His Dark Materials Trailer Reveals BBC's Fantasy Adaptation

Collider

'His Dark Materials' Trailer Reveals James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson in BBC's Epic Fantasy Adaptation

By Vinnie Mancuso

Published Feb 24, 2019

There is a distinct lack of armor-wearing bears here.

BBC has released a brief trailer for His Dark Materials, an adaptation of Sir Philip Pullman's epic trilogy of fantasy novels. The teaser is, admittedly, pretty light on actual plot. Lin-Manuel Miranda is certainly ticked off about something. Ruth Wilson is subtly glancing all over the place. James McAvoy is there. But the footage does establish a tone—whimsically moody with charismatic glares aplenty—with all the more fantastical elements dreamed up by Pullman presumably coming down the road when the network locks down a premiere date. HBO will be handling Dark Materials duty on this side of the pond.

His Dark Materials takes place in a Victorian-inspired alternate reality in which humans live side by side with the living embodiments of their souls, known as daemons. The story follows a young woman named Lyra Belacqua (played here by Logan breakout Dafne Keen) who traverses several multiverses with her daemon, Pantalaimon. You might recognize the name of the first novel, The Golden Compass, as the title of the 2007 film adaptation from director Chris Weitz that miraculously managed to be terrible despite the presence of both Nicole Kidman and armor-wearing battle bears. Really gonna' need BBC to focus back up on the armor-wearing battle bears when it comes time for a new trailer. Only going to need a single shot of Tony-winning creator of Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda astride an armor-wearing battle bear to be sold on this thing, if I'm being honest.

Check out the trailer below. The series also stars Clarke Peters, Ariyon Bakare, and Georgina Campbell.

Here is the official synopsis for the His Dark Materials book trilogy:

These thrilling adventures tell the story of Lyra and Will—two ordinary children on a perilous journey through shimmering haunted otherworlds. They will meet witches and armored bears, fallen angels and soul-eating specters. And in the end, the fate of both the living—and the dead—will rely on them.

-

Phillip Pullman’s spellbinding His Dark Materials trilogy has captivated readers for over twenty years and won acclaim at every turn. It will have you questioning everything you know about your world and wondering what really lies just out of reach.