Squid Game is back after three long years for season 2, and upon finishing these seven new episodes, you are probably wondering if and when season 3 is coming. Well, there are two bits of good news there, and I’m happy to share them with you.
First, season 3 of Squid Game is in fact on the way. This renewal did not happen at launch but way back in August when Netflix announced that it both existed, and would be the final season of the show.
The second bit of good news is that we are not going to have to wait another interminable stretch of three years to see it. Squid Game season 3 is reportedly set to come out in 2025, yes, next year, because seasons 2 and 3 were in production at the same time.
Here’s what creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told Deadline about the doubled-up production:
“I wrote seasons two and three at the same time, and we were in production for both simultaneously, and currently we are in the post-production process for season three,” Hwang said. “When I was writing the script for the two seasons, I felt like there was a big turning point or an inflection point, and that was the end of episode seven, so I thought that it would do it justice to have a separate season after that. That’s why I had first seven episodes as season two and then the rest of season three.”
That explains why season 2 is down from 9 episodes to 7 (albeit those are all 1+ hours long), but given that season 3 is supposed to be out literally next year, something that almost never happens with a big Netflix series, that’s certainly worthwhile.
This is no doubt because Netflix does not want another huge gap between seasons, but also because Hwang Dong-hyuk is kind of over Squid Game at this point, as he relayed in a recent interview with Variety:
“I’m so exhausted. I’m so tired. In a way, I have to say, I’m so sick of ‘Squid Game,’” Hwang said. “I’m so sick of my life making something, promoting something. So I’m not thinking about my next project right now. I’m just thinking about going to some remote island and having my own free time without any phone calls from Netflix…Not the ‘Squid Game’ island.”
I hope he can buy his own island with what Netflix should be paying him. This is also a guy who said he lost teeth while filming season 1 due to the sheer stress of it, so yes, he deserves a break.
I will be pretty amazed if Squid Game season 3 does in fact come out within the next year without any delays, but regardless, it will not be another three years, and I’m glad the show is concluding with a clear ending in mind.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.