Hwang Dong-Hyuk is amused that his hit Netflix show Squid Game is being criticized by the guy who starred in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
See, this is what the media is good for: creating beef between people you’d never think would have a problem with each other. In this case, it’s NBA superstar LeBron James and Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-Hyuk.
Squid Game, of course, is Netflix’s tremendously successful breakout hit about a group of people who volunteer to play children’s game in exchange for a potentially huge payout. The catch? If they lose at any of them, they die, and only one person gets to claim the prize.
The first shot in this strange feud was fired when LeBron was at a press conference and had a sidebar conversation about the South Korean drama. “I didn’t like the ending, though,” he said. “I know it’s supposed to start off season 2, but get on that f***ing flight and see your daughter. What are you doing?”
Delightfully, this comment reached Hwang, who weighed in with his own. “Have you seen Space Jam 2?” he asked The Guardian, implying that no one who appears in that movie should really be throwing artistic stones.
"LeBron James is cool and can say what he wants. I respect that. I’m very thankful he watched the whole series. But I wouldn’t change my ending. That’s my ending. If he has his own ending that would satisfy him, maybe he could make his own sequel. I’ll check it out and maybe send him a message saying, ‘I liked your whole show, except the ending.’"
This was ultimately all a friendly back and forth, but I still like framing it as “LeBron James and Hwang Dong-Hyuk are in a feud. Maybe they can settle it with one of those exhibition boxing matches.
Hwang Dong-Hyuk is currently mulling ideas for Squid Game season 2. There’s no word on another Space Jam movie yet.
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h/t The A.V. Club