Netflix finally gave sci-fi fans their first look at the highly-anticipated adaptation of Cixin Liu’s groundbreaking novel The Three-Body Problem with a trailer debut at TUDUM. Now simply titled 3 Body Problem, the show’s first 90 second trailer teases the story’s most pivotal moments, from Ye Wenjie (which is who we think Jess Hong is playing) deciding to send a message out into the universe to the exploration of the trippy virtual reality “Three Body” game. But what might be most intriguing to devotees of Cixin Liu’s trilogy is what the seemingly brand new characters played by series stars Eiza González, Jovan Adepo, and Alex Sharp are up to…

3 Body Problem was created for Netflix by Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and The Terror: Infamy EP Alexander Woo. Netflix’s official synopsis for the series says, “A young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and
time to a group of brilliant scientists in the present day. As the laws of nature unravel before
their eyes, five former colleagues reunite to confront the greatest threat in humanity’s history.”

While the first sentence neatly describes the main plot of Liu’s The Three-Body Problem, the second sentence is what sounds totally new. Liu’s trilogy spans space and time, but it is decidedly focused on its Chinese characters. The first book follows a nanotechnology professor who is asked to team up with a roguish detective nicknamed “Da Shi” to figure out why brilliant scientists are suddenly dying by suicide under mysterious circumstances. This mystery leads us into a virtual reality video game where players attempt to help an alien race called the Trisolarians tackle their “Three-Body Problem.” Basically, their planet has three suns, plunging the planet into long eras of catastrophe.

Based on this intriguing first look at 3 Body Problem, we’re going to guess that half the show will follow the original book, with Benedict Wong hopefully playing Da Shi because Benedict Wong would be the perfect Da Shi. Game of Thrones alum John Bradley appears to be one of the historic philosophers players interact with in the “Three Body” game. And Eiza González, Jovan Adepo, and Alex Sharp may or may not be original characters dealing with the book’s drama in their own original storyline. Or maybe Eiza González is in fact playing one of the books’ many middle-aged male Chinese professors! Who knows!

Netflix has been very secretive about this series. Not only because Liu’s book is one of the most critically-acclaimed sci-fi novels ever written, but also because it’s Benioff and Weiss’s long-awaited follow up to their divisive GoT finale… This first trailer at least confirms 3 Body Problem will look spectacular when it arrives on Netflix early next year.

3 Body Problem will premiere on Netflix in January 2024.