Netflix’s sci-fi epic, 3 Body Problem has arrived with plenty of math problems, giant boats, and encoded radio messages to keep its viewers busy for a while. But with season 1 ending on a bit of a cliffhanger, it’s only natural to start thinking about season 2.
While we don’t know exactly what Netflix’s plans are for the show, here’s everything we know about season 2 so far.
[Ed. note: This story contains spoilers for 3 Body Problem.]
Is 3 Body Problem season 2 happening?
There hasn’t been any official word from Netflix about a new season just yet, but the odds are still pretty good that it happens. Netflix tends to greenlight some of its biggest shows with multiple season deals right out of the gate, and considering the pedigree of creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo, it’s unlikely that the streaming service would pull the plug on such a massive series right away.
That being said, if it somehow turns out that no one watches the show, maybe Netflix won’t want to move forward with this very expensive project. But if it’s a hit, you can bet that season 2 will be on its way soon.
When will 3 Body Problem season 2 come out?
Like predicting stable and chaotic eras, predicting the release date of a season that hasn’t actually been announced isn’t easy. One thing that will determine quite a lot about the release date is whether the scripts for season 2 are ready or not. It’s possible they’ve already been written, but since nothing could be written last summer during the writers strike, it’s also possible that they aren’t quite ready yet — if they’ve been worked on ahead of an official announcement at all.
With all that being said, the earliest it seems likely to see 3 Body Problem season 2 is probably in 2026, but with a show this massive and complex, it’s also possible that a new season could be three or more years away too.
What will 3 Body Problem season 2 be about?
Given how season 1 ends, most of the plot of the second season is likely to be about humanity’s preparation for the San-Ti invasion, and more specifically the Wallfacer program and it’s specially chosen delegates. The series will also likely keep us updated on the rocket that was launched near the end of season 1, the one with Will’s brain on it.
Will season 2 just cover the second book in the series?
Image: Netflix
Definitely not. The series took a unique approach to adaptation in its first season, working through the entire plot of book 1, as well the early parts of the plots of both books 2 and 3. This was done as a way to smooth out the character introductions, since the original novels by Cixin Liu follow a different character in each book.
With everything happening at the same time in the Netflix series, we can likely expect season 2 to continue the plots from both book 2, The Dark Forest, and book 3, Death’s End. In fact, it’s possible that Benioff, Weiss, and Woo finish the whole story in season 2, but we’ll have to wait a while to find out.
Should I read the Three-Body Problem book series?
This is a very tricky question. In many ways the series is a pretty faithful adaptation of Liu’s series, but it also makes some of the sci-fi a little bit easier to parse. Known for their dense science of questionable legitimacy, the books in Liu’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past series can certainly elicit mixed reactions. But the die-hard fans absolutely love it, and that should probably be your guiding light. If you loved the series and can’t wait to find out more about the characters and the San-Ti (or the Trisolarans are they’re known in the books) then you should jump in. Otherwise, you’re probably fine to wait for the next season of the show.
Is there another sci-fi series that I can read in the meantime?
Listen, the list of good sci-fi novels to read is endless. If you want a classic, you could read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, one of the fundamental and obvious inspirations for Liu’s series.
As for newer books, you could check out Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time, which deals with a lot of the same themes as The Dark Forest and Death’s End, but in a very different way — though, fair warning, if you hate spiders this one might be a tough read. Another similar book would be Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves, which also has to do with Earth facing a certain kind of doom.