Season 2 of the Netflix sci-fi series 3 Body Problem is now in production, more than a year after season 1 premiered. Alfie Allen, David Yip, and Jordan Sunshine will all play recurring parts in season 2, while a number of new faces, such as Claudia Doumit and Ellie De Lange from The Boys, will be joining as series regulars. Nearly every member of the original cast—John Bradley, Benedict Wong, Liam Cunningham, and Jonathan Pryce—is expected to return; if you’ve watched the previous episodes, you’ll understand why we’ll be missing a few.
The Netflix series, which is based on the popular book series by Liu Cixin, centers on a group of scientists known as the “Oxford Five,” who all encounter mysterious phenomena that eventually lead them to realize that the planet is in danger from aliens. Furthermore, in the 1960s, we travel back in time to China, where a young astronomer discovers a way to communicate with “out there,” beginning the series of events that send the globe into unknowable turmoil. This mystery series has a lot of moving aspects, as you might expect.
In actuality, there are so many complex and detailed elements that by the time 3 Body Problem season 2 is released, there is no chance in hell that anyone will remember them all. We still don’t know when that might be, which is problematic in addition to being disappointing. The lengthy wait times between popular shows like Stranger Things season 5 and Wednesday season 2 should have taught Netflix a lesson, but this situation may be worse.
3 Body Problem season 2 is finally filming, but Netflix is taking too long once again
I was invited to a screening event to watch the first three episodes of 3 Body Problem before to its premiere in early 2024, when I first covered the show. I left the event a few hours later with no idea what I had truly witnessed, and I still feel that way more than eighteen months later. I cannot overstate how intricate the show’s main narrative is, and that’s before we even discuss the B and C plots—that is, the smaller stories you witness in addition to the larger, overarching one—that take place in the same universe.
Unfortunately, because so much has been altered for the Netflix adaptation, not even the novels can assist us in this situation. Because of this, the only option to fully re-engage with 3 Body Problem season 2 by the time it airs is to revisit the entire first season in the weeks before new episodes air. I’m not especially interested in spending my time like this, and I’m sure many other subscribers would agree. The cynic in me believes that Netflix intentionally leaves a lot of time between seasons of popular TV shows so that you may binge-watch what you’ve already watched, but this isn’t the case here.
We’ve been waiting for Stranger Things season 5 for three years, which is horrible enough, but at least it has a cult following. In the interim, we have been captivated by other aspects of the series, such as the West End production of The First Shadow, and we are constantly curious about the real-life experiences of the cast members. Who is going to put in the work to continue where 3 Body Problem left off, as they don’t have any of these same hooks?
If all goes well, 3 Body Problem season 2 will premiere in 2026, but I believe that some serious harm has already been done and cannot be avoided. Before our attention span shifts to anything else, we will only dimly recall the show and our interest in it by the time posters start to appear in train stations or menacing TikToks arise. I hope Netflix adjusts its ways before the already confirmed season 3 premieres, but I wouldn’t be shocked if viewing numbers plummet as a result.
