This article contains spoilers for Squid Game Season 2.
Squid Game is officially back. Three years after the dystopian Korean drama broke streaming records as Netflix’s most-watched series of all time, all seven episodes of Season 2 were released Dec. 26 on the streamer.
After beginning where the last season left off, a year after the games ended, Season 2 then jumps two years into the future and follows Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), aka Player 456, who succeeded in winning the prize of 45.6 billion South Korean won. Gi-hun opts to rejoin the life-or-death survival game with the intention of taking down Front Man, the murderous mastermind behind the competition.
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With Squid Game set to conclude in 2025 after its third and final season, the series writer, director and executive producer Hwang Dong-hyuk intentionally ended Season 2 with an explosive cliffhanger. The latest installment will leave fans wondering what’s to come in what Hwang told Netflix’s Tudum is the “second chapter of Gi-hun and Front Man’s showdown.”
“The fierce clash between [Gi-hun and Front Man’s] two worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3, which will be brought to you next year,” Hwang shared in a letter to fans earlier this year.
Here’s what else viewers should know about Season 3.
When does Season 3 premiere?
While there’s no specific date set, fans can expect Season 3 to start streaming sometime in 2025, according to Netflix. Hwang told Entertainment Weekly that he originally envisioned Season 2 and Season 3 as “a single story” but chose to split it into two separate seasons after realizing just how many episodes he needed to wrap up the saga.
“I originally envisioned seasons 2 and 3 as a single story,” he said. “That’s how I wrote it. But in the process, it came out to be too many episodes. So I thought it’d be better to divide it into two.”
Seasons 2 and 3 of Squid Game were reportedly filmed back-to-back.
Lee Byung-hun, center, in Season 2 of Squid Game. (Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection)
What’s to come in Season 3?
When crafting the final two seasons of Squid Game, Hwang told Entertainment Weekly that he knew that fans were eager to learn what had become of Player 456 after he’d won the grand prize. Season 3 will tie up loose ends.
Hwang, who made history as the first Asian to win an Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, said, “I wanted to tell the story of what happened to Gi-hun after where we leave him at the end of Season 1, and what he does, what kind of actions he takes in order to put a stop to the games. As creator, writer, and director, it was almost my mission or my role to further tell that story… the story I wanted to tell came to a full closure at the end of Season 3.”
Lee Jung-jae in Season 2 of Squid Game. (Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Season 3 will delve into the fallout of Gi-hun’s failed attempt to put an end to the games, Hwang told Netflix’s Tudum: “First, he wasn’t able to persuade his fellow players to stop Squid Game through voting.” Gi-hun also “failed at trying to use physical power and strength to go up against those that were hosting the game.”
Audiences can also expect to see a new game, much like Red Light, Green Light, in Season 3.
The final credits scene in Season 2 is “actually a [sneak peek] of Cheol-su, who, like Young-hee, is a new giant doll that we’re going to be showcasing in season 3,” Hwang told Entertainment Weekly. “And that’s also a hint at the most exciting game in season 3 as well. So, while it hasn’t been shared yet, I hope everyone will be excited to meet Cheol-su and the new game.”
Who won’t be returning?
Hwang told AP that unlike in Season 1, he had “more screen time for more characters” in Seasons 2 and 3. Recognizing that “the world has changed,” he chose to include younger characters this time around to better reflect the struggles of having tons of debt in your 20s and 30s.
“Now I feel like there are less decent jobs for young people and they feel like working hard doesn’t even get them to middle class,” he said. “They want to hit the jackpot, so that’s why they invest in cryptocurrency. In Korea, there are a lot of young people in their early 20s or 30s turning to online gambling. I wanted to show what society really is like today.”
But more characters could potentially mean more deaths.
Among the most shocking deaths in Season 2 is Gi-Hun’s ally Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), also known as Player 390, who is shot and killed by Front Man in the final minutes of the finale. Given his onscreen death, it’s unlikely that Jung-bae will return for Season 3.
Lee Jung-jae, left, and Lee Seo-hwan in Season 2 of Squid Game. (Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection)
How will the series end?
When teasing what’s to come for Gi-hun in Season 3, Hwang compared his resourceful protagonist to the villainous and seemingly unstoppable Front Man.
“Is [Gi-hun] still going to believe that he will be able to persuade others and leave together or put an end to the game?” Hwang asked Netflix’s Tudum, referring to Gi-hun’s inner conflict. “Or will he give in and become a completely different person? Someone just like the Front Man who thinks, ‘What can I change?’”
The actor Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man, also told Tudum, “It’s almost as if they’re [Gi-hun and Front Man] betting against each other. … The Front Man is asking questions like, ‘Do you really think you’re going to be able to end the game? Do you really think there’s hope in people? Do you really think the world’s going to change?’”
As for what Hwang thinks about Season 3, the writer-director told AP, “It’s better than season two.”
Squid Game Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
