Squid Game Season 3 plot theories, cast & when it’s expected to drop

Christmas is over, but Squid Game Season 3 is at the top of everyone’s wishlist after that cliffhanger in Season 2 – thankfully, it shouldn’t be too long before it drops on Netflix.

Nobody expected Squid Game to become Netflix’s biggest show ever. But it was (deservedly) a worldwide sensation, and now, Season 2 is finally available to stream.

The new chapter follows Gi-hun as he desperately tries to track down the Front Man and stop the games for good. Unfortunately, that comes with a huge risk: he needs to re-enter the games as a player once more.

By the end of Squid Game Season 2, two things will happen: you’ll scream as it cuts to black, and you’ll desperately search, “When is Season 3 coming out?” on Google. Well, here’s everything we know about what’s coming next. Spoilers to follow!

Is there a Squid Game Season 3 release date?

Netflix

Squid Game Season 3 will be released on Netflix sometime in 2025 – unfortunately, we don’t have an exact release date right now.

Seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back to back – that’s why there are only seven episodes in the second season.

Speaking to Deadline, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explained: “I wrote Seasons 2 and 3 at the same time, and we were in production for both simultaneously, and currently we are in the post-production process for Season 3.

“When I was writing the script for the two seasons, I felt like there was a big turning point or an inflection point, and that was the end of Episode 7, so I thought that it would do it justice to have a separate season after that. That’s why I had first seven episodes as Season 2 and then the rest of Season 3.”

We haven’t had any indication of when it could drop in 2025, with Hwang saying: “The fierce clash between two worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3, which will be brought to you next year.”

Squid Game Season 3 cast

Netflix

Lee Jung-jae will return as Seong Gi-hun in Squid Game Season 3, alongside Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho, the Front Man, and Wi Ha-joon as the villain’s brother Hwang Jun-ho. You should also expect to see:

• Yim Si-wan as Myung-gi (Player 333)
• Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju (Player 120)
• Yang Dong-geun as Yong-sik (Player 007)
• Kang Ae-shim as Geum-ja (Player 149)
• Jo Yuri as Jun-hee (Player 222)

Sadly, as you should have expected, a few characters have already been killed off. Gong Yoo’s Salesman shot himself in the opening episodes, so don’t expect to see him again.

Most shockingly, Lee Seo-hwan’s Jung-bae (Player 390), Gi-hun’s closest friend in the new season, was shot and killed by the Front Man after their coup collapsed in the Season 2 finale. There are roughly 45 players left in the games by the end, so expect more deaths when the show returns next year.

What will happen in Squid Game Season 3?

Netflix

We don’t have any official plot details for Squid Game Season 3, but after Season 2’s cliffhanger, Gi-hun’s fate with the Front Man remains unclear.

Three things could happen to him: he’ll be executed (unlikely), he’ll be forced to re-enter the games as Player 456 (likeliest), or he’ll be tied up or perhaps even made to participate in the games as a guard (the most interesting).

Regardless, the games will continue, and the next game appears to be a twist on Red Light, Green Light, as teased in the post-credits scene.

It’s possible it’s a version of the bleep test, with the remaining players forced to run back and forth until they can’t anymore, with each mannequin monitoring their speed and whether or not they make it over the line in time, but this is pure speculation right now.

Also, there’s the small matter of Hwang Jun-ho, who’s trapped on a boat with Captain Park – who was revealed to be a traitor at the end of Season 2.

Netflix

Speaking to THR, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said: “When I was thinking about the idea for the ending of Season 3, I think it sort of naturally came to me that this was the finale.

“I believed that with that story, I was able to tell everything that I wanted to tell through the story of Squid Game and also in the perspective of Gi-hun as a character, and I thought that we don’t need any further stories from here.”

In another interview with Entertainment Weekly, he also 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 these games.

“As creator, writer, and director, it was almost my mission or my role to further tell that story. And I wanted to repay all of the love that we had received in one way or another… the story that I both wanted to tell and that I am capable of telling through Gi-hun, it has been told with Season 3.”

Check out our review of Squid Game Season 2, and find out why its prize money isn’t as much as you think. You can also read our list of the best TV shows of 2024 and best movies of the year.