Is 3 Body Problem Season 2 going ahead on Netflix? While not yet set in stone, here’s everything we know about the potential second season of the hit sci-fi series.
Five years after Game of Thrones wrapped its final season, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss just returned with another blockbuster adaptation, this time in the sci-fi genre.
Backed by hundreds of millions in investment from Netflix, the duo spent years bringing Season 1 of Liu Cixin’s 3 Body Problem to life for a Western audience.
And while reviews span the entire spectrum, with some calling it tremendous, and others confused by the plot, the overall story is only just beginning to unfurl. Season 1 is merely the beginning of the sci-fi epic, so can fans expect Season 2 of 3 Body Problem to follow? Here’s what we know.
Is 3 Body Problem Season 2 going ahead at Netflix?
3 Body Problem has not yet been renewed for Season 2 at the time of writing.
Season 1 of the Netflix series is still rather fresh, so it’s yet to be determined if a second season will get the green light. However, given earlier commitments from Netflix, along with a handful of comments from the ex-Game of Thrones showrunners, it looks more than likely a commitment to Season 2 is just a matter of time.
Most recently, Benioff confirmed the above, stating “We don’t have a second season,” in conversation with Games Radar. “But we need to keep pushing forward, full steam ahead as if we did,” he added.
“If we do get a second season, we’ll need to hit the ground running in terms of pre-production and production to get it out to people in some kind of reasonable time.”
Without delving into specifics and spoiling the second book in the trilogy, there’s a great deal that differentiates it from the story told in Season 1. Different settings, different characters, massive time jumps, and plenty of incomprehensibly large set pieces make a second season no small feat. So if Netflix does give the go-ahead, it could still be years before the live-action adaptation sees the light of day given Season 2’s scope.
Speaking to one sequence in particular, Benioff chimed in during a Hollywood Reporter interview, claiming if they’re able to bring one moment from the second book to life, the crew will be “golden” from that point on.
“There’s a scene in the second season [of 3 Body Problem] that I feel is — it’s not the Judgment Day scene [in Season 1] — it’s one that happens in the second season … things wildly escape and there’s one scene, if we get to it, we’re golden — like when we got to the Red Wedding on Thrones.”
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If the word ‘droplet’ means anything to you, you certainly know which sequence Beioff is referencing here.
“It’s something we’ve talked about with the Netflix guys, too. Liu Cixin’s created this inedible trilogy and the books just get better for me. The second book is far better than the first, and the third book just completely blew my mind. The story just gets more and more ambitious as it goes, and it takes a huge leap in book two. So I feel like if we survive to the second season, we’re going to be in a good place.”
The cast also seems incredibly keen on seeing more of the story unfold onscreen. Speaking exclusively to Dexerto, actress Jess Hong explained “I hope we get to see more. I mean, have you read all the books? Because those future events… I hope we can get Season 2 because honestly, if we can make it to that future, I just want to see how they pull that off. They’ve already made the impossible possible. So I’m sure they can do it.”
“We’re waiting for the spinoff” agreed Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham. The pair play Wade, an overbearing villain, and Da Shi, a maverick detective looking to solve the mystery on his own terms.
As for progress on future seasons, Weiss confirmed the team has already “done a good amount of work on the second season.
“At this point, the shape of it is pretty detailed in terms of character journeys and who lives, who dies, who goes where, how things function.”
Teasing what’s to come if the show does get picked up for further seasons, Weiss alluded to the way in which the story only ramps up as the books progress. “As the story goes on, those things increase both in number and just what the f***? intensity. There are more of those things in the second book than the first, and much more in the third book than the second.
“If we do justice to those things onscreen, by the time you get to the last season or two of the show, we would be giving people an experience they’ve never had before.”
We’ll be sure to keep this page updated with the latest 3 Body Problem developments.
3 Body Problem is now available to stream on Netflix. Read our review, find out more about the cast, whether you need to read the books before, and catch up with other amazing TV shows to stream this month.