Netflix doesn’t seem to know how to talk about its 3 Body Problem show

Although Cixin Liu’s The three body problem is one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking pieces of speculative fiction to come out in the last few years, you wouldn’t know judging by how Netflix has (barely) talked about it 3 body problemsthe forthcoming adaptation of the novel by Alexander Woo, DB Weiss and David Benioff

During this year’s tudum, essentially all of Netflix’s higher-profile projects will be released in the coming months, such as: Glass Onion: A Knives Out MysteryGuillermo del Toros Pinocchioand The Witcher‘s third season was explored in segments that gave you a sense of the type of energy each creative team was working with. But when it came to the segment, it focused on Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Cixin Lius The three body problemTudum got a little stiff and oddly boilerplate-y in a way that did little to say much about the show or overdo it.

During their brief time in the spotlight, Woo, Weiss and Benioff shared that they recently wrapped production 3 body problems‘s first season and shared what initially drew her to the project. Like Liu’s novel, Woo described hers 3 body problems as “a history of mankind from first contact with an extraterrestrial civilization to the end of the universe,” and Weiss emphasized how intrigued they were by the sheer size and scope of Liu’s vision.

At a time when studios are comfortable spoiling the entirety of their features and series with their ad campaigns, there’s something refreshing about how relatively little noise Netflix has made 3 body problems since news of its 2020 production first broke. But at an event like Tudum, which wanted to signal Netflix subscribers what all the fuss about his “highly anticipated” projects is about, it was a bit disappointing to see 3 body problemsThe executive producers of and some of the cast vaguely summarize the show as a “big” and “complex” epic, without actually saying or showing anything to back up those claims.

To be fair, the true depth and breadth of Lius The Three Body Problem — the first in a trilogy of books spanning several centuries – is hard to summarize in two minutes. Though the story eventually becomes a tale of how profoundly the world changes after humanity first made contact with sentient extraterrestrial life, Liu contrasts his greatness with a close-up of the small, pivotal moments in the story from the start Society that have outsized implications for shaping the future.

before The three body problem shifting its focus to the varied reactions of Earth’s nations when aliens make their existence known, the novel spends a considerable amount of time setting its stage with a brutal and candid reflection on China’s Cultural Revolution. More than establish The three body problem‘s reality resembles one of our own, one of the great and brilliant ways the book prepares you for the macro view of the series’ universe is the time Liu spends examining the immediate and long-term implications of Chinese Revolutionary-era politics takes.

This close-up, micro-view of China’s specific history and path The three body problem framing it as a relatively small part of mankind’s record in the grand scheme of things are also part of how the book prepares you to appreciate his ideas about technological development. Technology as a vector of human evolution and the concept of societies functioning as some sort of organic cycle are not exactly unique The three body problem. But the way Liu’s books intricately weave those ideas together, using them to underpin the trilogy’s story as it grows more and more gorgeous, is as artful as it is impressive, which is probably what Netflix wants 3 body problems be.

That was obviously the impression Apple wanted from the few teasers it was dropped for Foundation, endowment – David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman’s series, which has a theme a lot of together with 3 body problems – in the run-up to its premiere. Foundation, endowment It’s true that it might not have been able to live up to all the hype, but giving viewers a clear idea of ​​how ambitious a given project is is an important part of how studios set it up (but obviously isn’t to guarantee). Success.

Netflix has plenty of time to talk about it 3 body problems with the fierce specificity and confidence of a studio that genuinely thinks it has another hit on its hands. But if Netflix really wants to 3 body problems To be the next big thing to electrify the world and convince newcomers to sign up for the streaming service, it still has to up its game a bit before the show debuts sometime in 2023.