Squid Game season 2: Netflix release date, teaser trailer, confirmed cast, plot synopsis, and more

The countdown to Squid Game season 2 is well and truly on. The wildly successful Netflix series will return in late December – and, considering it's been almost three years since Squid Game's first chapter became the streamer's most-watched TV Original ever, it's high time its follow-up was released.

Want to know when it'll debut on the world's best streaming service? You'll need to read on for more details. If you do, we promise you'll get the scoop on other aspects of one of the best Netflix shows' second season, too, including its confirmed cast, teaser trailers, plot specifics, and the franchise's future. You won't need to carve a specific shape out of a cookie or take part in a round of 'Red Light, Green Light', either – all you have to do is scroll down. Hey, we're not monsters here.

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

Squid Game season 2 release date

Squid Game season 2's release date was announced on August 1 and confirmed it was getting a festive release date on Netflix. The date in question? Thursday, December 26. Clearly, Netflix thinks we'll trade in our post-Christmas Day family gatherings to binge watch the entire season with leftover turkey sandwiches.

Before that reveal was made, Netflix only teased that the series would arrive before the year ended; the streaming giant announcing Squid Game season 2 as part of its 2024 release schedule in April.

There's no word on whether season 2 will be released in full five days before 2024 ends. Many of Netflix's TV Originals have been released in two parts over the past couple of years, including the latest seasons of Stranger Things, Bridgerton, The Witcher, and Cobra Kai, so Squid Game's sophomore season could follow suit. We'll update this section once we know for sure.

Squid Game season 2 trailer: is there one?

Squid Game: Season 2 | Date Announcement | Netflix - YouTube

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Not in the traditional sense. A Squid Game season 2 teaser was released alongside its release date announcement in early August, but it didn't reveal anything new about the returning show's plot, nor did it give us new looks at many of its new and returning characters.

We don't expect a full trailer to be released until Netflix Geeked Week 2024, either, which is when we'll hear more big news about Squid Game 2 and a number of the streaming titan's other hit TV shows. Until then, we only have the aforementioned teaser and Squid Game season 2's first clip, which shows Gi-hun on a John Wick-style quest for revenge (see it below), to pore over.

Squid Game season 2 cast: confirmed and rumored

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-hun
• Lee Byung-hun as Front Man
• Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho
• Gong Yoo as The Recruiter

There'll be plenty of new faces in the show's next outing, too, but their character identities are yet to be revealed.  Read the list below to see who'll be joining Lee Jung-Jae's Gi-hun on dangerous game-based spectacle front this time around:

• Yim Si-wan
• Kang Ha-neul
• Park Gyu-young
• Lee Jin-uk
• Park Sung-hoon
• Yang Dong-geun
• Roh Jae-won
• Jo Yu-ri
• Won Ji-an
• Kang Ae-sim
• Lee David
• Choi Seung-hyun

While we wouldn't expect to see any deceased characters come back from the dead, lead star Lee 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 to Entertainment Tonight that he hopes 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."

If that wish comes true, perhaps we could see the likes of Heo Sung-tae, Kim Joo-ryeong, and Anupam Tripathi return in Squid Game season 2. In all likelihood, though, new episodes will likely only feature the aforementioned returning quartet and those recently announced newcomers.

Interestingly, Hwang 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 (including Leonardo DiCaprio, no less) to show up, although that won't happen this season. 

"There will be no known Hollywood actor in [Squid Game] season 2," Hwang confirmed. "That’s not in the plan, and if the stage changes, maybe in season 3 – but for season 2, [the show] is still set in Korea. Leonardo DiCaprio did say he’s a big fan of Squid Game, so maybe if time or chances allow, we can ask him to join the games!"

Squid Game season 2 story speculation

Full spoilers follow for Squid Game season 1. Possible season 2 spoilers are also on the way.

Here's the official story brief for Squid Game season 2: "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."

Unsurprisingly, a new lethal round of the famous, fictional gameshow was always on the cards, but it's nonetheless pleasing to get confirmation of this. That'll be 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. 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 – though, he'll have no choice but to participate again.

Prior to season 2's plot synopsis being revealed, there was plenty of teasing from the cast and crew about what its next chapter would entail – not least from showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk. In a 2021 interview with The Associated Press, he said: "I will promise you this: Gi-hun will come back, he will do something for the world". Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang later added: "[We could] explore more about how he’s going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games."

It seems, then, that Squid Game 2 will explore this in conjunction with Gi-hun's hesitance-laced gameshow 'homecoming'. To us, it initially didn’t make sense for Gi-hun to return to a game which almost cost him his life, but foregoing this part of the narrative 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, confirming that Gi-hun will stage a dramatic return to the remote facility.

Both Hwang and Jung-jae seem to agree on this front. Speaking to E! on the SAG awards red carpet in February 2022, the latter responded to questions about Squid Game season 2 by saying: "I hope that [Gi-hun] is definitely going to win [the games] again to do something good", which suggests Squid Game's most famous contestant will not only compete, but also attempt to infiltrate the gameshow's inner circle and bring them down from the inside.

And what of the games themselves? Speaking to Vanity Fair, Hwang claimed fans will "be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su" – a reference to the series’ now-iconic murderous robot doll – in season 2. And, based on the final shot of the forthcoming entry's release date reveal teaser, it seems Young-hee will be back to rack up her kill count.

For those who need a reminder: Young-hee featured in Squid Game’s first episode – 'Red Light, Green Light' – as a motion-sensing animatron that ordered the deaths of any contestants caught moving while under its watchful gaze. Young-hee was responsible for 255 fatalities in season 1, making 'Red Light, Green Light' the deadliest game featured in season 1's nine episodes. Cheol-su, it seems, is a male companion of Young-hee – and one we expect to be equally terrifying. Perhaps he’ll even sing his own version of the latter’s eerie "Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3" jingle.

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, confirmation that Wi Ha-joon, who plays Jun-ho, is part of the season 2 cast suggests he survived the encounter. Given that we still don’t know In-ho’s motivation for becoming the game’s Front Man, this seems another subplot that the show should explore. Hwang has shown an interest in developing this thread, too, telling he 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". Considering The Recruiter is also confirmed to return, season 2 is nailed on to 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's future on Netflix

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

That won't be the end of the line for the franchise, however. In late 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 series, which follows the same rules as the fictional show minus the actual death, proved to be popular following its November 2023 release. 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.