His Dark Materials trailer for upcoming HBO fantasy series premieres

The first full trailer for the upcoming HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials, based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman, premiered during the show’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

The His Dark Materials trailer introduces viewers to the series’ key characters including Lyra (Dafne Keen), the young girl who the story centers around, and the parallel dimension they inhabit. In the series, Lyra discovers a plot involving stolen children that starts her on a far-reaching adventure.

Other characters seen in the trailer are Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), Lyra’s adventurer uncle, Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson), the woman who takes Lyra under her wing, and Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manuel Miranda), a balloonist who helps Lyra on her journey.

In the world of His Dark Materials, a person’s soul lives outside their body in the form of a talking animal called a daemon. The clip provides a glimpse at the many different daemons that will appear in the series.

In addition, the trailer gives a spectacular look at the polar bear, Iorek Byrnison. The teaser trailer released a couple of months ago included a quick glance at the armored bear, but this full-length clip shows even more of the fan-favorite character in action.

Check it out here:

During the panel, the show’s writer Jack Thorne characterized the series as the opposite of much of the superhero fare currently saturating pop culture. He noted:

"More from HBOHBO expects House of the Dragon season 2 release in summer 2024HBO delays three hit shows to 2025 but one big show is still coming in 2024Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will end its run on HBOWinning Time season 2, episode 7 recap: “What Is and What Should Never Be”Winning Time season 2, episode 6 recap: “Beat L.A.”The thing I kept saying when we were pitching around town is that this is an anti-superhero story. If this was a superhero’s story, we’d be following Lord Asriel’s path. If you look at it, there are people seeking greatness in this story and there are people following their own good."

Miranda revealed that he was a big fan of the His Dark Material novels before he was cast in the series. He explained, “When my wife and I started dating, we read these books together. They’re part of our falling-in-love story. They’re in a really special place in my heart”

Miranda, who created the musical Hamilton, also said that although filming His Dark Materials was very different from what he was used to from his appearances in movies like Mary Poppins Returns, the job didn’t start out so different. “I literally come into this thing singing a duet with my daemon on a big ass hot air balloon.”

Executive producer Jane Tranter also addressed the question that often comes up about His Dark Materials: whether the story is intended to be a critique of religion, and Catholicism in particular. Tranter said the books are often misunderstood, but they are not meant to be read as an attack on religious belief. She explained:

"One of the great things about His Dark Materials is there are so many conversations you can have about it, and there are many conversations about the religious aspect. Like all conversations, it’s better to have a conversation when there are some facts on the table rather than just a bunch of assumptions by people who haven’t read the books."

The book series has largely been criticized by the Catholic Church specifically and frequently included on various banned books list. Jane Tranter specifically addressed this as well, and it’s very similar to what Pullman has said in the past.

"Philip Pullman is not attacking belief, he’s not attacking faith or religion or the church per se. He’s attacking a particular form of control, where there’s a deliberate attempt to hold information, keep people in the dark, and not allowing ideas to be free. At times that can be personified by an autocratic government or a church. In His Dark Materials, it’s personified by the Magisterium. But it doesn’t equate to any particular church or form or religion in our world and we should be clear on that."

His Dark Materials looks like it will be an exciting addition to HBO’s line-up that will also help fill the Game of Thrones-shaped hole in the channel’s schedule. While the story centers on a child protagonist, the show’s gritty story and A-list stars should be enough to attract adult fantasy fans.

The series, which HBO is co-producing with BBC, will be released sometime in the Fall. No firm release date has been announced yet.

Are you excited to see the world of His Dark Materials come to life in the HBO series? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

(Source: Entertainment Weekly)