Netflix has released a teaser for Squid Game season 3, and it reveals a major change to one of the show’s most recognisable games. Squid Game season 2 broke records with more than 68 million viewers in the first four days after it launched on Netflix on Boxing Day. Its viewership in premiere week beat Jenna Ortega’s thriller Wednesday’s 50.1 million views when it was released in 2022.
The show follows hundreds of cash-strapped individuals as they compete in deadly games for a life-changing sum of money and their lives. It welcomes the return of Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun/Player 456, who seeks to infiltrate the games and put an end to them once and for all.
One of those games is “Red Light, Green Light,” which sees an unusually large doll placed at one end of a field. The doll, Young-hee, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and orange dress, has become a symbol of the show. Jung Ho-yeon, who played Sae-byeok in the first season, confirmed the doll was inspired by a character in Korean school textbooks on Tonight with Jimmy Fallon in 2021.
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The show’s official “X“ account handle posted, “Prepare for the final game. Here’s your first look at Squid Game Season 3, premiering June 27.”
Hinting at Korean Education Texts
In a teaser for season three released on Wednesday (1 January), the doll appears, looking slightly concerned, opposite a brand new male doll. As new players enter behind her, she is seen facing the male doll in a green shirt with stripes. “Everyone say hi to Chul-su,” wrote Netflix alongside the teaser. “Squid Game 3 coming 2025.” In one of Netflix’s YouTube channels, Still Watching Netflix, the history behind the dolls is revealed. Both Young-hee and Chul-su are regularly recurring fictional children in Korean education texts that are “similar to the American versions Dick and Jane or Jack and Jill”.
The dolls, it is explained, “were used to teach Korean kids about morals, good behaviours, and to learn how to read and write.” Although they aren’t featured as much anymore, they are said to be prominent reminders of childhood for many adults.
Squid Game creators had confirmed a third season was in development even before the official release of season two. While an official release date has not been announced, the show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyu, told Variety: “At this point, anything I might say is going to be a spoiler, so I want to be cautious. But what I can say is, after season two launches, I believe we will be announcing the launch date for season three soon. I probably expect that to launch around summer or fall.”
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