Jihae already confirmed in an Instagram post from 2019 that there will unfortunately not be a 3rd season of Mars.
Mars is a National Geographic science fiction (sci-fi) show which uses time jumps, real interviews, scripted scenes, and a variety of other media to create an immersive narrative for the story.
However, even though the television series was fairly popular, Jihae already confirmed that Mars would not get a third season in an Instagram post in 2019.
Mars in context
You would be forgiven if the first few minutes of the National Geographic show, Mars, went over your head completely, as this sci-fi adventure combines elements of real interviews with completely fictionalised events to make the narrative of the story seem extra realistic.
To add to this, the series is actually based on a book called How We’ll Live on Mars, which was written by Stephen Petranek in 2015 and has a companion book, called “Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet,” which explains the science behind the events in the series.
All of this helps viewers to make sense of the shifting timelines within the series and the context behind why the characters make the decisions that they do throughout the show.
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| Buy it on Amazon | Buy it on Amazon |
Will there be a 3rd season of Mars?
Fans have genuinely enjoyed getting lost in the world of Mars since the show started airing its first season in 2016, as a result of how widely the Mars narrative and world has been expanded and explored by the television series’ creators.
The show was even renewed for a second season, which started airing in 2018.
In the scripted part of the show’s second season of the show, the settlers in Olympus Town had to get used to the idea that the for-profit company, Lukrum Industries, had also established their own mission to find water underneath the surface of the red planet.
By the end of the season, both colonies had to come to terms with the fact that Lukrum’s disruptive mining may have caused much more harm than good for the planet.
Though this second season was just as well received as Mars’s first, one of the show’s starring cast members, Jihae confirmed in an Instagram post on her personal account that there would be “NO season 3 of Mars”.
This post came less than a year after the second season of the show had finished airing on 12 June 2019 and also featured a sincere thank you from the actress, who expressed her gratitude towards the fans of the show and her fellow cast members.
Since she made this announcement almost four years ago and no news has come out about the show being picked up by another network or streaming service since, it seems very unlikely that there will ever be a third season of Mars.
How many Mars episodes are there?
By the time that Mars’s cancellation was confirmed in 2019, the series had only aired two full seasons. These two seasons have six episodes each, which means that there are 12 official Mars episodes, namely:
| Episode order | Season 1 | Season 2 |
| Episode 1 | Novo Mundo | We Are Not Alone |
| Episode 2 | Grounded | Worlds Apart |
| Episode 3 | Pressure Drop | Darkness Falls |
| Episode 4 | Power | Contagion |
| Episode 5 | Darkest Days | Power Play |
| Episode 6 | Crossroads | The Shakeup |
Other Mars content
Besides the 12 Mars episodes, the show also has two other special episodes that you can watch if you enjoyed the original series.
One of these specials is a prequel episode, called “Before Mars” and was released conjointly with the first season. It focuses on the lives and motivations of the twin sisters, Joon and Hana Seung, who also feature in Mars.
The other special is called “Inside SpaceX” and it reviews the key moments from SpaceX, which had been discussed in the original show.
What fans had to say about Mars’s cancellation
Mars’ cancellation was never widely publicised by National Geographic and as a result, many fans are still unsure of whether the show might return to this day. However, other fans have accepted the news that Mars will never get a third season.
The news that Mars will not be returning for a third season has left many fans of the show devastated, with many fans commenting how much they would miss the show underneath Jihae’s Instagram announcement.
On Reddit, one user (@yesdude51) even commented that “Mars was one of the best Sci Fi shows on TV.
Probably one of the best shows period,” in a discussion about the show’s cancellation. Another user (@kayjay789) sadly accepted the fact, stating that “season 2 had a decent ending”.