With their flagship show coming to an end this Sunday, HBO is looking to the future. They released a trailer for their Watchmen adaptation last week and are beginning to hype up their other big premiere this year: His Dark Materials. Based on the best-selling and beloved trilogy by Philip Pullman, the series is set in a parallel world where humans have manifestations of their souls that take the form of animals as companions, and where evil is afoot.
The first teaser only showed the human characters of Pullman’s world, but this teaser gives us a look not only at the dæmons, but at a fan-favorite polar bear. Check it out below.
“A human being with no dæmon was like someone without a face, or with their ribs laid open and their heart torn out: something unnatural and uncanny that belonged to the world of night-ghasts, not the waking world of sense.” @BBCOne @HBO pic.twitter.com/XwReyGAxNA
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) May 17, 2019
Yes, that was probably Iorek Byrnison at the end, and wow does the CGI look good.
It’s interesting to see the dæmons in action. I was worried it would seem overly cartoonish to have animals wandering about next to the humans, but Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon look good in action. The teaser also shows a tense scene between Pantalaimon and Mrs. Coulter’s dæmon, showing how seamlessly the dæmons interact with each other.
The trailer teased James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel talking about true evil and true freedom, and Mrs. Coulter telling Lyra she has to choose a side. Dr. Carne also tells Lyra that he did everything he could to protect her, though from what he will not say. Book readers are familiar with what’s going on with the kidnapped children, but for those of you not in the know, I’ll leave it for the show to explain.
Between His Dark Materials and Watchmen, HBO is gearing up to continue dominating the fantasy drama conversation. Hopefully this adaptation will be more family friendly than other HBO shows; while they’re not really children’s books, they’re definitely possibly more open for younger audiences than some of HBO’s other shows. Regardless of the ultimate rating, each teaser has increased positive buzz for the series. HBO and the BBC are looking at another hit, and hopefully this will be the adaptation fans deserved after that disastrous attempt to bring it to the screen in 2007.
(image: HBO)
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