In the post-Game of Thrones television landscape, there’s a new fantasy epic every couple of months. His Dark Materials by British author Phillip Pullman was already a pillar of the fantasy genre before Thrones pushed the genre further into the mainstream, but adapting Pullman’s books for screen has been a bumpy ride. A film was made based on the first novel, The Golden Compass (The Northern Lights in the UK) back in 2007, and it was…not great. Facing a boycott from a Catholic religious group over anti-religious themes from the moment it was announced, the film made pre-emptive changes that in essence gutted the substance of Pullman’s tale. No sequels were made after it’s not-great box office performance.
Then, in 2019, the stars finally aligned and we got the His Dark Materials television series. This show is co-produced by the BBC, HBO and Bad Wolf Studios, and unlike the much-maligned 2007 film, it stuck much closer to the spirit and tone of the books. It has been a solid success for the studios, even if it never quite exploded in popularity like The Wheel of Time or The Witcher.
The best thing about the His Dark Materials show is that the studios behind it were committed to doing a three-season arc that would cover the entire trilogy. Seasons 1 and 2 were filmed concurrently, which allowed the network to put them out only a year apart. The third season didn’t begin filming until summer 2021, however, which means we’ve had a longer wait for the final season. But soon we’ll be hopping worlds again with Lyra Belacqua (Daphne Keen) and Will Parry (Amir Wilson).
Just how soon, though? Let’s go over what we know.
His Dark Materials season 3
His Dark Materials changed things up quite a lot by spending much of the season following Lyra and Will’s journey to different parallel worlds. The season ended with a few huge cliffhangers and some tragic deaths, so obviously we’ve all been on the edge of our seats waiting to find out when the show will be returning for its third and final season.
What we know for sure is that His Dark Materials season 3 will be releasing sometime in 2022. HBO confirmed this with its sizzle reel for the year’s releases. The show has wrapped filming for its third season, meaning it’s now in post-production and the timeline for it coming out this year is looking pretty good. Actor Ruth Wilson, who plays the devious Mrs. Coulter, recently spoke about how the show had finished and she was “ready to leave” the role due to how intense it was to play such an emotionally charged villain.
We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for a solid release day from HBO, but until then there’s still plenty of time for a rewatch. Season 1 and 2 are available on HBO Max.
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