun.

[27] During an earnings call in January 2022, Netflix's Ted Sarandos said when asked about a second season "Absolutely...the Squid Game universe has just begun.

"[36] He added that he also wanted to explore the relationship between the cryptic Front Man and his policeman brother Hwang Jun-ho, as well as the background of the salesman character (portrayed by Gong Yoo).

Prior to the season's release, the casting choice of Park Sung-hoon as transgender ex-soldier Hyun-Ju was controversial due to some wanting a trans person to authentically portray their experiences.

Some argued in response to this criticism that South Korea is conservative with regards to LGBTQ rights, and that trying to find a transgender actress willing to put herself in the spotlight was not reasonable.

And so by creating a character like Hyun-ju, 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.

She first gained prominence after participating in Mnet's reality competition series Produce 48 in 2018, where she finished in third place and debuted with Iz*One on October 29, 2018.

Following Iz*One's disbandment in April 2021, Jo embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her debut single album Glassy in October 2021, which garnered her several nominations for Rookie of the Year at major music awards.

[49] Hwang explained that he wanted to cast someone who stopped working due to drugs, T.O.P retiring from the K-pop industry and leaving BigBang over a marijuana conviction.

[53] Responding to speculation that he was removed from promotional events over the controversy, Hwang said that they planned to not have him featured from the beginning, wanting T.O.P to be able to talk about his involvement at his own pace.

[54] In 2000, Song Young-chang (who played the role of Im Jeong-dae in the season) was arrested on charges dealing with child exploitation, after being accused of having sexual relations in his car with a 16-year-old on two different occasions near a park in Goyang and paying the minor for services.

Young-chang was permanently banned from coming on the major TV networks in South Korea, including KBS, EBS, and MBC, and worked in musical theatre until his eventual comeback in films and series.

He was accused of various cases of sexual misconduct in which he had inappropriately hugged, made lewd comments towards, laid in the same bed with, and kissed the victim across multiple incidents.

[60] On July 10, staff members of the production faced a controversy involving allegations of mistreatment towards citizens during filming at Incheon Airport, Seoul.

[66] The first episode features the aria "Nessun dorma" from Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, sung by Paul Potts, and "Time to Say Goodbye" by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.

[74] McDonald's Australia ran a limited time "Squid Game Meal" promotion, which came bundled with a Dalgona cookie for customers to extract a shape from, mirroring the first season.

[75][76] One form of the cookie included the shape of the companies signature Golden Arches where, if extracted successfully, customers could scan to enter a competition to win $100,000,[77] alongside replicas of contestants' tracksuits from the series.

The website's consensus reads: "While Squid Game's return can't help but lose the element of surprise, some absolutely diabolical challenges and a knotty moral outlook keep this sophomore season thrilling.

[82] Rebecca Nicholson from The Guardian gave the season a less positive review due to issues she found with its plot development and pacing and rated it 3 stars out of 5.

[85] Gi-hun's development in season 2 was well-received by Gizmodo writers Germain Lussier and Cheryl Eddy, praising actor Lee Jung-jae for managing to capture his shift into a character with "darker intensity" who is struggling with survivor's guilt.

[87] Of all the cast members of the second season, Park Sung-hoon's portrayal of the transgender ex-soldier Hyun-ju won significant praise from many critics.

[91] After the season's release, T.O.P's acting as the rapper Thanos was criticized, particularly that his vocal and facial performance was out of place, with the quality of his rap having mixed reception.

[94][95] This was interpreted by Vietnamese audiences as praising South Korean war crimes in Vietnam, and they demanded authorities "take necessary actions regarding this statement".