Elon Musk, Donald Trump Inspired These 'Squid Game' Characters: 'The Ones Running Everything… The Ones In Control'

In the third and final season of “Squid Game,” the masked elite known as the VIPs shed more than just their disguises — they echo the real-life personas of some of the world's most powerful men.

What Happened: According to series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, Elon Musk and Donald Trump were among the unwitting muses for these ruthless puppet masters.

The hit series, recently released on Netflix NFLX, primarily follows 456 contestants. They compete for a cash prize through high-stakes, live-or-die games and contests. Each season has also featured the VIPs who watch the game and bet on the contestants.

Hwang admitted after completing filming season 1 that one of the VIPs unintentionally resembled Trump, as reported by Time. The same can be said for Musk, the world's richest person, who is similar to VIPs in season 3.

"Elon Musk is everywhere these days, right," Hwang told Time. "Everybody talks about him. Not only is he the head of a huge tech company that controls the world almost, but he's also this showman."

Hwang said he realized after writing the third season, "Oh, some of the VIPs do kind of resemble Elon Musk."

According to the interview, the first season VIPs were described to the actors who played them as "total idiots and "dirtbag millionaires."

While the VIPs were mostly behind the scenes previously, they take on a larger role in the third season, murdering players who have lost in various competition rounds.

"In the past, those that really controlled the system and maintained power, they were hidden behind the curtain, almost like this big unseen conspiracy. However, it's no longer the case, especially in America,” Hwang said, comparing the VIPs to the "so-called big tech owners" who tell everyone who they're backing with their money.

"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.'"

Hwang did not create the VIPs specifically to resemble Trump or Musk. Yet, the series creator noticed the parallels as he reflected on inspirations for the plot: the 2008 financial crisis, wealth inequality, the rise of tech giants, the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, and Trump himself becoming president.

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Why It's Important: Musk, who has appeared in several films and TV shows, has inspired characters before.

The Netflix movie "Don't Look Up" features a plot centered on a comet that is set to destroy Earth. Actor Mark Rylance, who portrays fictional billionaire and technology CEO Peter Isherwell in the film, said he looked at Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Musk for the basis of his portrayal.

"I looked at all those fellas. Maybe I should have gone down that more Californian, high-tech thing. But I went for something slightly different. I did read Elon Musk's book — about half of it," Rylance told The Hollywood Reporter.

Rylance said Musk and other individuals have "high-minded ideas" and don't think they're bad people. The actor said this could make people like Musk dangerous.

Another Netflix movie, "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," featured the character Miles Bron, a technology billionaire who has interests in space exploration and automotive — two sectors Musk had disrupted in real life. The film’s director, Rian Johnson, shared with Wired that Musk might have inspired the character, portrayed by Edward Norton.

Johnson says he wrote the screenplay during the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to Musk announcing plans to purchase Twitter. The movie director joked that he hadn't known about this ahead of time. But viewers drew parallels between the behavior of tech billionaires, both fictional and real.

"It's so weird. It's very bizarre. I hope there isn't some secret marketing department at Netflix that's funding this Twitter takeover," Johnson said.

Musk also partly inspired the portrayal of Tony Stark by Robert Downey Jr. and appeared in “Iron Man 2.”

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