T.O.P was almost replaced as Thanos in Squid Game 2: Here’s how the director saved him

I can’t imagine a series without T.O.P as Thanos tbh

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Thanos was one of the funniest and most iconic characters in Squid Game 2, but everything could have been different if he had been replaced in his role. I can’t even imagine a Squid Game without him in it, but according to the show creator, Hwang Dong Hyuk, it was almost a reality.

Hwang Dong Hyuk told Koreaboo that he didn’t think casting T.O.P would cause such controversy. T.O.P has previously been at the centre of negative media attention after he received a two-year suspended prison sentence for using drugs, specifically, marijuana around seven years ago.

via Netflix

“Up until the press conference, I didn’t realize T.O.P hadn’t been forgiven to this extent. When I cast him, I researched the history of celebrities who had resumed their careers after drug scandals, going back to the Park Chung Hee administration. At that time, there were crackdowns on marijuana use, and many were allowed to return to the industry after about four years. Given that it’s been six to seven years for Seung Hyun, I thought enough time had passed for people to accept him. However, I was surprised by the backlash,” Hwang explained.

“After seeing the controversies and his comments about not making a comeback in Korea, I realized, ‘this is a bigger issue than I thought.’ But personally, I couldn’t just say, ‘you can’t be part of this because you haven’t been forgiven.’ I wanted to work with him to create something that could show whether he could earn forgiveness. In the end, it’s up to the public to decide if they’ll accept him again after seeing his work.”