Logan’s Dafne Keen stars in HBO’s teaser trailer for His Dark Materials

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

With GAME OF THRONES set to conclude this Sunday, HBO has been quite busy promoting its other upcoming series as a way of enticing subscribers to remain on board the network's entertainment platform. As such, an official teaser trailer for HIS DARK MATERIALS has been unleashed, promising a gloom-ridden fantasy epic based on the critically-acclaimed classic book series by Philip Pullman.

“You once asked me what evil was,” James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel, the famed explorer of Pullman's saga, tells his niece Lyra Belacqua. “There are things that you’re better off not understanding.”

The character's words are ominous to be certain, though Asriel's grim tone should serve as a comfort to fans of Pullman's novels, as I understand each installment of the three-part series (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) acts as a terrifying read for any bibliophile worth their salt.

According to Nick Romano of Entertainment Weekly, the His Dark Materials trilogy takes place in a world parallel to our own, where a human’s soul exists outside one’s body in the form of a talking animal. It’s the story of Lyra (Logan star Dafne Keen), who, with her daemon Pantalaimon, live at Jordan College in Oxford. Her cloistered life soon gives way to a global adventure when she’s thrust into a mystery surrounding missing children and something called Dust, a particle which holds vast secrets of her universe.

Starring in HBO's version of Pullman's mysterious and malevolent series is LOGAN actress Dafne Keen, Tyler Howitt, Ian Peck (THE WOLFMAN, ROBIN HOOD), James McAvoy (SPLIT, GLASS), Lin-Manuel Miranda (MARY POPPINS RETURNS, MOANA), Kate Rutter (THE FULL MONTY, QUEER AS FOLK), Ruth Wilson (LUTHER, LOCKE), and Anne-Marie Duff (NOWHERE BOY, SHAMELESS), among others.

Previously, Pullman's His Dark Materials series was adapted for the big screen in 2017. Unfortunately, director Chris Weitz's THE GOLDEN COMPASS arrived to dismal reviews, despite packing the star power of Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Christopher Lee, Eva Green, Freddie Highmore, and Dakota Blue Richards.

It's to be hoped that when HBO's HIS DARK MATERIALS launches on the cable network later this year that fans of Pullman's fantasy action epic are pleased with the latest adaptation's RETURN TO OZ-like tone. I know I'll be tuning in. Will you?