If a major revelation had been foreshadowed a little differently, or if a certain character had made a wildly different decision, then we could have ended up with a very unfamiliar Squid Game. Here's a look at a few alternate ways the games could have played out.
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00:00If a major revelation had been foreshadowed a little differently, or if a certain character
00:05had made a wildly different decision, then we could have ended up with a very unfamiliar
00:09Squid Game.
00:11Here's a look at a few alternate ways the games could have played out.
00:15The first glimpse of frontman Hong In-ho was originally supposed to play out entirely differently,
00:20but producers decided to hold that juicy bit of information back for the season one finale.
00:25The deleted version that was eventually released by Netflix — the only officially released
00:30deleted scene — features the frontman without his mask carrying a goldfish into an apartment,
00:35where he deposits it into a bowl and watches it swim.
00:38Meanwhile, someone outside watches him through a window.
00:42It all feels like a commentary on the Squid Game's voyeuristic worship of human misery.
00:46For Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, when he's deciding what should end up in the finished
00:51product, it's a matter of believability.
00:53As he explained to Netflix's To Doom,
00:55"...how would the audience take this?
00:57Would they think of it as nonsense?
00:59Wouldn't they find it ridiculous?"
01:01While this particular clip may not stretch anyone's suspension of disbelief, it definitely
01:05would have changed the impact of the heartbreaking scene in Episode 8 when Hong Joon-ho learns
01:10that his long-lost brother was the frontman all along.
01:13"...In-ho, let's go."
01:16That memorable moment when Song Gi-hun decides against continuing with his normal life and
01:20visiting his daughter at the end of Season 1 almost didn't happen.
01:24As Hwang Dong-hyuk explained to Entertainment Weekly, he almost opted for a much happier
01:28conclusion in which his protagonist escaped to California.
01:32But then he realized that the story would be incomplete if he settled on this much more
01:36permanent finale.
01:37As he revealed,
01:38"...we came to the conclusion that the question that we wanted to propose cannot be done if
01:42he left on the plane.
01:44The question that we want to answer, why has the world come to what it is now, can only
01:48be answered or can only be proposed if Gi-hun turned back and walked towards the camera."
01:53"...Player 456, don't get any absurd ideas."
01:58This alternate ending sounds like it could have been the ultimate deleted scene, if only
02:02they had actually shot it.
02:05There may be an even greater source for deleted material out there, as Squid Game was actually
02:09conceptualized as a movie, so there theoretically could be all sorts of stuff that fans haven't
02:14had a chance to see.
02:16As Hwang Dong-hyuk revealed to ScreenRant,
02:18"...I wrote the script for it as a feature film in 2009 in the beginning, and that took
02:22about eight or nine months for me back then.
02:25And then it was later in 2019 when we changed that.
02:27I changed the film script to two eight- or nine-episode series."
02:31This revelation opens up a lot of possible what-if scenarios.
02:35For example, the movie may have opted for a different tone or contained characters who
02:39will never see the light of day.
02:41Ultimately, though, it's impossible to know for sure.
02:44Unless, of course, the movie treatment script is ever made available for public consumption.
02:49This one isn't exactly a deleted scene so much as a deleted detail.
02:53The original cut of the first episode of Season 1 featured a phone number that belonged to
02:57an actual South Korean person.
02:59The number was supposed to be fake, but the inclusion of the 010 code, a common prefix
03:04for Korean mobile phones, resulted in some real-world confusion.
03:08As the woman with the actual number told the South Korean newspaper Money Today,
03:12This is a number that I've been using for more than 10 years, so I'm quite taken aback.
03:17There are more than 4,000 numbers that I've had to delete from my phone."
03:21She had no idea why she was the sudden victim of so many prank calls until her friend told
03:25her about the coincidental connection to Squid Game.
03:27And unfortunately, changing her number wasn't a realistic option, as she'd been using it
03:31with her longtime business contacts.
03:34Netflix released a statement asking viewers to refrain from calling the woman and edited
03:38her number out of the episode, changing it to a six-digit alternative that was not in
03:42service.
03:43But by then, the damage had already been done.
03:45The woman reportedly rejected an offer of 5 million won from the streamer, while an
03:50even juicier offer came from South Korean presidential candidate Ha Kyung-young, who
03:54claimed that he would pony up 100 million won for the rights to the number.
03:59This last one is kind of the opposite of a deleted scene, although it was almost cut
04:03out.
04:04When Gi-hun accidentally knocks over Kang Sae-byeok in the first episode, Lee Jung-jae
04:09ad-libbed the moment in which he returns her coffee to her.
04:12Because Jung Ho-hyun broke up laughing during the take, it was going to be edited out.
04:17But the creative team ultimately decided that the moment fit her character.
04:20As Wong Dong-yuk explained to Mashable,
04:22"...this scene was an outtake, but we still kept it because it was too good to go to waste."
04:27And Lee Jung-jae concurred,
04:28It's a small detail, but it clearly shows the heroic side of the protagonist.