Since its debut on March 21, sci-fi series “3 Body Problem” has been one of the most popular series on Netflix (it’s currently back in first place on the top 10 TV chart) and has generated huge buzz among both audiences and critics. It boasts a 78% “fresh” rating with critics at Rotten Tomatoes, and an even better 80% audience score. TG’s Malcolm McMillan called it “the best show of 2024 so far.”
“Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss seem to have found their perfect follow-up with this adaptation of Chinese author Cixin Liu’s acclaimed novel trilogy. Along with co-creator Alexander Woo, they’ve delivered an early favorite for 2024 TV best-of lists. So will there be a second season?
Has Netflix ordered '3 Body Problem' season 2?
Officially, Netflix has yet to order a second season of “3 Body Problem,” but it seems overwhelmingly likely that they’ll pick up a show with such strong audience and critical support. Although “3 Body Problem” is an expensive show to produce, with a rumored budget of $20 million per episode, it’s also the kind of high-profile series that Netflix still seems to value spending money on.
Even as some apparently successful Netflix shows end up having their runs cut short, the service stands behind its marquee series, like “Stranger Things” and “The Witcher,” regardless of cost. Plus, Benioff and Weiss signed a lucrative long-term deal with Netflix in 2019, so as long as they’re working on something for Netflix, it might as well be a show that viewers are eager to see continue.
Benioff, Weiss and Woo have plenty of ideas for more seasons of “3 Body Problem,” and there’s a wealth of material left to adapt from Liu’s subsequent novels. “[Liu has] created this indelible trilogy and the books just get better for me,” Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter. “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 creators have said that they envision four seasons to tell the entire story, which is a typical number of seasons now for a successful streaming show.
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What will '3 Body Problem' season 2 be about?
The first season of “3 Body Problem” ends with some pretty major open questions, so it seems likely that the second season will pick up there, to address the immediate resolutions to those cliffhangers. Liu’s novels span a period of hundreds of years, though, so there’s potential for the second season of “3 Body Problem” to expand its sci-fi world even further, with a grand, universe-spanning story of space travel and intergalactic conflict.
Benioff, Weiss and Woo have grounded Liu’s story in personal relationships to a greater degree than in the novels, and series regulars including Jess Hong, Benedict Wong, Jovan Adepo, Eiza González and Liam Cunningham would probably return for a second season. There’s the opportunity to add new characters as the story evolves, and the creators have also shown that they’re willing to make changes to Liu’s story in order to reach their target audience.
Given the scale of the production and the extensive special effects, it may be a while before a theoretical second season of “3 Body Problem” arrives, even once it gets the official green light. In the meantime, fans can check out the 30-episode Chinese live-action adaptation “Three-Body,” which streams in the U.S. on Peacock and can gear up with a re-watch of “3 Body Problem” to catch important details that will fuel the storytelling of future seasons.
