Squid Game season 2: release date, trailer, cast, plot, and more news and rumors on the hit Netflix show’s return

Squid Game season 2 is closing in on its Netflix debut – and I’m as excited as you are for the streamer’s most-watched TV Original to make its long awaited return. Indeed, with less than two months left until Squid Game‘s next chapter arrives, fans are desperate to see what lies in store for Gi-hun this time around.

Thankfully, the recent release of Squid Game 2‘s first official trailer has given us a much clearer idea of his quest to bring the titular, life-threatening games to an end. You’ll have to read on to watch it, but I can guarantee you’ll learn plenty more about one of the best Netflix shows‘ second installment if you do. From its launch date and cast list, to its story brief and the survival drama series’ future, there’s lots to catch up on before Squid Game returns on the best streaming service.

Full spoilers follow for Squid Game season 1. Potential season 2 spoilers are also discussed, so proceed with caution.

In August, Squid Game season 2 was confirmed to launch on Netflix in time for the festive season. It’ll arrive on Thursday, December 26 worldwide, for those wondering. Before then, Netflix had only revealed Squid Game season 2 was part of its 2024 release schedule.

There’s no word on whether season 2 will be released in full yet. Many of Netflix’s TV Originals have been released in two parts in recent times, including the latest seasons of Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Witcher, and Cobra Kai. Squid Game‘s sophomore season, then, could follow suit, but I’d be surprised if it does. Indeed, with last season launching in full in late 2021, I fully expect all eight episodes of its sequel season to be released on December 26.

Netflix finally released an official trailer for Squid Game season 2 on November 1, and it revealed a big plot twist that I can’t wait for in the wildly popular Netflix show’s next chapter.

Before then, the streaming titan had only drip fed us clips and other teasers ahead of season 2’s highly anticipated debut – the most recent of those, which arrived in early October, was a stylish albeit sort trailer that teased the return of a fan-favorite character.

A few weeks earlier, the closest thing we have to an official trailer was a 60-second teaser unveiled during Netflix Geeked Week 2024. At least this video, which you can see below, confirmed some more big plot details about the hit Netflix show’s return.

Before that mid-September reveal, the only other footage came via a season 2 launch date announcement teaser (see below), which provided little in the way of details about the forthcoming chapter’s story, and a brief first clip of Squid Game season 2, which showed Gi-hun on a John Wick-style quest for revenge.

Full spoilers follow for Squid Game season 1.

Here’s the confirmed cast for Squid Game season 2 so far:

Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hunLee Byung-hun as Front ManWi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-hoGong Yoo as The RecruiterYim Si-wan as TBCKang Ha-neul as TBC Park Gyu-young as TBC Lee Jin-uk as TBC Park Sung-hoon as TBC Yang Dong-geun as TBCKang Ae-sim as TBC Lee David as TBC Choi Seung-hyun as TBC Roh Jae-won as TBCJo Yu-ri as TBC Won Ji-an as TBC

The first four actors aside, everyone else will play many of season 2’s new game contestants. Their character identities haven’t been revealed yet, however, so I’m none the wise about who they’re portraying.

I don’t expect any deceased season 1 characters come back from the dead, but Jung-Jae has shared his own wild idea for Squid Game season 2. Speaking after winning Best Actor at the 2022 Screen Actors Guild Awards, he revealed (per Entertainment Tonight) that he hopes, unlikely though it is, to see fan-favorite characters like Sae-byeok and Ali return in new episodes, saying: “My idea is that maybe the masked men took all of [the dead characters away] and made sure they came back to life.”

Interestingly, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has spoken of his desire to see US actors make surprise appearances in future seasons. Speaking to Variety, Hwang confirmed he wanted to see Hollywood stars show up, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, although that won’t happen this season. 

Full spoilers follow for Squid Game season 1. Possible season 2 spoilers are also discussed.

Here’s Squid Game season 2’s plot synopsis: “Three years after winning Squid Game, Player 456 [Seong Gi-hun] remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport. Using this fortune to fund his search, Gi-hun starts with the most obvious of places: look for the man in a sharp suit playing ddakji in the subway. But when his efforts finally yield results, the path toward taking down the organization proves to be deadlier than he imagined: to end the game, he needs to re-enter it.”

A more recent Netflix press release has also shed new light on more about season 2’s story. “Player 456 gave up going to the States and comes back with a new resolution in his mind. Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won. With a hardened demeanor and the scars of past games, Gi-hun is on a desperate mission to expose the deadly truth of the competition. Yet, his warnings go unheeded, and tensions rise as fellow players question his intentions.”

