The deadly games begin again in new “Squid Game” season 2 teaser

Lee Jung-jae returns as Seong Gi-hun, a.k.a. Player 456, who re-enters the game to destroy it from the inside.

The games are about to begin... again.

A new teaser trailer for Squid Game season 2 debuted on Thursday at Lucca Comics & Games, Europe's biggest Comic Con. From director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the intense new footage reveals Lee Jung-jae's return as Seong Gi-hun, a.k.a. Player 456, who decides to go back into the bloody games with a mission to take it down from the inside.

When season 2 begins, it's been three years since Gi-hun won $4.56 billion and outlasted 455 other players in the brutal competition. He decided to not go to the States to reunite with his daughter and instead formed a new plan to return to the games to put an end to it once and for all.

Related: Squid Game director and star reveal 'heavier, darker' season 2 will be 'a game-within-a-game'

Now armed with a much more serious, hardened, and traumatized demeanor, Gi-hun is desperate and will do whatever it takes to succeed. But as the new teaser reveals, his fellow players in this version of the games won't be easy to control. According to the official synopsis, "his warnings go unheeded, and tensions rise as fellow players question his intentions."

The new footage also reveals the return of Lee Byung-hun as the mysterious Front Man and Wi Ha-jun as relentless detective Hwang Jun-ho. And, of course, Squid Game wouldn't be Squid Game without the terrifying Red Light, Green Light doll who also makes her return as Gi-hun tries to lead the players to safety, knowing the fatal consequences that await them all if they move. Plus, the teaser shows flashes of new games Gi-hun hasn't played (and viewers haven't seen) before.

Watch the teaser trailer below:

Director Hwang previously told Entertainment Weekly that Gi-hun is "a different person" entirely after the events of season 1 — not just surviving the games but also learning his mother died while he was away and his daughter moved to the States. "In season 2, you will not be getting the foolish and clumsy or childish at times Gi-hun that you saw in the beginning," Hwang said. "You will get to see a much heavier, darker side of Gi-hun."

Lee previously told EW that while Gi-hun is back again in his green tracksuit, viewers shouldn't expect to see a replay of season 1 as he returns to the dorms for another round of the games. "Gi-hun's purpose is not to play the game, but to go after those who have created the game and put a stop to it," he noted. "Compared to every other participant within the game and also himself in season 1, the approach that he takes is going to be very different this time around. It could almost be described as a game within a game for Gi-hun."

Check out more new season 2 photos below:

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The first season of Squid Game was Netflix's biggest series launch ever, reaching more than 100 million people when it premiered. The hit Korean series won six Emmys, and Lee became the first Lead Actor in a Drama Series winner to come from a non-English show. He also became the first Asian man to win in the category. Squid Game also made history as the first foreign-language series to be nominated for best drama.

Squid Game season 2 premieres Dec. 26 on Netflix, and will return for a third and final season in 2025.