SDCC: New trailer for His Dark Materials shows a magical, nefarious world

The upcoming series adaptation of His Dark Materials just got a new trailer, which dropped online shortly after being screened to the Hall H crowd at San Diego Comic-Con today. 

The series is a joint production from HBO and The BBC, and stars Logan's Dafne Keene as Lyra Belacqua, a young girl who's given a mysterious device that can tell the truth, and eventually uncovers a nefarious plot involving child abduction and inter-dimensional travel. And also one heavily-armored polar bear, who just absolutely steals the show here. 

You can check out the newest eye-popping trailer for yourself: 

The series is based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman, which are set in an alternate world where humans are tied to animal-like reflections of themselves, or "daemons," which also will factor into the storytelling big-time. When asked why she chose to adapt such dense material for TV, executive producer Jane Tranter told the SDCC crowd (which included SYFY WIRE) that she "thought it was time for the books to be liberated."

"Pullman says that he wrote adult books that children should read, and it's my hope that we've made an adult show that children will watch," Tranter explained. 

In addition to Keene, His Dark Materials will star Ruth Wilson as Marissa Coulter. When asked about the role, The Little Stranger star said she was excited to get into the character's wicked mind. 

"I read the books and [Coulter] was described as 'the cesspit of moral filth' and 'the mother of all evil and I thought, 'OK, I have to play this,'" Wilson told the crowd. 

Before wrapping up the panel discussion, the show's cast and creators revealed what they thought their own personal daemons would be. James McAvoy, who's taking on the role of Lord Asriel, chose an otter because "they're exceptionally happy and playful." Keen opted for "one of these really annoying tiny tropical monkeys bouncing around all the time," while Wilson stayed on-brand by naming "a cat of some sort." Tranter chose a big wolf, while writer Jack Thorne chose a woodpecker because he's "a very anxious person." 

However, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who's playing Lee Scoresby, gave the best answer when he named Pizza Rat as his daemon of choice. 

There's no official premiere date at this time, but given the amount of hype behind the series, it's expected to be announced sooner before later. 

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