Warning: Squid Game season two spoilers ahead.
No, you won't have to wait another three years for Squid Game 3. According to Netflix, the final season of the hit series will air sometime in 2025. When exactly? Well, we just got a bit of a clue from Squid Game writer and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk, but we'll get to that in a second.
First, let's talk a bit about where we left off (though you can read a full breakdown of the season two finale here). By the end of season two, our returning hero Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) had failed his mission to end the game from the inside. First, the pink guards had discovered and disposed of his dental tracking devise, which made it increasingly difficult for former detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) to complete his rescue mission.
How could it possible end there?!
Even worse, Gi-hun could not convince his fellow players to vote to leave the games despite the bloodshed, leaving our hero with only one more option. In the final episode of season two, Gi-hun and a group of brave players staged a rebellion against the pink guards, stealing their machine guns and setting course for the control room. Unfortunately, Gi-hun did not realize the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) had traded his mask for a green tracksuit, masquerading as one of Gi-hun's strongest allies in the games, Player 001.
Eventually, with the rebels overpowered and out of bullets, the Front Man returned to his post and murdered Gi-hun's childhood friend and closest ally, Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan). "Player 456, did you have fun playing the hero?" the Front Man asked Gi-hun from behind his mask. “Look at the consequences of your little hero game.”
So, when and how will the rest of those consequences play out? Here's everything we know about Squid Game 3.
When does Squid Game season three come out? Season two and three were filmed in tandem, so we won't have to wait too long for the final episodes. On December 26, 2024, Netflix announced that the third and final series will, in fact, debut in 2025.
According to the show's creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, new episodes may air even sooner than you think. "I probably expect that to launch around summer or fall next year," he said in an interview with Variety, which was also published on December 26, 2024.
Yes, it's the final season. In a previous letter announcing the season two premiere date, Hwang revealed that his story concludes with season three. “I am thrilled to see the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story,” Hwang wrote. “We’ll do our best to make sure we bring you yet another thrill ride.”
What's going to happen to the surviving rebels and players? Hwang Dong-hyuk told Variety that “the hidden clip” during the finale's credits will “give you a slight hint as to where Season 3 might take you.”
In that clip, a few players in green track suits approach the “Red Light, Green Light” mechanical girl doll. Only this time, the not-so-little girl is now facing a giant mechanical boy. Suddenly, the red light turns green. Hmmm….
With so many players dead ahead of schedule, could new players come in to take their place? If so, will new players battle the remaining group for their spots? Or, perhaps the surviving players will simply have to re-do the games? I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Wait, does Gi-hun know that Player 001 is the Front Man? Not yet, as far as we know. During the failed rebellion, Player 001 pretended to die while speaking to Gi-hun over their walkie-talkies. It seems that reveal will have to wait until season three.
What about the rescue team? After being shot and falling off a cliff in the season one finale, we learn Jun-ho was rescued by kindly fisherman Captain Park (Oh Dal-su), who continued to help him search for the island for three years. Once Gi-hun re-entered the games, Jun-ho enlisted Park to transport their crew of hired guns to storm the island and end the games.
Unfortunately, The Front Man was not the seasons only traitor. In the season two finale, Captain Park murders an i mportant member of the crew, proving he was likely working for the Front Man the whole time. And just like Gi-hun, Jun-ho is still in the dark.
Why end season with so many loose ends? When Hwang Dong-hyuk was writing season two, he said it became “too long to contain in a single season.” Ultimately, he decided Jung-bae's death was the right place to wrap up this portion of Gi-hjun's journey.
“All of his failures lead to this heavy, heavy crisis of having to lose his very best friend, Jung-bae, at the hands of The Front Man,” the show's creator told Variety. “And when you think about Gi-hun’s journey, I thought that that was an adequate moment to put a stop and give him a little bit of closure along that long story arc."
"From that moment on, in the third season, having that sense of huge guilt and sense of failure weighing heavily on him—how is Gi-hun going to carry on his mission? That’s the story that’ll further unfold.”
This article will be updated.