After over three years away, Squid Game returned to Netflix this week with a whole new second season. Season 2 picks up right where the first left off: Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) was determined to find the people who were praying on the poor and desperate, pitting them against each other in a series of life-or-death games with the promise of a huge cash prize at the end, all for the entertainment of some sick billionaires who have nothing better to do than watch the poor kill each other for entertainment. Gi-hun found himself back in the games this time around, but with a whole new perspective. But his journey is far from over.
Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has planned a third and final season of Squid Game to air sometime next year. And right now, that's literally all we know about it. We don't know the exact release date nor how many episodes it will have. This second season of Squid Game had only seven episodes down from nine in the first season. I'd guess that the third season will have a similar amount. As for when it could come out, the second season dropped on December 26, the weirdest of Christmas gifts from Netflix. I wouldn't be surprised if season 3 followed suit and came out during the holidays in 2025.
That means fans will be waiting a year to see how this saga concludes, which is far less time than they have to wait to see new seasons of shows like The Last of Us, Stranger Things and The Wheel of Time, so I'm not going to complain. Netflix shot these final two seasons of Squid Game pretty close in time, and fans will reap the benefits by not having to wait an eternity to see what comes next.
Netflix was willing to take this gamble because the first season of Squid Game was the most successful original show in the streamer's history, so obviously people wanted more. People are still sorting through their reactions to the second season, but it's good to know that there will be one more cache of episodes waiting for us in roughly a year's time.
In the meanwhile, if you're missing Squid Game, you can always check Netflix's reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, where people participate in the squid games without the possibility of dying if they lose. Some have critiqued the reality show for twisting the original's anti-capitalist message and preying on people hungry for a cash prize in exactly the kind of way Squid Game decries, but why should that objection stand in the way of good TV?
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.