Everything to Know About 3 Body Problem Season 2

Humanity is in trouble. If you finished the first season of 3 Body Problem, Netflix's series from David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo, you'd know that almost everything that could've gone wrong for the Oxford Five, did. The San-Ti are on their way to planet Earth, and unless Wade (Liam Cunningham), Clarence (Benedict Wong), and our remaining physicists come up with another plan, humans may very well be doomed. 

Based on Cixin Liu's novel of the same name, 3 Body Problem premiered on March 21 and garnered 11 million views in its first four days. The series initially tells the story of one woman's (Zine Tseng) decision to contact extraterrestrial life in 1960s China. The aftermath of that choice unfolds in the present day, and we follow a group of scientists as they realize the impending approach of the as San-Ti. 

3 Body Problem Season 2 hasn't been announced. But since the show has been gaining more traction, we're expecting it to be. In the meantime, here is everything we know so far about a potential next chapter and what it'll be about.

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Will there be a 3 Body Problem Season 2?

Netflix has not renewed 3 Body Problem for Season 2... yet. And it's not a guarantee that it will get a second season, but we'd be shocked if it didn't. In its favor is the fact that the show is based on a popular book series, so Netflix knew that the story would take multiple seasons to tell. The book was brought to Benioff and Weiss by Netflix head of scripted programming Peter Friedlander, who's a huge fan of the novels and always wanted to see them adapted, so it would seem gaining Friedlander's support for a second season wouldn't be difficult at all. Though 3 Body Problem wasn't immediately atop the Netflix Top 10, it did reach No. 1. And while critics and fans are divided on the show so far, the second and third books in the series are considered to be better than the first.  

The main issue is money. Each of the Season 1 episodes reportedly cost in the neighborhood of $20 million each, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which would make it Netflix's most expensive show ever, so Netflix is likely waiting to see how its subscribers consume the series before giving the greenlight. With the heavy science at the heart of the show, being No. 1 on Netflix might not be as important as getting data on how many people completed the series and would be locks to watch Season 2. 

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What will 3 Body Problem Season 2 be about?

Season 2 will continue to cover parts of The Dark Forest, Cixin Liu's second book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past series (parts of Season 1 included storylines from The Dark Forest), and Benioff, Weiss, and Woo are already mapping it out and excited for specific moments. 

"At our first Comic-Con [for Game of Thrones] someone asked if we're going to get a second season," Benioff told The Hollywood Reporter. "I remember saying there's a scene that would happen in Season 3 — I didn't even want to name it, but 'RW, for people who know — if we can get there, I think we're going to be OK. And 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."

What happened in 3 Body Problem Season 1? 

The first thing to remember about 3 Body Problem Season 1 is that The Staircase Project failed and the alien invasion is still 400 years away, with no solid plan in place to stop them. The Staircase Project launch devised by Jin (Jess Hong) was intended to intercept the San-Ti's fleet and learn more about their technology and society, but all that resulted from it was our beloved Will's (Alex Sharp) brain being lost in space. When this happened, Wade whispered something to Jin in mission control. What exactly did he say? We're not sure, but we asked actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Wade, if he knew. "[Wade's] a very driven individual, and he sees what happened to that particular plan as a blip," Cunningham told TV Guide. "That battle may have been lost, but the war continues. So it may have had some reference to that."

Another major event in the finale was Sophon — who's been the spokesperson for the San-Ti this season — appeared to Wade on his plane. Sophon told Wade that they've been watching him, and that he has a place with the San-Ti once they arrive. "She appears on his personal mode of transport and imparts this knowledge to him that he's maybe of use — which is an interesting thing that I'm sure he wasn't expecting," Cunningham said. 

And of course, there's the mystery behind what happened to Ye Wenjie (portrayed by Rosalind Chao as an adult). Clarence told Saul (Jovan Adepo) she was murdered in China, but we find that hard to believe. Besides, the so-called joke she told Saul before leaving the U.S. needs to be unpacked. Ye shared a story about Einstein "playing with God" in heaven, and Saul did not understand it. "I think Saul 100 percent, even in the scene as she delivers this joke, I feel like he can tell that it's clearly a loaded statement," Adepo told TV Guide. "It means something else, he just doesn't know quite what it is." And while the meaning of the joke is unclear, what is clear is that it likely has something to do with why Saul was chosen to be a Wallfacer, one of the leading scientists who will help devise a plan to protect Earth from the alien invasion but — in order to prevent the all-seeing San-Ti from knowing what we're up to — will formulate the plan entirely in their minds.

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3 Body Problem Season 2 release date prediction

If 3 Body Problem is renewed for a Season 2, we expect it to be a few years before the second installation is released.

3 Body Problem Season 2 cast and characters

Here's the main cast of 3 Body Problem Season 1, most of whom we think will return if the series is renewed.

• Jovan Adepo as Saul Durand 
• Jess Hong as Jin Cheng
• Saamer Usmani as Raj Varma
• Zine Tseng/Rosalind Chao as Ye Wenjie
• Sea Shimooka as Sophon
• Eiza González as Auggie Salazar
• Benedict Wong as Clarence
• Liam Cunningham as Thomas Wade
• Marlo Kelly as Tatiana

More shows like 3 Body Problem

If you enjoyed 3 Body Problem, here are more sci-fi series like it for you to watch as we wait for a potential Season 2.

Where can I watch 3 Body Problem?

3 Body Problem Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix.