A full trailer for HBO’s upcoming television adaptation of His Dark Materials dives into the overhanging conspiracy of the world.
Starring Dafne Keen (Logan) as precocious Lyra Belacqua, His Dark Materials will follow the events of The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy. The trilogy starts off in a world slightly resembling our own, except everyone’s soul exists outside their body in a physical manifestation of an animal, and an overbearing religious authority known as the Magisterium looms over the world. The new trailer reveals the extent of the Magisterium’s control and touches on the idea of multiple worlds existing, something fully explored in the following two books of the series.
The HBO series also stars James McAvoy as Lyra’s adventuring uncle Lord Asriel, Ruth Wilson as the enigmatic Mrs. Coulter, and Lin Manuel Miranda as Texan balloon-operator Lee Scoresby. And yes, there is an armored polar bear. Unlike the previous live-action adaptation, the 2007 movie The Golden Compass, the series seems to be pivoting away from the pseudo-Victorian steampunk influence, leaning instead on a sleek dieselpunk-esque aesthetic.
The trailer arrives the same day that the second book in Pullman’s follow-up trilogy comes out. Entitled The Secret Commonwealth, the book follows a grown-up Lyra seven years after the events of the first trilogy.
His Dark Materials premieres on HBO on Nov. 4.