UPDATE: HBO shared a slew of Season Two pics with us after the panel concluded! Scroll down to see…
Philip Pullman‘s His Dark Materials returns to HBO this fall with its second season, and executive producers Jane Tranter and Jack Thorne, along with cast members Dafne Keen (Lyra), Ruth Wilson (Mrs. Coulter), Ariyon Bakare (Lord Boreal), Amir Wilson (Will Parry), Andrew Scott (John Parry) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Lee Scoresby) spilled a modest amount of tea on what to expect in a virtual SDCC panel moderated by award-winning journalist Stacey Wilson Hunt.
RELATED: Catch all of our His Dark Materials Season One recaps here!
What we learned:
- Series creator Philip Pullman has given the show his blessing, including reaching out to everyone individually to congratulate them.
- Dafne Keen confirmed that Will Keen (Father MacPhail) is her real-life dad.
- Lin-Manuel Miranda can’t sit still in a wheelie chair.
- Fleabag stans rejoice! Andrew Scott revealed that his dæmon is going to be played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge!
- They’ve been able to work throughout lockdown and are currently on track to launch the new season on its original schedule.
Quotable Quotes:
- Ruth Wilson, when Andrew Scott was introduced: “New cast member alert! New cast member alert!”
- Ruth Wilson again, on Mrs. Coulter’s Season Two journey: “What was really joyful in this season to play with was to sort of get underneath her circumstances more… what she’s had to deal with as a woman in a very male world, and the sacrifices she’s had to make, and at what cost. Which is really the cost of losing her daughter, really… or choosing something over her daughter.”
- Lin-Manuel Miranda on his friendship with Dafne Keen: “Dafne and I both speak Spanish, and we love show tunes, and so that was a very quick foundation to form our friendship.”
- Jane Tranter, explaining Lord Boreal being in Will’s world in Season One: (We saw Ariyon’s audition, and) “at that time, Jack was still working on how he was going to thread the backstory of Will through the first season, and actually it was one of those amazing things I’ve heard people talk about, and never actually seen before, when a writer is looking at the dailies and looking at the whole season come together, and we were lucky enough we had a pause between editing Season One together and starting filming Will’s world, because we had to wait for Amir to become available, so we couldn’t shoot it until later, so Jack had had a chance to see all of the eight episodes, really the first season come together, and it was the power of what Ariyon was doing as Boreal, when he just said, ‘Actually, what we need in Will’s world is a little bit of Boreal,’ and used him as the way in.”
- Lin-Manuel Miranda on his friendship with Andrew Scott: “The first thing we bonded over was Judge Judy.”
Primo Tweets:
Phoebe Waller bridge’s dream of being in the his dark materials world finally came true 😭#HisDarkMaterials pic.twitter.com/VPVqNeMoLR
— Cris (@marisadelamare) July 23, 2020
“You have no idea what it’s like to be cooped up in an air balloon with Andrew Scott.” – @Lin_Manuel on #HisDarkMaterials Season 2.
— His Dark Materials (@daemonsanddust) July 23, 2020
Q: will there be more scenes with mrs c and lyra in s2 bc i love their dysfunctional relationship ? 🥺💕 #AskHDM
– @parrillawilson— His Dark Materials (@daemonsanddust) July 23, 2020
What did they screen?
- A new trailer for His Dark Materials Season Two! (Below…)
New worlds await…#HisDarkMaterials returns for Season 2 this fall on @HBO. pic.twitter.com/dctQpu0j5c
— His Dark Materials (@daemonsanddust) July 23, 2020
RELATED: Keep up to date on GGA’s SDCC 2020 Coverage!
See the whole panel here:
And about those Season Two pics…
- WANDAVISION Finale Recap: (S01E09) The Series Finale - March 5, 2021
- WANDAVISION Recap: (S01E08) Previously On - February 28, 2021
- WANDAVISION Recap: (S01E07) Breaking the Fourth Wall - February 19, 2021
