Squid Game Season 3: Premiere Date, Cast, and Everything Else to Know

Just like its first season in 2021, Squid GameSeason 2 is setting new records. In the 11 days following the premiere of the Korean thriller series from Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game Season 2 gained 126.2 million views — which, according to Netflix, is the most that any of its shows has amassed in that amount of time, passing Wednesday's first season. And that number has continued to grow day by day.

Season 2 follows Seong Gi-hun's (Lee Jung-jae) return to the games. But unlike the first season, he's not trying to win the ultimate prize of 4.56 billion won again. Instead, Gi-hun is hell-bent on ending the games and taking down the orchestrator behind them — the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). Only he has no idea that the Front Man, or Hwang In-ho, has gone undercover as Player 001 and is pretending to be a man named Young-il. Throughout the course of Squid Game Season 2, Young-il develops a friendship with Gi-hun and the two even team up during two of the deadly games. But of course, the facade doesn't last very long. By the end of the season, as Gi-hun's revolt against those running the game is quelled, Young-il returns to being the Front Man and kills Gi-hun's dear friend. A lot is in store for us in Squid Game Season 3, since Gi-hun still does not know the true identity of the Front Man. 

Netflix has confirmed that Squid Game Season 3 will launch in 2025, so we don't have to wait another three years like we did between the first two seasons. Here's everything we know so far about Squid Game Season 3.

ALSO READ: Squid Game Season 2 review: Netflix's bloodthirsty thriller loses some of its power

Squid Game Season 3 premiere date

On Jan. 30, Netflix announced that Squid Game Season 3 will premiere on June 27. The announcement was accompanied by the release of first-look photos, including the ones above.

This comes after the streamer confirmed that Season 3 would premiere in 2025, while simultaneously teasing an incoming character in Season 3: Chul-su, who Hwang has previously said is the "red light, green light" doll Young-hee's boyfriend. 

The wait between seasons will be much shorter this time because Season 3 has already been filmed. "I wrote Seasons 2 and 3 back to back," Hwang told The Hollywood Reporter. "We filmed them back to back, and it's currently in post."

Fans previously speculated that June 27 would be the release date for Season 3 because it was included in a now-deleted video from Netflix Korea's YouTube channel.

Squid Game Season 2 ending

Squid Game Season 2, Episode 7, titled "Friend or Foe," was chaotic, to say the least. In the finale, Gi-hun mobilized a group of players to fight against the pink soldiers with the goal of shutting down the games. In fact, most of the finale was a shootout between these players and the pink soldiers. And while the players were initially making progress and approaching the games' control room, the tides quickly turned. They ran out of ammunition, and Young-il, after murdering two of the players, faked his death to return to his original rank as the Front Man. The final shot of Squid Game Season 2 was the Front Man appearing before Gi-hun and shooting Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan).

Hwang told TV Guide he knew this scene would be the last moment of Season 2. "I didn't have any other contenders for the ending, because the Front Man's purpose is to stop Gi-hun, whose purpose is to stop the game," he explained. "And that is a very critical moment where in their head-to-head showdown, the Front Man wins."

The director continued. "It's also a moment where the Front Man punishes Gi-hun for what he's done by killing his best friend," Hwang said. "So I thought that that would be the best moment to end the second season, especially because after experiencing that event, Gi-hun goes through yet another transition of character in Season 3."

ALSO READ: Squid Game director says it was 'near impossible' to cast a trans woman as Season 2 character

Squid Game Season 3 cast

Netflix hasn't confirmed who's returning for Squid Game Season 3, but we can make some guesses based on the Season 2 finale and the photos released from Season 3. Lee Jung-jae will be coming back as Gi-hun, as well as Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man. And since the majority of the players introduced in Season 2 survived, we're also expecting to see:

• Yim Si-wan as Myung-gi, Player 333
• Kang Ha-neul as Dae-ho, Player 388
• Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju, Player 120
• Yang Dong-geun as Yong-sik, Player 007
• Kang Ae-sim as Geum-ja, Player 149
• Jo Yu-ri as Jun-hee, Player 222

As for non-players, Park Gyu-young returns as No-eul, and Wi Ha-jun will be back as Hwang Jun-ho.

ALSO READ: Here are K-dramas featuring the stars of Squid Game Season 2

Where to watch Seasons 1 and 2 of Squid Game

The first two seasons of Squid Game are available to watch on Netflix.