By Huw Fullerton

Published: Wednesday, 22 December 2021 at 12:00 am

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While there was no series of His Dark Materials this autumn, fans of the series need not fret, as the third and final series has already been filmed ahead of a debut in late 2022.

And now we’ve been given our first look at what we can expect from the next instalment of the Philip Pullman adaptation, including the full return of James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel after his absence (barring one small cameo) in season two.

You can see small flashes of Asriel in a new trailer from HBO Max, and we can have a better look here – it seems like this might be Asriel, sporting a new hairdo, hard at work in the Republic of Heaven war camp he’s created to wage war on The Authority (basically, he’s taking on God).

The BBC and HBO have also released first looks of Lyra (Dafne Keen) and her mother Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson) looking perturbed, though the tease of Subtle Knife-bearer Will (Amir Keen) is slightly more worrying. What’s left him looking so battered, punchdrunk and sweaty?

Admittedly, we’re only seeing small glimpses of the new series here, but with around 9-10 months to go before we actually see the conclusion of Pullman’s epic tale onscreen, we’re sure this is just the beginning. It’ll certainly do for starters.

Redeem this in 2022. pic.twitter.com/VWQcOnRy40

— HBO Max (@hbomax) December 22, 2021