His Dark Materials will get its chance to accommodate Philip Pullman’s book trilogy in full.
HBO and BBC declared the fantasy-drama series has officially been renewed for season 3, which will adapt the happens of The Amber Spyglass, the next installment of Pullman’s His Dark Materials literary functions.
The news was formally announced before the U.S. premiere of this season 2 finale, which already aired in the U.K. However, evolution on the new season 3 arc had already begun in October, EW has learned.
“His Dark Materials was a truly global TV experience and a personal career highlight,” showrunner Jane Tranter said in a statement. “The creative team in Bad Wolf in Cardiff made the impossible possible and brought Philip Pullman’s worlds to vibrant life. To find that hard work and dedication applauded and embraced by enthusiasts around the globe has made all the hard work worthwhile. None of this would have been possible without the great commitment and conviction of the BBC and HBO. I’m excited, thrilled and honored to be making the third part of Philip Pullman’s trilogy with their support and encouragement. Diolch.”
Season 1, which premiered on HBO in the U.S. in November 2019, adapted the first publication, The Golden Compass. Logan’s Dafne Keen starred as Lyra Belacqua, an orphan girl from a world parallel to our own in which a human’s spirit exists away from the body as a talking animal companion, called a daemon. When a mysterious girl, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson), arrives at Lyra’s residence of Jordan College, the young woman is thrown into a mystery surrounding a particle that ignites a religious war involving the authoritarian Magisterium.
Season 2 picked up directly after the events of season 1 in adapting Pullman’s second publication, The Subtle Knife. Lyra walks through a portal from her reality to another and finds herself in the city of Cittàgazze. There, she meets a boy named Will (Amir Wilson), who hails from another reality with a destiny entwined by her.
Tranter prefaced during virtual Comic-Con this year that season 2 would just consist of seven episodes. They planned a stand-alone episode to focus on James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel, but the spread of COVID-19 prevented them from completing. “Perhaps at some time later on we could revisit it like a stand-alone, but basically our adaptation of The Subtle Knife had been finished,” she said at the moment.
Tranter and series writer Jack Thorne developed the show with the third season in your mind to adapt the entire trilogy, although news of renewal was only made known nowadays.
“The area of season 3 is extremely weird and complicated,” executive producer Joel Collins. “The sophistication is stepped up in terms of the story, the visuals, along with the narrative. There are very few of us in a very secret team doing early work, that is exciting and complex. We are attempting to fix the puzzle from all of the eyes and the sounds. And it’s that sort of really precious time you get before hundreds of individuals begin asking questions”
The cast also highlights Lin-Manuel Miranda as aeronaut Lee Scoresby, Ariyon Bakare as reality-hopping Lord Boreal, Ruta Gedmintas as witch Serafina Pekkala, and Andrew Scott as Col. John Parry.
