Warning – this article contains major spoilers for Squid Game season 2.
Squid Game fans have come to the defence of actor and former rapper Choi Seung Hyun, aka T.O.P, after he received criticism for his performance as Thanos in season two.
The star made a huge comeback this year as part of the ensemble cast in the Netflix K-drama’s highly anticipated follow-up after he was prosecuted for marijuana use in 2017.
In the second season, which released on the streaming platform this Boxing Day, T.O.P portrays Player 230, a famous and volatile rapper named after the Marvel supervillain Thanos.
Throughout the games, he forms a posse to take on Seong Gi-hun (played Lee Jung-jae) and cheats his way through the first rounds, determined to take home the grand prize.
However, his performance as the obnoxious antagonist has received criticism from some viewers, with Korean media even labelling his acting “unbearable” and urging him to “apologise to the global audience”, according to 8days.
Many of the show’s global fans have now defended the character despite his “cringey” behaviour, with some even calling him their favourite part of Squid Game’s second season.
“I love how in red light green light, you just see him freeze in whacky poses like he’s having a blast,” one viewer said on Reddit.
“Easily my favorite character of the season.”
Someone else agreed, commenting: “My favorite character on the show. Absolutely loved him lol.”
And another said: “I LOVED HIM. I found it absolutely hilarious every time he randomly spoke English (I never watch the dub) XD.”
“He’s the character you love to hate,” a fourth fan wrote. “As soon as I saw him vaping during the ddakji scenes, I knew he was going to be hilarious.”
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SkyOther fans have even claimed he shouldn’t have been killed off this early, as before the rebellion in the finale Thanos is stabbed to death with a fork by Lee Myung-gi (Im Si-wan) during the bathroom brawl.
“I’m actually a little sad that he’s gone. Most entertaining character of the season by far,” one viewer said.
While a final viewer wrote: “I laughed at him a lot, mostly just out of absurdity lol his character really added to this season I reckon.
“Even though I really wanted him to die, a fork in the neck wouldn’t have been my choice, he deserved a better death.”
Did Thanos die at the right time, or should his antics have continued into the third season?
Squid Game season 2 is available to stream on Netflix. Season 3 will be released in 2025.