Lee Jung-jae reveals what the possible future of Player 456 will be in Squid Game Season 3

With cryptic answers and a dash of mystery, Lee Jung-jae sent fans spiraling into speculation. In Squid Game, is Gi-hun stepping up as the new Front Man? Is there even more to his past, present, and future story than meets the (discerning) eye?

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Lee confirmed that Squid Game Season 3 is already queued up for 2025. But the biggest reveal wasn’t the time window for the third installment of the Korean series that took the world by storm in 2021 and made an impactful return just recently. It was the possibility that Gi-hun is no longer just a pawn in someone else’s game.

Instead, he might be holding the strings. Or getting tangled in them.

The show’s creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has already warned that Squid Game is about cycles. In it, we see violence feeding greed and power feeding destruction. Load, repeat. So what happens when the man who survived the games stops playing by the rules?

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Gi-hun’s shifting mask: hero, villain, or something far more dangerous?

Lee’s playful yet unsettling response about Gi-hun’s role—pressing both “yes” and “no” buttons when asked if he would become the new Front Man—felt less like an answer and more like a dare. It’s the kind of move that leaves contestants guessing until it’s too late.

Gi-hun's trading his player number for a black mask isn't just a costume change—it’s a moral collapse. Season 1 left him dangling between justice and obsession, but did season 2 strip him of both, leaving only survival instincts?

There’s a chilling symmetry here. Gi-hun started as prey. However, every predator was once cornered prey. His arc mirrors the glass bridge challenge: surviving one step at a time, only to realize the path ahead is even more unstable.

And just like the glass bridge, the only way forward may involve sacrifices. If Gi-hun is becoming the Front Man, it’s going to be proof that the system can be stronger than the individual. But the real question here isn’t whether he’s—or he's to become—the villain. It's whether he was ever the hero to begin with.

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New games, deadlier stakes: when survival isn’t enough

Season 2 of Squid Game introduced new games, each more twisted and brutal than the last. This time, however, Gi-hun wasn’t playing. His stepping outside the arena raises the following question: What's more dangerous? Playing the games or watching them unfold? Whether he’s infiltrating the system to tear it down or climbing its ranks to take control, every move comes with consequences.

Imagine the red light, green light challenge, but this time Gi-hun’s the one calling “green.” What does that do to a man who’s already seen what happens when the light turns red?

The games themselves have always mirrored the cruelty of society, and season 2 pushed that theme even further. Squid Game's storyline has blurred the lines between entertainment and punishment until it became impossible to tell them apart. If Gi-hun is orchestrating the chaos, does it make him the puppet or the puppeteer?

And maybe that’s the real game now—not survival, but control because the only thing more dangerous than playing by the rules is realizing there aren’t any.

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Season 3 and the long game: who really wins?

Squid Game isn’t just expanding; it’s doubling down on its themes of greed, corruption, and survival at all costs. But as the endgame looms, the story seems less about escape and more about ownership.

If Gi-hun steps into the Front Man’s shoes, he won’t just inherit the mask. He'll also inherit the responsibility of feeding the machine. Season 3 could turn into a reckoning, not just for the characters but for the audience, forcing us to ask whether we’re watching the games to condemn them or enjoy them.

Lee’s tease leaves room for Gi-hun’s arc to spiral even further. Is he fighting to end the games, or is he building a new one? (Or worse?) Season 3 could finally answer whether he’s a liberator or a usurper. Or even if the lines between them have dissolved entirely.

If Squid Game ends with Gi-hun on top, it won’t be a victory lap. It'll be more of a coronation soaked in blood. After all, every king was once a pawn. And in this game, kings are just as disposable. Is there or was there even a winner in the very sense of this word in these deadly games?

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Conclusion — The game isn’t over, it’s just evolving

Lee Jung-jae’s cryptic clues leave more questions than answers. Squid Game thrives on these kind of things. As Gi-hun’s journey unfolds, the show’s moral chessboard shifts again. Once more, it will test whether survival demands sacrifice or corruption.

Gi-hun’s transformation isn’t just about power. It's about inevitability. The system chews people up and spits them out, but sometimes, it swallows them whole, reshaping them in its image.

In this game, no one gets out clean. Whether Gi-hun is pulling the strings or tangled in them, the real prize might not be survival but power. And in Squid Game, power always comes with a price. Most frequently, a deadly one.