Squid Game is finally back for season two, introducing us to a whole new batch of contestants and games, hoping to win a life-changing amount of money in the deadliest game of all. But who is Thanos, and the actor who plays him? Here's what you need to know about the character and the man who plays him: Choi Seung-hyun.
Wait, who is Thanos from Squid Game season 2?
OK, so the character is actually called Choi Su-bong, aka Player 230. But thanks to his purple hair and general demeanor, the rapper goes by the name 'Thanos' during the games, a reference to the Marvel villain.
We learn that while he was a successful rapper, who came second in a professional rapping competition, he's in some major debt after falling for a crypto scam that influencer Player 333 (Lee Myung-gi, aka MG Coin) was responsible for. Alongside one of his friends, Thanos confronts his fellow contestant, while he also uses drugs while participating in the games.
While this leads viewers to feel some sympathy for Thanos, he's an incredible frustrating and reckless player of the games in Squid Game. So we love to hate him, basically.
Who plays Thanos in Squid Game season 2?
Choi Su-bong is played by an actor called Choi Seung-hyun, who is 37-years-old and from Seoul in South Korea.
He is also known professionally as T.O.P, a rapper, singer and songwriter name he used as part of South Korean boyband BigBang, who debuted in 2006 and went on to sell over 140 million records worldwide. He was the lead singer/rapper, until he announced his departure from the band in 2023. Choi also released songs as a solo artist, including 'Turn It Up' and 'Doom Dada'.
He has been in K-dramas including I Am Sam, 71: Into the Fire and Iris, while his last on-screen role prior to Squid Game season 2 was Chinese film Out of Control, which came out in 2017.
What's the controversy around Thanos in Squid Game season 2?
In 2017, the actor and rapper received a 10-month prison sentence and a two-year suspension from Korea's mandatory military service after he was found guilty of marijuana use, which is illegal in South Korea. Squid Game is his first foray into the spotlight after nine years.
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has since spoken out to defended his choice in casting Choi, commenting, "As you may know, the actor Seung-hyun, about nine years ago got involved in a marijuana scandal in Korea and wasn’t able to do any projects for the past nine years in Korea. And so this is a comeback after quite a long hiatus, and particularly because he portrays a character that’s a rapper and also someone who is on drugs.”
He added: “I feel that it took him a lot of guts, in a way, to portray a character, especially someone who shares a lot of similarities that are quite negative to him as a person too. So I think it took him a lot of courage to take on that role.”
So there you go.
Squid Game season 2 is now streaming on Netflix
