Fans may be delighted to hear the news of rapper TOP’s casting in the second season return of the highly anticipated Netflix film. Squid game.
Enthusiastic supporters of Big Bang member, real name Choi Seung Hyun, they may feel disheartened to notice that the high-profile celebrity has been left out of the show’s promotional materials, including the poster and cast list.
T.O.P., however, makes a significant appearance in the season trailer as Player 230, in the midst of “Red Light Green Light” playing.
The celebrity plays Thanos, a retired rapper who lost all his money in a crypto scam. The character caused a stir as the villain of the final season, named after a Marvel character.
While released promotional materials announced the upcoming show’s cast, including ZE:A’s Im Si Wan, Kang Ha Neul and Lee Jin Wook, fans speculated that the Big Bang rapper’s notable absence from the promotional materials stems from his controversial past.
Hyun was kicked out of mandatory military service just four months after it began, serving a 10-month prison sentence in 2017 for marijuana use, illegal in South Korea, after the rapper pleaded guilty. The rapper was almost fired from the role before the director realized that the actor was “the most suitable choice”.
“I’m really sorry that I disappointed my fans and the public,” TOP told reporters after the sentence, as reported by Yonhap.
“I will do my best to start over and not make a mistake like this again with what I have learned from this lesson.”
Second season of Squid Game will follow the return of Gi Hun in the dangerous competition to enact revenge and face the mysterious Front Man of the show. The show is scheduled to release on December 26.
