Three years after Squid Game became a surprise megahit for Netflix, we're getting closer and closer to Season 2 — and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is dropping some breadcrumbs.
After Season 1 saw Lee Jung-jae's Gi-hun emerge from the deadly games victorious, the follow-up will see him back in the competition, albeit with some twists. Last week's new official trailer revealed that the games will feature a new mechanic: after each round, the remaining contestants can vote to end the games then and there and walk away with the winnings they've racked up so far. Without the majority voting in favor, however, the games will continue.
The rule clearly takes a toll on Gi-hun, who can be seen breaking down in the trailer, urging the contestants to get out of there. Hwang teased that aspect of Season 2 specificially in a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, saying, "throughout Seasons 2 and 3, it’s going to be about that very journey by Gi-hun that you’re going to be following, both physically and emotionally.”
He elaborated more on how he came up with the plot of Season 2, telling the outlet:
“Of course I felt a certain amount of pressure because I knew that there was a huge amount of anticipation out there, and honestly when I was creating Season 1. I didn’t plan in any detail that there would be a second season. However, I did have something in mind that if there were to ever be a second season, I had this idea of what story I would tell; I thought it would be the story of Gi-hun turning away from where he was at the end of Season 1 and going back into the games in order to put a stop to the game."
Hwang also teased that the Gi-hun we see in Season 2 will be "very different" from the character we saw in that first breakout season. "Gi-hun has experienced too many things, witnessed too many deaths, for him to return to the way it was before no matter how hard he tries," Hwang said.
Squid Game Season 2 will premiere on Netflix on December 26. It'll be followed sometime next year by the third and final season, Netflix announced over the summer. When asked by THR for an update on how Season 3's going, Hwang said he's almost done editing the episodes, and added that Season 3 "naturally" felt like the finale.
"Gi-hun has experienced too many things, witnessed too many deaths, for him to return to the way it was."
“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," he continued.
In addition to Lee Jung-jae, Season 2 will see a number of returning players, including Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo. They'll be joined by new cast members Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon, and Yang Dong-geun.
While we wait for the new episodes, check out our review of Squid Game Season 1, which we called "a candy-coated battle royale that thrives on making its players — and audience — squirm."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.