Fans aren’t sure how to feel about trans characters in Squid Game 2

The long-awaited second season of Play octopus has dropped, and fans are seriously divided over trans character Hyun-Ji, played by cisgender male actor Park Sung-Hoon.

Warning: Spoilers ahead Play octopus season 2 ahead!!!

The beloved South Korean thriller, which returned after three years on Thursday (December 26), returned with a bang as fans saw Seong Gi-hun, played by Lee Jung-Jae, return to the deadly competition.

The new season features plenty of fresh faces valiantly (or perhaps foolishly) competing for the prize money, including Hyun-Ji (Park Sung-Hoon), a trans character who aims to win the matches to pay for his gender reassignment surgery.

The inclusion of the character has caused mixed reactions among LGBTQ+ fans, some of whom have praised the series for a “well-written” portrayal of a trans woman, while others have questioned whether a cis man is suitable for the role.

“Squid game 2 is surprisingly good but did they HAVE to cast a cis guy to play a clockable trans woman,” one user wrote.

“Couldn’t they cast an actual transgender woman… This is going to blow my mind,” wrote another.

In addition to the frustration that the role was given to a cisgender actor, others complained that the role itself seemed a bit lacking and could have been done better.

“The trans character in Play octopus get so little to do lol,” wrote one complainer. “For the first four episodes, she’s just quietly walking around while other characters hit on her. It’s the kind of mealy ‘representation’ that doesn’t do anything for anyone but tick off.”

THE TRANS CHARACTER IN THE SQUID GAME IS SURPRISINGLY WELL WRITTEN???

— ꩜ (@hyxkkimxru) 26 December 2024

However, others completely disagreed, arguing that Hyun-Ji is “surprisingly” well-written.

“It’s the way this show put an old woman, a pregnant woman, and a trans woman together and flat out said they are all valid as women that moved me to tears,” one user wrote. “Damn shit.”

Another person agreed, saying: “Watching the new season Play octopus and I absolutely love the trans character, the writers wrote her with so much love and care.”

Earlier in December Play octopus director and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk defended the controversial decision to cast Park Sung-Hoon as a trans woman in season 2 of the hit Netflix show.

Speaking to TV Guide, he revealed why it would have been difficult to cast a trans woman in South Korea.

“I expected such discussions to arise from the first moment I started creating the character,” he said. “In the beginning we did our research and I thought about doing an authentic casting of a trans actor.

“When we researched in Korea, there are hardly any actors (who) are openly trans, let alone openly gay, because unfortunately the LGBTQ+ community in Korean society is still marginalized and more neglected, which is heartbreaking.”

Play octopus season 2 is streaming on Netflix now.