Everything You Need To Know

His Dark Materials has quickly become HBO’s newest must-watch series. Last year, the series debuted and it kind of flew under the radar. But with season two wrapping up, this show has quickly become one of the best series across the streaming platforms.

There is a lot to love about this series. The cast is excellent, the visuals are top-notch, and the story is complex and engaging. It is a fun fantasy world to dive into with plenty of great action.

HBO has officially announced that the show is returning for a third and final season sometime next year. Here is everything you need to know about His Dark Materials.

Honoring the Books

The TV series is based on a popular young adult series of books. The books are also called His Dark Materials, and the show so far has done a great job of honoring the novels.

Written by Philip Pullman in the mid-’90s, the young adult books were pretty popular. Because of the unique scientific ideas throughout, Pullman’s trilogy was a big hit, especially in the U.K.

The trilogy of books centers on two young characters who are traveling between parallel universes, unraveling mysteries, and learning about the magic of their world.

The books are influenced by both science and religion. For a young adult series, the books deal with some complex ideas. Overall, Pullman paints a picture that is challenging towards the church and organized religions.

For this reason, Pullman’s series was met with a good amount of criticism from Christian groups. Despite the controversy, His Dark Materials still was a success around the world for young adults.

So far, the HBO series is a faithful adaptation of the books. The show is clearly made with admiration for the novels. HBO’s His Dark Materials has captured the wonder and mystery of the fantasy world right from the pages.

The Visuals

The series clearly has a big budget. The visuals are amazing. Within the world, every character has a daemon. These daemons take the form of different animals and they are bound to their human counterpart.

So there are plenty of incredible effects, showing these animal daemons interacting with humans and each other. There are armored polar bears battling on-screen, and it all looks stunning.

Back in 2007, The Golden Compass attempted to bring the first book to the big screen. The movie had a great cast and it looked awesome, but it ultimately was a flop. There was not enough screentime to build the world from the books in a clear and interesting way.

A series with the budget of a big film is perfect for these books. HBO has given His Dark Materials the proper treatment it deserves. The show also has some outstanding performances from stars like Lin Manuel Miranda and James Mcavoy.

In Conclusion

His Dark Materials balances some dark themes with excellent visuals and a world full of interesting ideas. The show has successfully honored the source material, and it looks amazing.

It is also nice that HBO has made this series family-friendly. There is a good amount of action and violence, so it’s not a kids’ show by any means. But, there is no nudity or language that is customary for a vast majority of HBO shows.

The second season has just wrapped up. The series built upon the first season in impressive ways, expanding on the weirded concepts in the show. The third season will be the final season, so each book has its own season respectively.

The show is perfect for binging, and it will keep you interested all the way through. If you haven’t started it yet, His Dark Materials is quite possibly the best show you’re missing out on.