Squid Game creator compares the show’s VIPs to Elon Musk

Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is unmasking some of the inspirations behind season 3’s villains.

In a recent conversation with Time, Hwang spoke about how the VIPs — a group of masked, ultra-wealthy businesspeople from different countries who serve as spectators of the deadly games at the center of the series, taking bets on winners — assume more active roles this season, entering the arenas themselves to kill. Though the characters are not inspired by real people, Hwang observed the similarities between the VIPs and billionaire Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and former advisor to President Donald Trump.

“Elon Musk is everywhere these days, right? Everybody talks about him,” Hwang said. “Not only is he the head of a huge tech company that controls the world almost, but he’s also this showman.” After he wrote season 3, “Of course I thought, ‘Oh, some of the VIPs do kind of resemble Elon Musk.'”

Hwang shared that he was actually inspired by the division in America, both political and socioeconomic, when crafting the current season.

“In the past, those that really controlled the system and maintained power, they were hidden behind the curtain, almost like this big unseen conspiracy,” he told the outlet. “However, it’s no longer the case, especially in America.”

“We talk a lot about oligarchy these days, but these so-called big tech owners, they step up, telling everyone who they’re backing with their money,” he added. “The people who really control the power and the system, they no longer hide behind a curtain. They willingly take their masks off, almost as if to declare, ‘We’re the ones running everything. We’re the ones in control.’”

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Hwang was left “shaken” by the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021, in which an armed mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election following Joe Biden’s victory.

“America is known for its liberal democracy,” Hwang said, “and to see just how intense of a divide elections and voting and political views can put people in… that was very shocking, honestly, so that was also part of the current events that inspired me.”

The record-breaking Netflix megahit tells the story of a group of cash-strapped contestants who agree to compete in a series of deadly games, exposing the harsh realities of wealth inequity. The latest season 3 marks the final entry from Hwang, but there have been murmurs of an American spin-off from David Fincher; the surprise cameo in the finale certainly leaves the door open for that.