You really want to play a round of ddakji right now?! Up to you, but you should definitely stop reading straight away if you’re not caught up on the full third and final season of “Squid Game,” including the final moments of the series finale. Spoilers ahead!
In October of 2024, we learned that David Fincher, one of the sharpest and most revered directors of his generation, is “quietly working” on a spin-off of “Squid Game,” Hwang Dong-hyuk’s wildly popular South Korean series that became an international sensation when it hit the streamer back in 2021. Now that the original show has concluded after three seasons (the third season dropped on Netflix on June 27, 2025), we’re definitely going to see the “Squid Game” universe keep expanding further and further; even beyond Fincher’s alleged project, we could get a prequel at some point or, say, a spin-off centered around a major character like Lee Byung-hun’s Front Man. With all of that said, we got a cameo in the series finale of “Squid Game” that sure seems like it’s a huge clue about a spin-off — one that would tie directly to Fincher.
If you’ve watched “Squid Game,” you likely remember Gong Yoo’s character, who’s known only as The Recruiter; he’s a smiling yet seemingly soulless man who travels throughout Seoul and perhaps the entirety of South Korea to find people who desperately need money. The Recruiter plays a game of ddakji with his victims, and when they inevitably lose, they’re offered the chance to compete in the games.
Well, Gong Yoo’s version of this character dies in season 2 of “Squid Game,” so someone has to replace him. Stunningly, that specific someone is Cate Blanchett, a two-time Oscar winning actor who’s considered by many to be one of the best living performers. We see her ever-so-briefly playing ddakji with players and exchanging a glance with Lee’s Front Man, the head honcho of the games, and Blanchett isn’t here by accident. In fact, her appearance very likely means that Fincher’s series will feature her prominently.
Cate Blanchett’s appearance is probably a link to David Fincher — but it’s also a huge deal
It’s not an understatement to say that casting someone of Cate Blanchett’s caliber in a “Squid Game” series would be massive for the budding franchise, and it also points squarely at David Fincher helming the project that features her. Why? Well, the two worked together on the F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in 2008, which also stars Brad Pitt, Taraji P. Henson, and Tilda Swinton. (Come to think of it, Swinton would make a great recruiter too, but I guess we’ll all have to settle for Blanchett.)
Blanchett, in case you need a refresher, won her first Academy Award for her supporting turn in Martin Scorsese’s 2004 biopic “The Aviator,” where she played Katharine Hepburn opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes, and her second for her starring role in Woody Allen’s 2013 take on “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Blue Jasmine.” She’s also a part of the “Lord of the Rings” franchise as the powerful elf queen Galadriel, has played Queen Elizabeth I twice on screen (in 1998’s “Elizabeth” and its 2007 sequel, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), and has appeared in critically adored films like “Carol,” Marvel movies (“Thor: Ragnarok”), delightful legacy sequels like “Ocean’s 8,” and the stunning drama “Tár,” which earned her yet another Oscar nod in 2022. (She’s also a big fan of “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” based on her casual mention of one of its niche jokes on Marc Maron’s podcast “WTF,” which is important to me personally.)
Point is, Blanchett is one of the most beloved and revered actors on the planet, and it sure seems like she’s signing on to do a “Squid Game” series with her former director David Fincher. If this comes to pass, it means big, big things for the entire television universe.
We still don’t know much about David Fincher’s planned Squid Game spin-off, but the series finale gives us some clues
A “Squid Game” spin-off directed by David Fincher and led by Cate Blanchett would be appropriately huge, and I say “appropriately” because “Squid Game” became one of the biggest shows on the planet after it dropped on Netflix. Real-world experiences popped up to let fans “play” in the games for themselves, Netflix created a reality show called “Squid Game: The Challenge” where players competed for a huge cash prize (but thankfully didn’t die in the process), and I can say from experience that I saw more than one bar advertising “Dalgona candy games” after players had to carve up the Korean delicacy on-screen in season 1.
In a world where every piece of intellectual property is mined for as much content as possible, there’s no reality where “Squid Game” ends after season 3 and simply fades away. We’re getting more stories set in this particularly disturbing, depressing, and dystopian world, whether we like it or not. With that said, if people like Fincher and Blanchett are involved, fans might be in for a wild — and well-executed, if you’ll excuse the pun — ride.
“Squid Game” is streaming in its entirety on Netflix now.
