3 Body Issue: Here’s Why Netflix Characters Are Different From The Book

March 22, 2024, 5:36 p.m.

“What we hope to do is bring to the screen the experience – if not necessarily the exact details – of the novel.”

Wondering why Netflix’s adaptation of 3 Body Problem changed several key characters and locations? Here is your explanation.

3 Body Problem is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed book series by author Cixin Liu. The book, originally published in 2007, has been adapted for Chinese audiences in the past, but the Netflix series is the first time it has been adapted for English-speaking audiences.

As a result, there have naturally been some major changes, from character changes, expansions and additions, to location changes and timeline changes.

Talk to HILLthe three creators, David Benioff, DB Weiss and Alexander Woo, explained why certain characters and locations are different from the books.

WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead for 3 Body problem!

LEARN MORE: 3 Body Problem Cast: All the Characters Explained and Who Plays Them

The trio spoke to 3 Body Problem author Cixin Liu over Zoom early in their creative process and received her blessing to adapt her work. He encouraged them to make the necessary narrative changes.

“We have tremendous love and respect for books,” Benioff said. “You can’t dedicate every moment of your life for years to adapting a work you don’t like. So it’s very important to us that the series stands alone and is aimed at people who have read the books – and for people who haven’t read the books.

Woo added: “The experience of watching a TV series is different from watching a feature film, [which] is so different from the experience of reading a novel. What we hope to do is bring to the screen the experience – if not necessarily the exact details – of the novel. »

“What has remained, we hope, is the sense of wonder and the sense of magnitude, of scale, where the problems are no longer just those of an individual or even a nation, but of a whole species.”

Watch the 3 Body Problem trailer on Netflix

Characters such as Ye Wenjie, Mike Evans, and Da Shi (named Clarence in the Netflix series) remain the same as in the books, but the most notable character change in the Netflix series 3 Body Problem involves the “Oxford Five”.

The key group of scientists are essentially new characters who each contain elements of the book’s main protagonist, Wang Miao.

In the original book, the protagonist of the contemporary timeline is Wang Miao, a professor of nanotechnology. He discovers VR gaming, and also experiences hallucinations and visions of the countdown.

In the TV show, this character was seemingly split between the Oxford Five, with Jin and Auggie taking on the two key elements of his narrative. Auggie is the nanotechnology expert who has the visions of the countdown, while Jin is the one who discovers and attempts to solve the mysterious VR game.

Elsewhere, the series‘ present-day scenes take place in England, with London and Oxford University serving as the main backdrop alongside flashback scenes in China. The book takes place almost entirely in China.

In the book, extraterrestrial civilizations traveling to Earth are called the Trisolarans. In the series, they are called the San-Ti.

Read more Netflix news here:

The xikers against “The Tower of Truth”