“ Squid Game ” writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk and two of the show’s stars, Lee Jung-jae and Wi Ha-Jun, made the trek to Italy’s Lucca Comics and Games on Thursday and revealed new details of the hit Netflix series’ second season.

This setup emphasizes a central theme from season 1: people, especially those facing extreme hardships, often feel trapped in a cycle of desperation. The games exploit this desperation, presenting a dark but compelling reflection on human behavior under oppressive systems.

Squid Game Season 2 will premiere on Netflix on December 26. It'll be followed sometime next year by the third and final season, Netflix announced over the summer. When asked by THR for an update on how Season 3's going, Hwang said he's almost done editing the episodes, and added that Season 3 "naturally" felt like the finale.

Like winter, season 2 of Squid Game is coming, and the newly-released first trailer suggests it’s going to up the ante on season 1 — a difficult thing, given the first season’s life-or-death stakes and brutal body count. And it’s going to be just as difficult to live up to the first season’s tremendous promise.

The hit Netflix series is back, as creator Hwang Dong-hyuk and star Lee Jung-jae chatted about the new season at a FYC event on Sunday.