James R | On 13, Dec 2018

This Christmas sees Netflix unwrap a very special present indeed: the new entry in Netflix’s Tales from Arcadia. The animated saga, which is created by Guillermo del Toro, began several years ago with Trollhunters. That tale concluded with a third season earlier this year. Now, though, a new tale is beginning, titled 3Below.

It drops all-at-once on Netflix on Friday 21st December. Here’s what we know about the show so far:

1. It crosses over with Trollhunters

Never seen Trollhunters? Read why you should catch up here. But in short, it was a charming adventure about a boy (Anton Yelchin, later Emile Hirsch) who found a hidden world beneath his home town of Arcadia and wound up locked in a troll battle over the future of humankind. 3Below is very much based in the same world – the same town, even – as Trollhunters. In fact, it stars two characters who first appeared in Season 3 of Trollhunters: Princess Aja and her brother, Prince Krel, voiced by Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany and Diego Luna. Two students who unwittingly came to the aid of the Trollhunters as they fought Morgana, they now become the leads themselves.

2. It’s about outcasts finding their home

3Below is the story of a teenage girl and a Latino boy (Aja and Krel), and an old man who just happen to be aliens. With their home planet torn apart by Civil War, the Princess and Prince find themselves marooned on the most backwater, primitive world in the galaxy: Earth. The three take on human guises to conceal their alien form as they search for a safe passage back to their home planet, but while searching, they develop a real affection for Earth and its inhabitants.

3. It’s got an all-star cast

As well as Luna and Maslany, the show boasts an all-star cast that includes Nick Offerman, Andy Garcia, Nick Frost, Alon Aboutboul, Chris Obi, Uzo Aduba, Cheryl Hines, Tom Kenny, Haley Atwell, Danny Trejo, and Ann Dowd, plus Glenn Close. They’ll be joined, naturally, by returning voices from Trollhunters, including Emile Hirsch, Charlie Saxton, Lexi Medrano, Steven Yeun, Cole Sands and Kelsey Grammer.

4. Cameos are on the cards

“We have some episodes where it’s just a little cameo, we have other episodes where it’s a full on crossover and it goes back and forth. We also have different characters, like minor characters in Trollhunters become major characters in 3Below, so it really does span the gap,” explained Marc Guggenheim, who exec produced with del Toro, Rodrigo Blaas, and Chad Hammes, to Den of Geek this year. “We didn’t take one singular approach to it. We actually, if we had one guiding principle, it was this is all the same world, this is the same town and just like in your life, there are some people you see once a year and there’s other people you see every day… The first time Vex on 3Below meets AAARRRGGHH!!! from Trollhunters, these are two of our biggest, brutish, most brutish characters, it’s fun to see them react to each other.”

5. It’s the second in an Arcadia-based trilogy

This is only the second epic to unfold in the small town of Arcadia: 3Below will be followed by Wizards in 2019. Netflix ordered all three in one go, giving del Toro’s vision full chance to be realised. And that, of course, means more opportunity for crossovers – and some presumably bewildered locals who keep finding their town the hub of yet more strange activity.

“You’ve got characters who by the time 3Below happens they have become very indoctrinated into the idea that there are trolls, but then can still completely freak out at the idea that there are aliens,” commented Guggenheim. “By the time you get to Wizards, there’s a character who’s a talking cat who wears glasses. And one character is like, ‘Wait a minute, why is the cat wearing glasses?’ and one of the other characters says, ‘The cat is talking, and you’re worrying about his eyewear?’ The character’s like, ‘I’ve seen creeps, I’ve seen aliens, I’ve seen trolls, yeah, I want to know why the talking cat is wearing glasses.'”

6. The theme is by The Crystal Method

The theme tune is by The Crystal Method, an electronic group who date back to the 1990s and have been featured in Luc Besson’s Lucy and composed the theme for Fox’s Almost Human. You can get a taste of it in the opening credits:

7. It has a new trailer

Netflix has released this first full trailer today, giving us a proper look at the show in action:

 

3Below is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

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