Sadly, the day has arrived when there is no more Game of Thrones. We now know how the war for the Iron Throne has finished and who now rules over the six kingdoms, it may not have been the ending a lot of people wanted but it is what they got. But now that it is all over what fantastical series is going to fill the void?
HBO has been teasing at their next venture into the world of fantasy with an adaptation of British author Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The name might ring a bell because the first book, The Golden Compass was already produced as a movie by New Line Cinema in 2007 which starred Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It was a major flop and did not do this acclaimed series any justice. It is exciting that HBO has decided to adapt these books because it pretty much guarantees that they will have the budget to bring the globe-trotting series to life.
The story centers around Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry who come from parallel universes and find themselves jumping between a variety of them. Lyra comes from the parallel United Kingdom where children have familiars called daemons which go with them everywhere but as they get older something happens and the daemons disappear which is the focus of the first novel in the series.
Here Is What We Know So Far
The series is being produced by the BBC and HBO and this crossover means that some familiar faces in the BBC world will be starring with Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda in the leads. The first trailer looks a whole lot darker than the movie which was geared towards children. With HBO at the helm, the series will most likely delve into the darkest parts of the books which follow Lyra and Will as they grow into adulthood and have to deal with all the trappings of that alongside constantly jumping into new universes completely alien to their own. Pullman used Milton’s Paradise Lost as a model for some of the themes dealt with in the series which has led to a bit of controversy regarding his perceived criticism of religion. This is a theme that HBO has never had a problem exploring so it will be very interesting to see how the series is received worldwide. Hopefully, it is just as good as Game of Thrones was. We are still waiting for the Arya spin-off!