Squid Game Season 3 Release Date Confirmed, First Look Photos Tease Rebellion Aftermath

The final date for Squid Game season 3 has now been set and Player 456 has quite a mess to work out of.

Squid Game 3 Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju, Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee, Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja, Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik
Photo: Netflix

This article contains spoilers from Squid Game season 2.

Things ended on a pretty bleak note for Squid Game contestants at the conclusion of the show’s second season. Following in the footsteps of fellow downer middle chapter The Empire Strikes Back, Squid Game‘s “empire” of very rich psychopaths led by The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) scored a fairly decisive victory over their own rebel forces.

Thankfully there is still one final round of games to go in the form of Squid Game season 3. And thankfully, we now know exactly when they will arrive. During its Next on Netflix preview event at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, Netflix unveiled a whole host of information regarding its plans for 2025. Chief among those newsy tidbits was a release date for Squid Game season 3. The third and final bow for Hwang Dong-hyuk’s worldwide phenomenon will premiere on June 27, 2025.

If that date sounds familiar that might be because it was a part of a leak earlier this year. Netflix did not confirm how many episodes season 3 would contain (though some rumors peg the episode count at six). The streamer did, however, release a juicy poster for the season and some even juicier first look photos. First, the poster.

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Well the flowers make that a little more pleasant at least. And now for the photos with some added Den of Geek commentary and speculation.

Park Sung-hoon as Cho Hyun-ju, Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee, Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja, Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik

First we see players 120 (Cho Hyun-ju), 222 (Kim Jun-hee), 149 (Jang Geum-ja), and 007 (Park Yong-sik) gather around one of the Squid Games’ distinctive coffins with a pink bow attached. Coffins are obviously not an unfamiliar sight in the games, but having a coffin dragged into the players’ living space must be sending a message against rule-breaking and non-compliance. Following the bloody uprising, there is no shortage of candidates for the occupant of that casket. The most likely figure though is poor player 390 Park Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan).

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Lee Jung-jae as Sung Gi-hun

After all that chaos and violence, it’s a little funny to see that the best immediate punishment the Front Man could muster for Player 456 Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is to handcuff him to a bedpost (settle down and behave, 001/456 shippers). Of course, this is probably a temporary measure. We imagine that Gi-hun’s true fate will involve something more cruel. Perhaps he will be compelled to participate in a chess match of sorts?

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Lee Byung-hun as Front man

Every new season of Squid Game needs the requisite “Darth Vader without his helmet” shot and here we have ours. The events of season 2 reminded us that there is something resembling a human being underneath that Front Man mask. Who knows if Hwang In-ho will remember that in season 3.

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Lee Byung-hun as Front man

Speaking of the Front Man, the colorful, borderline psychedelic room he’s occupying here looks like the setting of one of season 1’s most controversial episodes. That’s right: we might be getting our V.I.P.s back, questionable English dialogue and all.

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Park Gyu-young as Kang No-eul

This might be the most intriguing photo from the whole batch. We already knew that Guard 011 Kang No-eul would be a part of season 3. This blurry background, however, appears to be outside of the usual games location. Combine that with the fact that No-eul is not wearing her mask and we have the potential of her defecting away from the games altogether. Perhaps she can help Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) make it to the island.

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