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Squid Game season 2 introduces a new challenge that’ll look to divide its contestants (Image credit: No Ju-han/Netflix)

The first official trailer for Squid Game season 2 has debuted online, and it really seems like Seong Gi-hun’s got his work cut out to stop the titular fatal games for good.

Unveiled yesterday (October 31) at the Lucca Comics & Games convention, the wildly popular Netflix show’s next installment looks like it’ll be even more thrilling and blood-soaked than its predecessor. With contestants literally putting their bodies on the line to win the games’ $4.56 million cash prize, the latter is par for the course for Squid Game. Where the former is concerned, though, the addition of a new, between-rounds game is going to completely upend the titular gameshow as we and Gi-hun know it.

As the teaser reveals, those participating in this season’s edition of the games will need to survive all manner of perils, including Squid Game‘s iconic ‘Red Light, Green Light’ trial that’ll pit Gi-hun against Young-hee once more. With Gi-hun successfully navigating the games in one of the best Netflix shows’ first season, his experience will be invaluable for his fellow contestants as they take on Young-hee and similarly lethal games. Well, if they listen to him, anyway.

It doesn’t appear as though many of them will, mind you – and that’s where Squid Game 2‘s new stratagem comes into play. At the end of each round, survivors cast a vote on whether to continue the titular games or not. If the majority vote to walk away, all remaining participants will apparently receive a share of the cash they’ve won so far. However, should the masses decide to continue playing, they can add to their prize pool by playing more games, but they obviously run the risk of losing their life. Based on what the survival drama series’ latest teaser shows, Gi-hun’s pleas to end the games go unheeded, though I suspect there’ll be some individuals who either take his side or eventually realize the errors of their ways in continuing to play in later episodes. Regardless, Squid Game season 2’s new ploy is going to stress me – and, I imagine, many of you – out later this year.

This is far from the only Squid Game 2 footage that’s teased huge surprises to come in the hugely popular show’s next chapter. In September, another new Squid Game season 2 trailer teased other big plot details, such as contestants being forced to push coffins (likely containing some of their fellow, and likely, deceased players) into an incinerator. One month earlier, a different Squid Game 2 teaser gave us our first look at the contestants, albeit by way of their participant numbers only, who’ll play an integral role in this season’s plot.

What is the plot of Squid Game season 2?

Until now, Netflix hadn’t released an official story brief for its most-watched TV Original’s second entry. Thankfully, the world’s best streaming service has lifted the lid on what to expect from Squid Game season 2, which will be released on Netflix on December 26.

“Season 2 raises the stakes,” its official plot synopsis reads, “with Lee Jung-jae reprising his role as Seong Gi-hun, also known as Player 456. 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.”

Elaborating further on what the latest trailer teases, a Netflix press release also added: “The teaser also shows the return of Lee Byung-hun as the mysterious Front Man, whose true motivations remain cloaked in secrecy, while Wi Ha-jun’s Hwang Jun-ho is back, driving the narrative forward as the relentless detective on a mission of his own.”

Joining Jung-jae, Byung-hun, and Ha-jun on the season 2 cast list are newcomers Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young, Lee Jin-uk, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, Jo Yu-ri, and Won Ji-an. Lastly, Gong Yoo, who plays the enigmatic Recruiter, is also back to, well, recruit more individuals for the life-threatening gameshow.

Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game‘s creator, has penned season 2’s scripts and directed all eight episodes. He’s joined on the executive producing team by Kim Ji-yeon, too. Oh, and the pair are already deep in production on Squid Game season 3, which will arrive sometime in 2025 and wrap up Gi-hun’s story. At least we know he’ll make it out alive in season 2, then!