Netflix's Squid Game Sequel Update Makes You See The Series Finale In A Whole New Light

Published Oct 10, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year.

With a passion for all things books, Liz frequently attends Toronto literary events and conferences, and loves interacting with her book lover community. In addition to being an avid reader of the romance and thriller genres, Liz is a writer of several short stories, and is currently at work on a young adult witch novel.

When she's not working, reading, or writing, Liz can be found seeing movies at her local cinema, attending live jazz events, or curling up on the couch to binge her favorite TV shows.

You can reach her at liz.h@screenrant.com.

Netflix's Squid Game may have been a record-breaking hit, but the dystopian K-drama's canceled American sequel series changes the original show's ending. The very last scene of the Squid Game series finale, which takes place in a downtown Los Angeles alley, sees Cate Blanchett as an unknown, sharply dressed woman slapping a man after he loses a game of ddjaki, mirroring Seong Gi-hun's recruitment into the games at the beginning of the show. The woman then shares a knowing look with the Front Man, confirming that the lethal competition has reached a global scale.

At the time, this was particularly exciting because in 2024, before Squid Game ​​​​​​season 2 even aired, Deadline reported that iconic director David Fincher was developing an English-language Squid Game spinoff for Netflix. Though the streaming platform never officially confirmed the project, Blanchett's Squid Game cameo appeared to be a sign that it was moving forward.

However, in August 2026, The Playlist reported that plans for the Squid Game sequel series, whose working title was Heckler​​​​​​, were scrapped. The publication cited Fincher's busy schedule, including projects like the upcoming The Adventures of Cliff Booth film, and Netflix's broader shift in strategy — focusing on multiple international markets for Squid Game spinoffs as opposed to a big Hollywood one — as reasons for the canceled project. No matter where individual viewers land on the idea of the sequel, knowing that it's canceled certainly affects the conclusion of the OG series.

Squid Game's US Sequel Not Happening Makes That Cate Blanchett Cameo Even Weirder

Squid Game is one of the biggest shows in Netflix history, and the K-drama earned this unprecedented international success without the help of Hollywood or any of its stars. This is what made the appearance of Cate Blanchett — a two-time Oscar winner whose success comes mostly from Western cinema — so jarring and tonally dissonant with the rest of Squid Game​​​​​. It's such a bold departure that it seems to only make sense if the cameo is setting up a new series.

However, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk vehemently denies that the final scene was meant to set up a greater Squid Game universe, and that it was instead a commentary on the unstoppable force of late capitalism. Speaking with THR, Hwang said,

However, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk vehemently denies that the final scene was meant to set up a greater Squid Game universe, and that it was instead a commentary on the unstoppable force of late capitalism. Speaking with THR, Hwang said, "I wanted to leave it on a note highlighting the fact that these systems, even if one comes down, it’s not easy to dismantle the whole system — it will always repeat itself. That’s why I wanted to end it with an American recruiter. And I wrote that scene wanting an impactful ending for the show, not in order to open rooms for anything else.

Hwang went on to say that Blanchett was cast as the American Recruiter because he wanted someone with "that level of presence and charisma to completely dominate the screen." Blanchett certainly fits the bill and accomplishes the task easily in her Squid Game scene. However, her cameo ultimately proves to be more distracting than effective, with viewers likely thinking, "Why is Cate Blanchett there?" rather than sitting with the anti-capitalism message Hwang was aiming for.

Why Squid Game's US Sequel Being Canceled Is Bittersweet

Image via MovieStillsDB

Hollywood has a long tradition of mining other countries' movies and shows to adapt, to varying success. However, an American Squid Game spinoff is a bad idea. Even if versions of the competition are spreading all over the world in the show's fictional universe, the actual Squid Game series was so successful precisely because of how deeply and specifically it's rooted in Korean culture; Hollywood can't just plug-and-play the premise to fit a North American sequel.

On the other hand, if there's anyone capable of making an American spinoff of the series that honors the original while being its own unique, riveting story, it's David Fincher. To add insult to injury for those hoping for the spinoff, Fincher had hired Dennis Kelly, who created the acclaimed British series Utopia, to write Heckler. They had previously collaborated in an attempt to develop an American Utopia remake for HBO, which ultimately fell through. (Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn took over the project, which aired for one season on Prime Video in 2020.)

Question 1 of 3

As much of a dream team as Fincher and Kelly are, it seems like their projects simply aren't to be — at least for now. Hopefully, they can find another series that sounds a lot better than an American Squid Game.

• 

  Lee Jung-jae

  Seong Gi-hun / 'No. 456'

• 

  Wi Ha-jun

  Detective Hwang Jun-ho