One of HBO‘s very best fantasy TV shows could, and should, still receive a follow-up. The network will forever be synonymous with the genre thanks to Game of Thrones, which changed television in myriad ways. One of those was that it led to a fantasy boom period, where every network and streamer vied to essentially find the Game of Thrones replacement show that could be the genre’s next big thing, whether it was something like The Witcher and Shadow & Bone on Netflix, or The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time on Prime Video.
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HBO has had its own attempts too, including prequel series House of the Dragon, with many more Game of Thrones spinoffs in development. But its best – and arguably the best fantasy show overall in the post-Thrones landscape – is His Dark Materials, its adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book trilogy of the same name (previously turned into the movie The Golden Compass). It takes place in a world not unlike our own on the surface, only where people’s souls are physically manifested as animal companions called daemons. We follow a young girl named Lyra who searches for her missing friend, and is pulled into a much grander conspiracy, a story filled with witches, armored polar bears, and more fantastical creations, and a battle between good and evil.
Led by Logan‘s Dafne Keen as Lyra, the show soared where its movie counterpart sagged; this was a near-perfect adaptation that had an incredibly rich world, complex character arcs, and some beautiful emotional beats. The show didn’t come close to the level of popularity that Game of Thrones enjoyed (though few things have), but after it ended in 2022, it still deserves a sequel.
His Dark Materials Deserves A Sequel Show – And It Could Happen
His Dark Materials, quite unlike the controversial conclusion to Game of Thrones, has a perfect ending. It does a great job of adapting the source material, and brings things to a close in a way that’s satisfying on every level. It wraps up all the storylines it needs to, and most importantly, it delivers on being an incredibly moving way to go out that fits with the bigger themes of the story. But that doesn’t mean it has to be the end. Pullman has returned to the world with more books, and that includes picking up the story of Lyra once again.
Knowing that Lyra’s journey continues on the page makes the TV show ripe for expansion. A big focus on the series is about her growing up, but the new books – in what’s called The Book of Dust series – actually follow her as a grown-up. Keen previously told Radio Times that she’d happily play Lyra for the rest of her life, and while that might not quite be necessary, the strength of both her performance and the character warrants further exploration. There’s enough to do something new while building upon the familiar, and to bring even more depth to the character.
This is also a fascinating world that was wonderfully rendered on-screen, and there are more secrets to uncover. The Book of Dust series expands on some of the bigger philosophical and existential questions from His Dark Materials, and with that we get to learn about things that inform our understanding not only of the wider universe Pullman created, but the original story of Lyra as well. If it can tap into the same quality as the first three seasons, then there’s every reason for a sequel show to happen. Producer Jane Tranter previously supported this in another interview with Radio Times, saying she was “very keen” to adapt The Book of Dust books.
There has been little movement on a potential His Dark Materials sequel since the show ended, but 2025 does bring renewed hope. That’s because Pullman is finishing The Book of Dust trilogy, with the third and final book, titled The Rose Field, scheduled for release on October 23rd. This is, as it stands, set to be the last book following Lyra, and so the true end to her story. With a full trilogy to be adapted, there’s a clear blueprint for HBO to work from in bringing the series to TV, and that could finally be what’s needed to spark it into life. Just like Game of Thrones has a rich enough world, and enough source material, to inspire spinoffs and prequels, so too should His Dark Materials.
All three seasons of His Dark Materials are now streaming on HBO Max, alongside all eight seasons of Game of Thrones.
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Image courtesy of Focus Features.
