The following story contains spoilers for 3 Body Problem Season 1.
ANYONE WHO’S WATCHED Netflix’s 3 Body Problem can agree on one thing: it is ambitious. Based on the bestselling trilogy of books from Chinese author Cixin Liu and coming from the Game of Thrones showrunner team of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with True Blood and The Terror writer Alexander Woo, it’s very clear that Netflix’s take on 3 Body Problem was planned as just the beginning. The story of science, political subterfuge, and the eventual invasion of Earth by an unknown alien race is just barely touched on in the first season of the show (and it’s the same way in The Three Body Problem, the first of Liu’s books). But will the people behind the show get a chance to follow through and complete the story?
That much remains to be seen. While Benioff and Weiss were signed to $200 million deal with Netflix after a bidding war for their talents back in 2019, the streamer has been notorious in recent years for pulling the plug on shows that don’t perform up to expectations with their internal metrics. And with a show as high-reaching and big in scope as 3 Body Problem, those expectations are bound to be sky high.
We’re still in early days—the show hasn’t even been out for a month—but we’re still awaiting official word on whether a Season 2 of 3 Body Problem will get the green light. But while we’re not certain whether or not that will come to fruition, one thing is also for sure: the people making the show want to do more. Benioff and Weiss have worked on a couple things for Netflix in the years since signing their overall deal, including the underrated Sandra Oh dramedy series The Chair, but it’s clear that 3 Body is their next Game of Thrones level project.
All we have to wait for now is whether or not they’ll get the chance to keep telling the story. Here’s what we know now about a potential Season 2 of 3 Body Problem.
Will 3 Body Problem have a Season 2?
3 Body Problem hasn’t yet gotten a Season 2 renewal from Netflix.
Benioff and Weiss have talked about their ambitions for the show, though—and also the risk of such a big, expensive, high-concept project. “Honestly, the ending of the third book is one of my favorite endings of any giant saga of all time, so we want to get there,” Benioff told Empire in an interview. “The hardest thing is always the first season. Can we justify the big investment from Netflix? I feel like this will grow as it grows. I’m hopeful.”
On the Inside Total Film Podcast, Woo mapped out a tentative plan forward for the show, should it be able to continue. “We have some really strong ideas about what to do in a Season 2, and then it’s a little hazier down the line,” he said. “But we want to get to the end. We want to get to the end of the trilogy, whether that’s three or four, or some other number.”
As far as on-screen talent goes, the sentiment has been similar. In an interview with Men’s Health, Benedict Wong, who plays Clarence/Da Shi, said that he’s not heard anything about a Season 2 yet (citing that Netflix has to wait for the numbers on Season 1 to come in), but that he’d “absolutely” want to return if given the opportunity. “It’s here to be told, it’s here to be told,” he said.
What would 3 Body Problem Season 2 be about?
As outlined above, Season 2 of 3 Body Problem would continue to tell the story of author Cixin Liu’s trilogy that began with The Three Body Problem. The trilogy, referred to commonly as the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, wasn’t adapted 100% directly in the first season of Netflix’s show, though. There were some major changes, which will have to continue to trickle down as the story is told.
Tor Books Three-Body Problem Boxed Set: The Dark Forest, Death’s End (The Three-Body Problem Series)
Tor Books Three-Body Problem Boxed Set: The Dark Forest, Death’s End (The Three-Body Problem Series)
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While there were some obvious changes from page to screen—characters split up/changed/expanded, video game technology altered—there were also aspects of the second book (titled The Dark Forest) and the third book (titled Death’s End) that leaked into the first season adaptation as well.
This is all to say that if you want to know what will happen, exactly, in Season 2 of 3 Body Problem (if there is one), then you’ll have to check out the books. But, broadly, you can know that the story of the San-Ti coming to invade Earth continues to play out over the course of the 400 years until their arrival. The humans continue planning to thwart their eventual invasion, including the Wallfacer program, that we begin to see play out at the end of Season 1 with Saul (Jovan Adepo).
