His Dark Materials: Season 3 kicks off production with new cast members, promises ‘epic adventure’

The third and final season of BBC One and HBO’s His Dark Materials has started production, and there’s a bunch of new cast members joining Lyra (Dafne Keen) and Will (Amir Wilson) on their journey through multiple realities.  

HBO announced the news today along with the image of Keen and Wilson above, taken somewhere in Wales or England. The two appear ready to act in their first scene of the season, which follows the events of The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman’s final novel in the trilogy that the show is based on.

“The Amber Spyglass is the most gloriously complex of Philip Pullman’s novels to adapt for TV, but with our world class creative team in Cardiff no challenge is too daunting,” Jane Tranter, founder of the show’s production company, Bad Wolf, said in a statement. “This season is both an epic adventure and a story about love and truth.”

The show follows the arc of Pullman’s three books, and the creative team has been thinking about how the series would end since the very beginning. “The moment we started season one of His Dark Materials we had mapped out all three novels to know the direction in which we were heading,” executive producer Dan McColluch said. “Every detail and character within this incredible work of fiction has been analyzed and discussed for four years now, and to finally arrive in the many worlds of The Amber Spyglass is thrilling.”

The eight-episode third season will also introduce a slew of new characters. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Suicide Squad, Lost) will be “Commander Ogunwe,” and Jamie Ward (Tyrant) will be “Father Gomez.” The gang of rebel angels -- “Balthamos,” “Baruch,” and “Xaphania" -- will be played by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Zack Snyder’s Justice League), Simon Harrison, and Chipo Chung, respectively. Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe will play “Ama.”

In addition to Keen and Wilson, returning cast members include Ruth Wilson as “Mrs. Coulter,” Simone Kirby as "Mary Malone,” Will Keen as “Father President McPhail,” Jade Anouka as “Ruta Skadi,” Ruta Gedminstas as “Serafina Pekkala,” and James McAvoy as “Lord Asriel.”

Though no release date has been set, with production now underway, expect to see Season 3 of His Dark Materials on BBC One and HBO sometime in 2022.