'His Dark Materials' Season 2: Release date, plot, cast, trailer and all you need to know about the fantasy adventure series
Despite the news that COVID-19 has forced the 'His Dark Materials' show to cut one episode of the upcoming second season, there is plenty to look forward to. Mainly the addition of Andrew Scott, Fleabag's "Hot Priest", who joins the production as Will Parry's father in Season 2. What's more, Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be voicing his female daemon, an osprey. Season 2 teases "strange new times".
Release Date
Season 2 will premiere in November 2020 but no official date has been announced.
Plot
Drawing heavily on the second book 'The Subtle Knife' of the 'His Dark Materials' book trilogy, the second season will pick up right after Season 1 where we saw both Lyra and Will step through the cuts made in the dimensional fabric -- the breaches in the boundaries between worlds. Lyra will team up with Will Parry, and together they will embark on the journey that will anoint them as the new Adam and Eve, who will bring balance back to the worlds. Critical to their destiny is Dr. Mary Malone, a physicist, who is investigating the dark matter in Will's world. She is a character who plays the role of a catalyst and theologically speaking, she is the serpent that sets Eve up to "sin", which is, in Phillip Pulman's world, a pretty good thing. We will also see Colonel John Parry Will's father aka Dr. Stanislaus Grumman make an entrance with his daemon, a female osprey. Season 2 will also see a lot more of the witches who Mrs Coulter will actively pursue. According to the official synopsis released by HBO, "In the second season of His Dark Materials, Lord Asriel has opened a bridge to a new world, and, distraught over the death of her best friend, Lyra follows Asriel into the unknown. In a strange and mysterious abandoned city, she meets Will Parry, a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past. Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father, Colonel Parry, but find their path is constantly thwarted as war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary."
Cast
James McAvoy
Reprising his role as Lord Asriel is James McAvoy, Lyra's father. Lord Asriel sacrifices Lyra's friend, Roger, to create the breach between worlds and fights against the Church's dogmas in his world. McAvoy is best known for playing the faun Mr. Tumnus in 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'. For his performance in 'The Last King of Scotland', he won several award nominations, including the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. For his work on the critically acclaimed romantic drama war film 'Atonement', he earned a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination. He is best known for his work as the younger Professor Charles Xavier in the the 'X-Men' franchise
Dafne Keen
Keen is best known for playing the mutant Laura Kinney/ X-23 in 'Logan' opposite Hugh Jackman. The British and Spanish actress plays the main lead of the show, Lyra Belacqua, who is the daughter of Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter.
Ruth Wilson
The mysterious and cruel Mrs Coulter is played by Ruth Wilson. Before the show, she unceremoniously left the hit show 'The Affair' as rumors circulated of a hostile work environment. She is also known for her role as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama 'Luther'.
Amir Wilson
Amir Wilson plays Will Parry, Adam to Lyra's Eve. He is a mature teenager who takes care of his mentally-ill mother after the disappearance of his father, Colonel John Parry. Wilson has starred as the Netflix series 'The Letter for the King' and 'I Am Not Okay With This'. Most recently, he starred as Dickon in the 2020 film adaptation of 'The Secret Garden'.
Andrew Scott
Andrew Scott is Will's father, Colonel John Parry, who goes by the name Dr Stanilaus Grumman in Lyra's world. It is vital he reunites with Will in the Season 2 narrative. Andrew Scott is best known for his role as Moriarty in BBC's 'Sherlock' that earned him the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is also known for playing the Priest on the second series of 'Fleabag', receiving a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and winning the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Lee Scorseby is portrayed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the aeronaut who aids Lyra on her quest with his rabbit daemon, Hestor. He has gained wide recognition for writing the script, music and lyrics for 'Hamilton', which has been acclaimed as a pop culture phenomenon since its Broadway premiere in 2015. His awards include a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award, a MacArthur Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Honor in 2018.
Simone Kirby
Simone Kirby plays Dr Mary Malone, who meets Lyra and introduces her to her work on dark matter that corresponds to Dust in her world. Simone Kirby is an Irish actress. She is probably best known for playing Oonagh in Ken Loach's film 'Jimmy's Hall'. Other credits include 'Peaky Blinders', 'Notes on Blindness', and 'Alice Through The Looking Glass'.
Creators
The show is produced by Bad Wolf in association with New Line Cinema for BBC One and HBO. Executive producing the series are Jane Tranter, Dan McCulloch, Joel Collins and Julie Gardner (for Bad Wolf); Philip Pullman, Jack Thorne, Tom Hooper (creative); Deborah Forte, Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood for New Line Cinema; and Ben Irving and Piers Wenger for the BBC.
Trailer
As the Magisterium prepares for war and Mrs Coulter tortures witches to find out what they know about Dust, and the prophesy concerning Lyra, we see Lyra and Will is the abandoned parallel world of Cittagazze and its evil "spectres". We see Lyra telling Pan that both of them have "something to do". The trailer also gives us the first glimpse of the "subtle knife", whose bearer will play a crucial part in the Great War that the witches have known was coming. Colonel John Parry teams up with Lee Scoresby as the Magisterium most dangerous officials pursue them, Lyra and Will. We also see Dr Mary Mallone hook Lyra up to a machine that might reveal more about why the parallel dimensions are "all dying".
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