Netflix's New Sci-Fi Epic 3 Body Problem Made a Major Change to 'Unadaptable' Book

Summary

• The highly anticipated sci-fi series 3 Body Problem was released today on Netflix.
• Although the original novel was considered unadaptable, the show's creators still managed to do so.
• While a number of changes seem critical, many decisions were motivated by a focus on the widest possible audience.

This isn't the first time Netflix has made a huge bet on live-action adaptations of incredibly popular IPs. However, the more well-known a franchise, the bigger its fan base is, the harder it is to deliver to the small screens an adaptation that would satisfy the viewers. The example of The Witcher alone shows just how reverent fans are towards Andrzej Sapkowski's novels: any creative divergence from the original, undertaken by the screenwriters, is met with a hostile reception, as many believe it robs the story of its essence.

However, The Witcher still has a relatively straightforward plot. It's completely another thing to adapt, say, A Song of Ice and Fire, written by George R. R. Martin. Let's be honest, despite the final seasons, Game of Thrones came out pretty well, as Martin's books were considered 'unadaptable' due to the abundance of narrators, storylines and plot twists.

And now, the creators of GoT, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have released a new project on Netflix, 3 Body Problems. Notably, the original novel, just like Martin's books, was also considered 'unadaptable'. However, those who have already seen the series have noted that it boasts a rare precedent of a successful departure from the book's plot, making the show more comprehensible to a wider audience.

What's the Plot of the Novel and the New Live Action Series About?

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss may have lost the trust of some fans after the failed final two seasons of Game of Thrones, but that doesn't make 3 Body Problem any less intriguing, especially since Alexander Woo, known for the chilling ghost story in the second season of The Terror, worked with them on the adaptation.

Based on the acclaimed novel of the same name by Liu Cixin, 3 Body Problem (in the book trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past) follows an astrophysicist during the Chinese Cultural Revolution who manages to make contact with an alien civilization.

However, the main action shifts to the present-day aftermath of her decision to secretly invite aliens, who now threaten all of humanity to take over Earth as its new inhabitants.

All the Changes That Were Made in the First Season of the Show

1. Some timelines and locations have been changed.

2. The main action has shifted from China to Oxford.

3. The protagonists meet each other much earlier.

4. New characters were also introduced.

Written by Liu Cixin, the novel was obviously intended primarily for a Chinese audience, so not only does the action take place primarily in China, but the plot takes into account the context of historical memory and generational trauma caused by the repressive authoritarianism of the Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution. That said, long before the subsequent novels were released, when the series wasn't even conceived, the book was already dubbed 'unadaptable'.

Thus, in order to make the story a little more digestible, as well as understandable regardless of cultural and historical context, the trio of Benioff, Weiss and Woo made a number of the above decisions. But probably the most important change was that the events of the present day shifted from the collaboration between detective Shi and nanotechnology professor Wang Miao, as seen in the novel, to the former's collaboration with new original characters, a group of scientists called the Oxford Five.

'That's really the emotional core of this whole show. It's a way for people to really relate to the central themes through human characters. So I think they've done that brilliantly,' Jess Hong who portrayed scientist Jin Cheng shared.

Source: GamesRadar+.