Mild spoilers for the second season of “Squid Game” follow.
In Season 1 of “Squid Game” there was A groundbreaking reference that understandably made some viewers’ heads explode. One of the unfortunate contestants caught up in these life and death games is voiced by well-known Korean actor Lee Byung Hun, only Lee Byung Hun himself plays the masked frontman who has been running the games all along. With the arrival of a new contestant named Thanos in Season 2 of the series, we’re wondering if a Mad Titan will show up in the final episode as a big plot twist, and it turns out that “Squid Game” is actually all part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Probably not, but stranger things have happened.
However, in the case of this particular Thanos, the name is clearly a reference to Marvel’s feared world destroyer and Josh Brolin’s rib-jawed villain, who was ripped from existence by Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame. Out of respect for the villain shaking up the Marvel Universe, this Thanos even has purple hair that matches Thanos’ skin color, and his fingernails are painted the color of the Infinity Stones – a set of stones that the game is certainly one of little would change if they were immediately available. Unfortunately, in Squid Game Season 2, Thanos and the rest of the unfortunate challengers will have to rely on their wits to make it out alive. And judging by the latter group of players, backstabbing is, dare we say it, inevitable.
Thanos is a real rapper, TOP
In the world of “Squid Game,” Thanos is a rapper who fell on hard times after investing in cryptocurrencies and losing everything thanks to the advice of financial YouTuber “Amazing Myung-gi” (Yim Si-wan), that can also be found in the games. To get back on top, Thanos joins the Squid Game to restore his career and, like everyone else, his bank account. It doesn’t take much for the actor behind the Marvel-obsessed character to get into the mindset of a major Korean rap star, considering he’s been one for years.
Besides that the four original characters returning for Season 2 of “Squid Game,” Choi Seung-hyun, also known as TOP, is one of the show’s newcomers and has been in the music industry since 2006, where he was the lead rapper for BigBang. In 2007, he tried his hand at acting, delivering critically acclaimed performances on both television and film. His role in the Korean war film “71: Into the Fire” earned him a nomination for the Asian Film Awards. Squid Game would be the star’s first acting effort in seven years, and while we don’t want to say too soon, we wonder if he’ll live long enough to see it the third and final season. Well, the universe needs balance after all.
“Squid Game” Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
