The San-Ti may not be arriving on Earth for another 400 years. But, thankfully, you don’t have to wait that long for more 3 Body Problem. 

Production on Season 2 of the thrilling sci-fi series adapted from Cixin Liu’s popular novels has officially begun in Budapest, Hungary.

The series was renewed for seasons 2 and 3 in May, and the second season is expected to be even larger in scale.

“The tone really changes once you get to the second season,” co-creators, writers, and executive producers David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo tell Tudum. “It’s much bigger. Things get wilder, the conflicts get more cosmic. Once people see it on the screen, they’re going to understand why we’ve been so excited for this season, in particular.”

During the official Television Academy 3 Body Problem panel at the Netflix FYSEE space at Sunset Las Palmas in Los Angeles on May 31, executive producers, showrunners, and writers Weiss and David Benioff (Game of Thrones) and Alexander Woo (The Terror, True Blood) previously shared that they’re excited to finish telling the mind-bending story that they intended.

“We included a lot of what we loved from the [novels by Cixin Liu] in Season 1, but the vast majority of reasons we wanted to make this show are in Season 2,” Weiss said. “We always wanted to get to the final page of the third book, and it’s really, really thrilling to us that we will get to do just that.”

Moderated by Vanity Fair senior Hollywood correspondent Anthony Breznican, the panel also included Benedict Wong, who plays Da Shi; Jess Hong (Jin Cheng), Zine Tseng (Young Ye Wenjie), Liam Cunningham (Thomas Wade), John Bradley (Jack Rooney), and Alex Sharp (Will Downing), as well as director Derek Tsang, production designer Deborah Riley, casting director Nina Gold, VFX producer Steve Kullback, and composer Ramin Djawadi. 

The series’ return was first announced during the Netflix Upfront presentation in New York City on May 15, with Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria confirming the news. At that time, the executive producers shared a statement saying that, “Ever since we read the last page of Cixin Liu’s magnificent trilogy, we hoped we’d be able to bring the audience to the end of the universe with us. Here we go!” 

Peter Friedlander, Netflix’s vice president of scripted series (US and Canada), added, “The extraordinary 3 Body Problem, brought to life with the deft hands of Benioff, Weiss, and Woo will soar to never-before-seen heights as they tackle the rest of the mind-blowing journey through Death’s End. Their brilliant vision as storytellers is matched by their amazing partnership — and, just like the fans, we can’t wait to see what they have in store.”

What is 3 Body Problem about?

Based on the bestselling novels by Cixin Liu, 3 Body Problem spent three weeks at No. 1 on Netflix and seven weeks in the Top 10, and it reached the Top 10 in 93 countries. 3 Body Problem explores how humanity chooses to respond to its gravest threat. Starting off during China’s Cultural Revolution in the ’60s, the series introduces Ye Wenjie (Tseng and later Chao), a young woman who’ll go on to make a fateful decision that reverberates across space and time into the present day. When the laws of nature inexplicably unravel, a tight-knit group of brilliant scientists known as the Oxford Five must join forces with an unflinching detective and a mysterious intelligence agency to save the world.

3 Body Problem also sent three songs from its soundtrack to Billboard’s Top TV Songs Chart, including Lana Del Rey’s “Video Games” at No.1. Books associated with the sci-fi Netflix epic — Three-Body Problem and Silent Spring — appeared on Amazon’s Most Sold Chart within days of the series’ debut and The Three-Body Problem returned to the The New York Times Best Seller list. The book also recently topped The New York Times’ Audio Fiction list with The Three-Body Problem Coming at No. 6 for the month of May 2024.

Who is in the 3 Body Problem cast?

3 Body Problem Season 1 stars Jovan Adepo as Saul Durand, John Bradley as Jack Rooney, Rosalind Chao as Ye Wenjie, Liam Cunningham as Thomas Wade, Eiza González as Auggie Salazar, Jess Hong as Jin Cheng, Marlo Kelly as Tatiana Haas, Alex Sharp as Will Downing, Sea Shimooka as Sophon, Zine Tseng as Young Ye Wenjie, Saamer Usmani as Raj Varma, Benedict Wong as Da Shi and Jonathan Pryce as Mike Evans.

Season 2 will see Claudia Doumit (SOULM8TE, The Boys) and Ellie de Lange (Wolf Hall, The Serpent) join the ensemble full time. Doumit will portray Captain Van Rijn,  and de Lange will take on the role of Ayla.

Plus, Alfie Allen (Atomic, Game of Thrones, SAS Rogue Heroes), David Yip (The Chinese Detective, A View to a Kill), and Jordan Sunshine (The Pitt Season 2, Wonder Pets) are set for recurring roles. 

How does 3 Body Problem Season 1 end?

Season 1 ends in tragedy for Earth’s heroes. Jin’s (Hong) Project Staircase has failed, and the brain of the man she only just realized she loved is floating off into space. Saul (Adepo) has begrudgingly accepted his appointment as a Wallfacer, while Auggie (González) is off the grid using her nanofiber technology for good to help local communities. 

With the remaining members of the Oxford Five down on their luck, Detective Da Shi (Wong) realizes he needs to whip them into shape. Finding Jin and Saul licking their wounds by a hotel pool, he takes them to a marsh where swarms of cicadas gather. “People hate bugs, been trying to get rid of them forever,” Da Shi tells them, referencing the fact that the San-Ti view humans as mere squashable insects. “Look around, they’re not going anywhere.” After pouring one out “for the bugs,” he reminds them that they’ve “got work to do.”

As Benioff, Weiss, and Woo previously shared with Tudum, paying close attention to the intertwined character arcs and Easter eggs planted in Season 1 will be crucial when tuning in for more episodes. Like, what is the significance of Jin and Will (Alex Sharp) reading fairy tales? What’s up with Ye Wenjie’s Einstein joke? And why was Saul chosen to be a Wallfacer? “The answer to this question is to be found in [a hopeful] Season 2 of 3 Body Problem,” said the trio.

Who is the creative team behind 3 Body Problem?

Benioff, Weiss, and Woo are co-creators, executive producers, and writers of 3 Body Problem. Emmy Award winners Benioff and Weiss have also re-upped their multiyear deal to write, produce, and direct new series and films exclusively for Netflix, including recently announced series Death by Lightning, which is currently in development. Emmy-nominated Woo also has an overall deal with Netflix.

Additional executive producers include Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman and Nena Rodrigue for T-Street. Qi Lin, the late former Chairman of Yoozoo Group, and Jilong Zhao, CEO of the rights-holder, The Three-Body Universe, are executive producers, along with Xiaosong Gao and Lauren Ma. Plan B Entertainment's Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner are executive producers. Rosamund Pike and Robie Uniacke are executive producers for Primitive Streak.

Keep checking back here on Tudum to learn more about the new episodes. 

Solve the mysteries of 3 Body Problem Season 1 now, only on Netflix.

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