Squid Game Season 2 made a splash on Netflix in the final days of 2024, a mere three years after Season 1 dropped. Mercifully, Season 3 is arriving this year, but it's not the only international dystopian thriller on Netflix coming back for a third round. In fact, it will apparently be preceded by a show just as creative, just as bloodthirsty, and just as mysterious as Squid Game — after yet another three-year wait.
Alice in Borderland, based on the manga of the same name, has often been compared to Squid Game, as they both follow unsuspecting men caught up in a series of deadly childhood games. Squid Game has marbles and Red Light, Green Light, while Alice in Borderland has tag and hide-and-seek.
The latter has an apocalyptic vibe, and one more quirk: its games are run by mysterious villains named after playing cards. Season 2 ended with a shot of a Joker, implying the existence of someone even more devious than the face cards of the first two seasons. Netflix has only revealed a few images of Season 3 so far, but a release window is already available if you know where to look.
Netflix teased Season 3 with an image of the Joker and a vague update about the show returning in 2025. However, if you log into Netflix, a visit to the Alice in Borderland page reveals that Season 3 premieres in September 2025. Even better, Netflix Japan’s 2025 teaser reveals a few glimpses of the upcoming episodes.
Unfortunately, there are no subtitles, but it’s still exciting to get a glimpse of Arisu and Usagi again, especially considering what happened at the end of Season 2. In its final moments, the two chose to leave Borderland and wake up back where they came from, where they’re survivors of an asteroid impact.
That final twist took us to the end of the source material, so we have no idea how they end up playing more games back in Borderland. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to find out.
