His Dark Materials’ third season will be “exceedingly weird”, says producer

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The second season of His Dark Materials has yet to debut, but a third season of the BBC/HBO fantasy drama is already said to be in the works. While speaking with Radio Times, His Dark Materials executive producer and production designer Joel Collins said that they're currently "in the early stages of development" on the third season, which he teases is "exceedingly weird and complicated." Keep in mind that the series hasn't officially been renewed yet, but it would seem that they're optimistic about its chances.

"The complexity is stepped up in terms of the story, the visuals and the narrative," Collins said. "There’s very few of us in a very secret group doing early work, which is exciting and complex. We’re trying to solve the puzzle away from all the eyes and the noise. And it’s that kind of really precious time you get before hundreds of people start asking questions." Although development of the third season of His Dark Materials is still in the early stages, Collins already has plenty of ideas for how the series will adapt Philip Pullman's third novel, "The Amber Spyglass."

It’s all complicated, but I utterly have an idea of the Mulefa and what their world is, Asriel’s Republic is an amazing place. We obviously go to the land of the dead, and what an exciting thing to think about and journey through. It’s literally a huge, complicated and brilliantly fun puzzle.

The Mulefa are elephant-like creatures who inhabit a parallel Earth and use their trunks to communicate as a form of sign-language; certainly not the easiest concept to get across on-screen. The first season of the series received largely positive reviews, including one from our own Alex Maidy, who called it the best fantasy adaptation since Game of Thrones in his review.

The official synopsis for the second season of His Dark Materials:

In the second season of HIS DARK MATERIALS, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) has opened a bridge to a new world, and, distraught over the death of her best friend, Lyra (Dafne Keen) follows Asriel into the unknown. In a strange and mysterious abandoned city she meets Will (Amir Wilson), a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past. Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father but find their path is constantly thwarted as a war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary.

The second season of His Dark Materials will debut on November 8th in the U.K and on November 16th in the U.S.