Squid Game Returns with a Vengeful Gi-hun and New Deadly Challenges

As the hit series gears up for Season 2, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and star Lee Jung-jae reveal a more intense journey for Player 456, setting the stage for a high-stakes finale.

Three years after its explosive debut, Squid Game returns to Netflix, bringing back Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun, now on a mission in a new, perilous round of the deadly game. After choosing to stay in Korea instead of using his prize money to escape, Player 456 dives back into the chaos, but this time, with a purpose far beyond survival.

During a promotional event for Season 2 in Los Angeles, series creator and Emmy-winning director Hwang Dong-hyuk shared insights into crafting the next season, which has become one of the platform’s most anticipated shows. “The pressure was immense,” Hwang admitted. “Season one was never designed with a follow-up in mind, but if I was going to bring Gi-hun back, I wanted it to be about his determination to end the games once and for all.”

The new season, Hwang confirmed, will follow Gi-hun’s journey to dismantle the system that claimed so many lives, a mission that will unfold over Seasons 2 and 3, taking audiences on both a physical and emotional journey.

Actor Lee Jung-jae, also an Emmy winner for his role as Gi-hun, recalled his shock upon reading the Season 2 script. “I doubted how he could write it so quickly, but after reading it, I was in awe. It was perfect. Hwang really is a genius.”

At a panel after an early screening of the first episode, Hwang hinted at a darker transformation for Gi-hun, saying that something inside the character “has just been broken” by his previous experience in the game. “Gi-hun has been through too much to return to who he once was,” Hwang explained. Lee echoed this, adding, “Gi-hun is no longer the man you met in Season 1.”

Reflecting on returning to the hauntingly familiar set, Lee described it as “so strange” without the Season 1 cast, many of whom met tragic ends within the game. “It felt like I was being pulled back to hell,” he said, “and I could feel exactly what the director wanted for my character. I was hoping, this time, that more of us would survive.”

Netflix has confirmed that Squid Game will conclude with a third season, set to release in 2025. Hwang, who is wrapping up edits for the final season, explained his decision to end the show there. “This story felt like it naturally had a conclusion,” he said. “Through Gi-hun’s eyes, we’re able to tell everything I set out to share with this series.”

The new season, launching December 26, promises more twisted games and brutal competition. Or, as Hwang put it: “Season two is crazy.”