With 3 Body Problem, the Game of Thrones creators brought the start of a massive sci-fi story to Netflix in 2024. But when will season 2 be released?
Since this year, the sci-fi series 3 Body Problem on Netflix has been showing us an alien invasion from a completely new perspective. In the new series from the creators of Game of Thrones, the alien San-Ti don’t land on Earth for another 400 years. After eight episodes, the epic story is far from over – and the invaders’ fleet is still far, far away.
Here you will find all the important answers: Will there be a second season of 3 Body Problem? When could it start on Netflix? And what do the end of season 1 and the book reveal about how the conflict with the San-Ti could continue?
When is season 2 of 3 Body Problem coming to Netflix?
First the good news: After almost two months of waiting, Netflix announced the renewal of 3 Body Problem. And that’s not all. The streaming service also announced that the sci-fi series will film all the books in the Trisolaris trilogy up to the end. In total, the saga will span three seasons.
3 Body Problem will continue – right up to the incredible finale pic.twitter.com/GfHqwEidPe
— netflixde (@NetflixDE) May 16, 2024
Even though the sci-fi series has already been renewed for season 2 (and season 3), fans will have to be prepared for a long wait. Based on the production effort of the first episodes, season 2 should not appear on Netflix before 2026 at the earliest.
Not on Netflix: another Three Body Problem sequel is already in the works
Netflix lost the race to be the first to adapt Cixin Liu’s sci-fi novel The Three Suns into a series. The Chinese adaptation of Three Bodies, a very close realization of the original with 30 episodes – more than three times as long as the Netflix adaptation – was launched at the beginning of 2023.
Even before the Netflix version, the Chinese series was recently renewed for a second season. Not only is a sequel based on the second novel The Dark Forest in the works, but also a spin-off series about the character Da Shi (played by Benedict Wong in the Netflix series). However, these projects are not expected to be released until 2026 at the earliest.
3 Body Problem: What happens in season 2?
Spoiler alert: Even though 3 Body Problem does a lot differently than the book, the adaptation stays true to the most important developments in sci-fi history. As a result, by the end of the first eight episodes, a few things have already been set in motion for season 2.
Since season 1 is based on the novel The Three Suns, the next season will be based on the sequel Dark Forest. Some events from the second book of the Trisolaris trilogy have already been implemented in the finale.
This is how the end of 3 Body Problem prepares for the Netflix sequel
A large part of the plot of The Dark Forest is taken up by the so-called Watcher Project. We get to know this in season 1. These are people selected by the UN to secretly work out solutions to the conflict with the San-Ti (in the book: Trisolaris). They are not allowed to share their plans with anyone in order to trick the omnipresent surveillance of the alien Sophons.
In the original novel, the four wall-watchers were Frederick Tyler, Manuel Rey Diaz, Bill Hines and Luo Ji. In the Netflix series, there are only three: Saul Durand (Jovan Adepo), the Kurdish war hero Leyla Ariç (Salem Murphy) and the Chinese general Hu Bo Lin (Clem Cheung). The main character Saul is a modification of the novel character Luo Ji.
Spoiler part: What the original story has to say about season 2
But what the Netflix series has not yet revealed is that the alien sympathizers are opposing the Wallowers with so-called Wallbreakers, who are supposed to find out and smash their plans. But that’s not all that the original story has to say.
Without too many spoilers: The development of human society in the face of the alien crisis is coming more into focus. The plot also jumps further into the future, which moves the story even more into the genre of science fiction. Of course, there are plenty of shocking twists in book 2 as well – including a huge turning point that the showrunners are already looking forward to.
Fans of the original can expect that season 2 will not be a direct adaptation of the novel The Dark Forest, but will also include elements from the final book, Beyond Time. We already met Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), the protagonist of book 3, in season 1.
