James McAvoy says Lord Asriel is 'full freedom fighter' in His Dark Materials season 3
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James McAvoy has been waiting years to properly dig into the character of Lord Asriel on His Dark Materials.
Like the source material, author Philip Pullman's fantasy book series, the HBO drama featured the imposing aristocrat briefly in season 1. He then remained absent from the entirety of season 2, sans one scene executive producer Jane Tranter engineered for Asriel at the tail end. Now, with the third and final batch of episodes kicking off on HBO and HBO Max on Dec. 5, he will become a prominent figure in the events to come.
"Not a protagonist, but he's definitely proactive," McAvoy clarifies to EW. "What he's trying to do is a lot. You see him in full freedom fighter, rebellion mode. The scientist and the engineer are still there, but he's much more the fighter and the soldier this time, as well. He always had an air of military man about him. The marshal part of his leadership is in full flow."
HBO James McAvoy in 'His Dark Materials' season 3.
After adapting Pullman's novels The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife in the first two seasons, His Dark Materials now tackles The Amber Spyglass, which involves Asriel assembling an army from across the multiverse to wage war against the Authority and the Kingdom of Heaven.
Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson return as prophesied child Lyra and Subtle Knife bearer Will, who will travel into the Land of the Dead. Ruth Wilson also makes a comeback as Mrs. Coulter along with Simone Kirby's Mary Malone, Jade Anouka's Ruta Skadi, Ruta Gedminstas as Serafina Pekkala, Will Keen as Father President McPhail, Lin-Manuel Miranda's Lee Scoresby, and Andrew Scott as Jopari.
Some of the new figures include Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Commander Ogunwe; Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Simon Harrison, and Chipo Chung as rebel angels Balthamos, Baruch, and Xaphania; and Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe as Ama.
The original plan from Tranter and screenwriter Jack Thorne was to include a standalone Asriel-focused episode in season 2 to show what the character has been up to since he left Lyra at the university in season 1. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, they weren't able to see that mission through and the season fell one episode short of its eight-episode plan. McAvoy confirms they never got a chance to revisit that material for season 3, but the plotting will quickly pick up to fill in some of the gaps.
Peter Baldwin / HBO James McAvoy's Lord Asriel wages war against Heaven in 'His Dark Materials' season 3.
Asriel's mission is to free mankind from what he sees as the totalitarian grip of the Authority and the religious oppression that comes with it. "He sets up his own land, his own Republic of Heaven, his more egalitarian, possibly socialist kind of republic," McAvoy explains. "His motive just becomes much, much clearer. You see him not as a war monger, but as somebody who's committed to war. He is committed to sacrifice anything to get the job done."
Audiences know Lyra is the one prophesied to bring about great change in the multiverse. Asriel's ego is too great for him to see that initially. He's convinced he's destined to defeat what is essentially God and free those in his hold. McAvoy believes that makes Asriel a bad father.
"He's almost got a messianic complex," the actor says. "He's clinging onto the fact that he's the dude, he's the one, he's the man ... It's all about me, right up to the final moment. So it makes that realization quite sudden and quite jarring for him, but quite profound too. I think his schemes are actually selfless. He's got a massive ego, but what he's trying to do is unquestionably the right thing to do/ How he's going about it is completely questionable."
Season 1 of His Dark Materials felt "quite grand," McAvoy notes, but the world building of season 3 feels more extensive. Asriel will be traversing multiple worlds to assemble his army, which include rebel angels, witches, humans, and another new species we haven't seen from the books as of yet, the Gallivespians, which look like Tinkerbell-sized humans that ride around on butterflies and dragonflies. They are "really in a whole new bag," McAvoy teases. "It is a hectic book to try and corral into TV."
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