'3 Body Problem' Season 2: Everything We Know

Netflix's new science fiction series 3 Body Problem is a colossal story that's a bit hard to wrap your head around. Created by Alexander Woo and former Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the eight-episode epic is based on Cixin Liu’s Hugo Award-winning Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, which spans five continents and several centuries, from 1960s China to 400 years in the future. In the present-day, scientists around the world are baffled as the laws of nature begin to unravel, coinciding with a series of mysterious deaths. A group of brilliant physicists called the "Oxford Five" are soon pulled into the fray, and discover that one woman's decision decades ago could lead to the demise of the entire planet. (Long story short: Aliens are on their way to Earth, and humans have 400 years to prepare for an extraterrestrial war.)

With season 1 ending on an existential cliffhanger (give or take four centuries), viewers are left wondering just where this inventive series could go next. Below, we've gathered everything we know so far about a possible 3 Body Problem season 2.

Has '3 Body Problem' been renewed for Season 2?

Not yet. The epic sci-fi series arrived on Netflix on March 21, 2024, and the streamer usually waits on a couple weeks of ratings to determine whether to green light a renewal. However, there are high hopes for this series to become the streaming giant's next mega-hit (see Stranger Things, Bridgerton, Squid Game, Wednesday) so news of a possible season 2 could come out sooner rather than later.

When would '3 Body Problem' season 2 come out?

The length of a Netflix show's hiatus can be harder to predict than the cycle of stable and chaotic eras, but in a SXSW interview with Collider, co-creators Benioff, Weiss, and Woo revealed that they have already started working on season 2. They explained that the first two seasons of 3BP will follow the arcs of the first two novels of the trilogy, and they added that filming on season 2 could start as early as this fall.

"For Season 2, we’ve got better than a rough idea. We’re much farther along with that plan than rough idea stages," Weiss said.

Even if that fall filming schedule holds up, a series this intricate and VFX-heavy will take several years to bring together. Odds are, the earliest we could see 3 Body Problem season 2 is spring 2026.

Which of the cast would return for '3 Body Problem' season 2?

Most of the main cast of 3 Body Problem are expected to return in season 2, including: Jovan Adepo (Saul Durand), Eiza González (Auggie Salazar), Jess Hong (Jin Cheng), Saamer Usmani (Raj Varma), Benedict Wong (Clarence “Da” Shi), Liam Cunningham (Thomas Wade), Marlo Kelly (Tatiana Haas), and Sea Shimooka (Sophon).

The return of the '60s era cast (Zine Tseng as young Ye Wenjie and Ben Schnetzer as young Mike Evans) will depend on whether the show plans on more flashbacks to show how the San-Ti gathered so many human followers. Some faces we know we likely won't see outside of flashback: Alex Sharp (Will Downing), John Bradley (Jack Rooney), Rosalind Chao (Ye Wenjie), and Jonathan Pryce (Mike Evans).

What would happen in '3 Body Problem' season 2?

After season 1 pretty much followed the arc of the eponymous first novel of the trilogy, season 2 is set to adapt the second novel, named The Dark Forest. The Dark Forest picks up around where season 1 leaves off, as the UN institutes the Wallfacer Project to strategize against the Trisolarians (the alien race called the San-Ti in the television series). The Wallfacers are tasked with holding their true plans only in their heads, as the one advantage humans have against the aliens is that we can lie and obscure our intentions, while the aliens can only communicate their true thoughts. In response, the extraterrestrials choose some select human allies to work against the Wallfacers, with the help of all the intel collected by the sophons, which can spy on every corner of the earth (except reading human minds). Throughout the centuries (yes, there is a time jump) of preparation for the aliens' arrival, Luo Ji (a.k.a. Saul Durand in the show) takes the lead as a reluctant Wallfacer who eventually becomes integral to the conflict.

There are also several show characters whose futures are left open-ended. The San-Ti's ally and assassin, Tatiana, will remain a major threat after the aliens sent her a new headset in the season 1 finale. Also, though Project Staircase failed, Jin and Will (or Will's frozen brain) can still play a big role in the coming seasons, especially if Will's capsule is ever picked up by the San-Ti despite going off course. Even Auggie could pop back up, though as of the end of season 1 she was content using her nanofiber technology to help others, particularly filtering drinking water in a Mexican village.

One thing we do know: With season 2 sticking close to the source book, viewers will have a multi-season wait to see the San-Ti in the flesh (or whatever their bodies are made of) when they finally arrive on Earth. Speaking of multiple seasons...

How many seasons could '3 Body Problem' have?

In their interview with Collider, the series' creators also discussed how they would approach filming the final book of the trilogy, Death's End. The trio admitted that they are considering splitting the third book into two TV seasons for a pragmatic reason: Death's End clocks in at 605 pages, compared to The Three-Body Problem's 400-page length.

“The third book is massive. It’s twice as long, I think, as the other two books,” Benioff said. “So maybe that’s one season, maybe it’s two. But, you know, I think we’d need at least three, maybe four seasons to tell the whole story.”