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BBC and HBO have ordered “His Dark Materials” Season 2 even though the first installment hasn’t been released yet. Dafne Keen will be headlining the fantasy series with James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson providing support for the young star.
So far, no news about the plotlines has been given by the showrunners. While others would have it that “His Dark Materials” Season 2 will be covering the entirety of “The Subtle Knife,” this is unlikely to happen for several reasons.
One, BBC and HBO would want to stretch this story as much as they can since it will be a huge cash cow should it become a global hit. Two, “His Dark Materials” Season 2 wouldn’t do the book justice if it crams all the storyline in a single installment. Yes, the books aren’t all that thick. But given that television is a different medium for telling a story, showrunners would want to pace the plot to accommodate all the lore.
This is especially true given that “His Dark Materials” Season 2 only has eight episodes. Even if it has an hour-long run time, show writers would need to cut a lot of plot points to finish the entire second book in a single release. This, in turn, could spark the ire of the franchise’s fan base, the primary organic marketers on social media once the first installment airs.
There’s also the matter of budget to consider. BBC director general Tony Hall already said that they’ve allocated a huge amount of money for each episode. This indicates that they’re going big for all the major events happening in “His Dark Materials” Season 2, especially if it covers the second part of the first book.
So this is what producers may have done. The first installment could tell the story of “Northern Lights” and ending it on the battle of the panserbjørnes. “His Dark Materials” Season 2 could then tell the remaining storylines with Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) killing Roger and opening a rift towards the other dimension.
As for the release date of “His Dark Materials” Season 2, nothing has been announced just yet, although production has been set to start in the summer. The first installment is expected to drop late in 2019. If all goes well, the second season could see a late 2020 release with a possible earlier timeline still on the cards.
