3 Body Problem Season 2 Confirmed By Netflix (And Can Now Adapt The Best Book Of The Trilogy)
Given the massive amount of resources that Netflix committed to "3 Body Problem" (not to mention the lengthy stay at the top of Netflix's Top 10 lists since its debut), it was likely only a matter of time before the streaming giant made the obvious official. That's finally happened, and now fans of one of the nerdiest, densest, and most existential sci-fi book series ever written can look forward to showrunners and co-creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo's take on what's widely considered to be the best book of the alien-invasion trilogy.
Season 2 of "3 Body Problem" is now confirmed to be in the works, as Netflix announced in a social media post on Twitter (only literal extraterrestrials would ever call it "X") earlier this afternoon. For those who haven't yet caught up on the first season, which I reviewed for /Film here, consider this your cue to catch up as soon as possible ... although I'd strongly recommend first checking out author Liu Cixin's trilogy titled "Remembrance of Earth's Past," which consists of "The Three-Body Problem," "The Dark Forest," and "Death's End." While the first batch of episodes ended up incorporating elements from all three books, the various changes made to both the timeline and the characters of the source material only made this adaptation feel even more faithful to the spirit and themes of the original novels. With much of the first act of this trilogy now out of the way, Netflix has a lengthy runway ahead of it to take on "The Dark Forest" and, well, let's just say that this is the point where things truly start to get weird and wild. And, believe me, I'm aware that's saying a lot already.
Read on for more details on the season 2 renewal!
3 Body Problem will return for season 2
For those who watched the entirety of "3 Body Problem" season 1 and kept wondering when the heck the aliens would ever show up, we have good news for you. When the finale rolled around, our group of protagonists informally known as the Oxford Five had roughly two hundred years to wait for the inevitable arrival of our interstellar foes, the San-Ti. (Yes, a large part of the appeal of this hard sci-fi series is that it remains uncommonly accurate to real-life science.) If season 2 adapts the main thrust of "The Dark Forest," well, let's just say there will be no shortage of alien-centric action to come. There's no word on when exactly this next batch of episodes will pick up or even which cast members will return to reprise their roles, but David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo had this to say about the news of the season 2 renewal in a statement:
"We're thrilled that we get to tell this story through to its epic conclusion. Ever since we read the last page of Cixin Liu's magnificent trilogy, we hoped we'd be able to bring the audience to the end of the universe with us. Here we go!"
Netflix hasn't yet announced the episode count, the number of seasons planned to bring this story to a conclusion, or an exact release date, but details will certainly begin to flow as development on season 2 ramps up in earnest in the weeks and months ahead. Season 1 starred an ensemble cast led by Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Eiza González, Jess Hong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Zine Tseng, Saamer Usmani, Benedict Wong, and Jonathan Pryce.
Stay tuned to /Film for more updates.