A new life-threatening round of the famous, fictional gameshow, then, is on the cards. That’s in spite of Gi-hun’s clear reluctance to take part once more, given what happened to him and his fellow contestants last time around. However, if he wants to seek revenge on Front Man and company – read more details about why in our Squid Game season 1 ending explained article – he has no choice but to participate again.

To me, it initially didn’t make sense for Gi-hun to return and take part in the lethal games once more. Foregoing this part of the narrative, though, would’ve eliminated much of what makes Squid Game so entertaining: the games themselves. Hwang himself also revealed (via Vanity Fair in June 2022), that season 2 will definitely feature more of the show’s famously perilous and gruesome puzzles, which confirmed Gi-hun would stage a dramatic return to the remote facility.

So, what of the games themselves? Hwang says (per the aforementioned Vanity Fair piece) that fans will “be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su” – a reference to the series’ now-iconic murderous robot doll – in season 2. Cheol-su, it seems, is a male companion of Young-hee – and one we expect to be equally terrifying.

Young-hee will be back to rack up her kill count in iconic game ‘Red Light, Green Light’, as evidenced by her season 2 trailer appearance, too. Young-hee was responsible for 255 fatalities in season 1, making ‘Red Light, Green Light’ the deadliest game featured in its nine episodes. Expect her to take more lives this season, then.

Cheol-su’s debut notwithstanding, we also know there’ll be one other new game in the show’s sophomore outing – except it’s not a traditional game. Indeed, as season 2’s official trailer reveals, at the end of every round, the remaining contenders will cast votes on whether to continue playing. If the majority agrees with walk away, they’ll apparently receive a share of the money they’ve accumulated so far. If, though, the majority vote to carry on playing, they can add more cash to the prize pool – well, providing they survive whatever trials come next. Clearly, it seems many will latter the favor, despite Gi-hun’s pleas for them to vote for the former.

Other possible Squid Game season 2 storylines include examining the fate of Hwang Jun-ho, the undercover cop who discovers Front Man to be In-ho, aka his brother. Although he was shot and subsequently fell off the edge of a cliff, Wi Ha-joon, who plays Jun-ho, is part of the season 2 cast, so he clearly survived the encounter. Considering we still don’t know In-ho’s motivation for becoming the game’s Front Man, this seems another subplot that’ll be explored. Hwang has shown an interest in developing this thread, too, telling THR: “I’d like to explore that storyline – what is going on between those two brothers?”

Hwang also hinted at the possibility of following the mysterious Recruiter in more detail, telling THR: “I could also go into the story of that Recruiter in the suit who plays the game of ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode”. With The Recruiter is also confirmed to return, season 2 should include this particular subplot.

As for what else we could see: the rest is a mystery. There are numerous directions – ones we’ve mentioned above or otherwise – that Squid Game season 2 could go in, and we suspect whatever unfolds will be as gripping as its forebear. Here’s hoping that’s the case, anyway, and the series’ second installment doesn’t disappointingly go through the motions.

Squid Game season 2 won’t be the show’s last installment, but its follow-up season will be. Confirmed in a Netflix press release and an open letter from Hwang, the main series’ third season will wrap up Gi-hun’s story in 2025.

Pleasingly, that won’t be the end of the franchise. In June, it was reported that film auteur David Fincher had halted worked on his Chinatown TV remake in favor of pursuing an English language reinterpretation of Squid Game. It’s unclear if the latter will be a movie or a TV show.

Then there’s Squid Game: The Challenge, Netflix’s popular reality spin-off based on the fictional series. The controversy-laced show, which follows the same rules as the fictional show minus the actual death, proved to be popular with viewers following its November 2023 release. Unsurprisingly, then, a second season is already in development.

Lastly on the ‘confirmed projects’ front, a satire-based series – based on Squid Game‘s success – titled ‘The Best Show on the Planet‘ is also getting made (per Deadline). Fans will be pleased to hear that Hwang is crafting this show, too.

What’s more, given that Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has spoken of a “Squid Game universe” when he announced the show’s season 2 renewal, there are likely other spin-offs that have discussed in the corridors of power. How many of them will see the light of day? We aren’t sure, but let’s just hope it isn’t delivered in the form of one of Squid Game‘s chill-inducing invitation cards.

For Netflix TV show-based coverage, read our guides on Stranger Things season 5, Arcane season 2, The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, and Wednesday season 2.