Squid Game Season 3 Ends with a Shocking Hollywood Cameo

The final scene features an unexpected A-list cameo that all but confirms the long-rumored American Squid Game spin-off.

Spoilers below for the final scene of Episode 6, "Humans Are…."

After three seasons of trauma, betrayal, and children's games turned deadly, Seong Gi-hun's story comes to an end. The former Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae) finally sees his arc wrap, but Netflix has no intention of letting Squid Game go quiet.

In the final scene, we cut to Los Angeles, where Gi-hun's daughter now lives. There, the show introduces a new Recruiter — the mysterious figure who lures desperate people into the game by slapping them across the face over a game of ddakji.

Only this time, the Recruiter isn't Gong Yoo. It's Cate Blanchett.

Wearing a sharp suit and dead-serious expression, she plays ddakji with a homeless man in an alley — and when he loses, she slaps him hard. Just like Gong Yoo did back in Season 1. Seconds later, she locks eyes with the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), suggesting the two are already working together.

Blanchett's brief appearance doesn't affect the main plot — but it's a major tease for what comes next. For years, Netflix has been rumored to be developing an American spin-off of Squid Game, with Se7en and Mindhunter director David Fincher reportedly attached. In 2023, Deadline revealed that Dennis Kelly (Utopia, Matilda the Musical) was writing the English-language version. Now it looks like it's officially on the way.

Ending the Korean Squid Game saga with Cate Blanchett recruiting new victims in Hollywood is about as unsubtle as Netflix could get. And considering Gong Yoo is one of the biggest names in Korean cinema, casting a two-time Oscar winner as his Western counterpart makes sense.

Netflix hasn't announced a release date yet — or even confirmed the spin-off — but the cameo speaks for itself.