The first teaser trailer for Netflix’s Squid Game-inspired game show is here, and fans have some thoughts.
Squid Game: The Challenge debuts on Nov. 22 and features a prize pool of $4.56 million. Based on the wildly popular Korean show, it’ll feature recreations of some of the most famous set pipeces from Squid Game—hopefully with significantly less death involved. A total of 456 contestants competed in the series, which is sort of like Takeshi’s Castle if it were more dystopian.
The absurdity of the reality series’ existence is not lost on fans of the show, who shared reactions on X (formerly Twitter) following the release of the teaser. Squid Game was conceived as a story directly addressing the extreme class disparity in South Korea—which is a relatable concept for many in the West, too—and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk’s own struggles with money. At no point does the show suggest that a real event of deadly games with a monetary reward for those who live would actually be good.
However, The Challenge is real. The stakes are considerably lower, but a real-world version of a fictional game show that was fundamentally about the idea of the lower class being utilized for entertainment by putting themselves in harm’s way still doesn’t sit right with some fans. “Ah yes, the lesson of Squid Game: it’s good and we should do a real squid game,” one person succinctly surmised.
