Netflix's 3 Body Problem is an exciting science fiction series based on author Liu Cixin's story. But does being sci-fi mean that The Three-Body Problem takes place in the future? Let's explore its timeline!
Spoiler Warning: Some spoilers about Liu Cixin's book and possibly about the Netflix TV show will be discussed below.
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Is The 3 Body Problem Set in the Future?
Yes and no. In the first instance, The 3 Body Problem is going to explore the story of Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist whose father was violently murdered during China's Cultural Revolution.
As such, we expect several scenes to unfold in the past; Ye Wenjie's father got killed in the late 1960s according to the series' timeline.
However, other parts of the series will take place much later, as the death of Ye Wenjie's father is part of her backstory.
Her decisions will affect not only her present time but also the far future, with implications across space and time.
When Does The 3 Body Problem Take Place? It's Timeline Explained
Without spoiling too much, we expect Season 1 of The 3 Body Problem to unfold from the Cultural Revolution in China until the present day.
However, the book by Liu Cixin on which The 3 Body Problem is based is only the first part of a trilogy known as Remembrance of Earth's Past.
The other two books of the series, and particularly the third, titled Death's End, span from the 15th century up and go far into the future, up to at least 2273.
That being said, the Netflix show will likely remain more grounded in the 20th and early 21st century for the time being.
If the TV series gets renewed and adapts the remaining two books, it could go beyond Ye Wenjie's story, first in the near future and then much later, into what is known in-universe as The Crisis Era.
This unfolds from the 2010s into the imagined 2208 -- and this is only the first futuristic era that the series explores.
While this means that continuing to follow Ye Wenjie will be unlikely, the prospect of the whole trilogy making it to Netflix would be exciting for fans of the books.
Will you be watching The 3 Body Problem? Let us know in the comments!