RELATED STORIES His Dark Materials: Daemons and Dust Abound in First Full Trailer — Watch

His Dark Materials: Daemons and Dust Abound in First Full Trailer — Watch TVLine's Exclusive Comic-Con Portraits 2019

When the cast of HBO’s His Dark Materials stopped by TVLine’s San Diego Comic-Con video suite Thursday, they came armed with a message for fans of Philip Pullman’s novels who were disappointed by 2007’s The Golden Compass: Don’t worry, the series is better. “We have so much time to tell the story,” said Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays Lee Scoresby, “and we get to dig so deeply into the world you love… and give the story time to breathe.”

The series treatment will even allow viewers to understand, maybe (gasp!) empathize with, Ruth Wilson’s villainous Mrs. Coulter. Though the actress admitted to TVLine’s Editorial Director Michael Ausiello that yes, well, the character is still “slightly abusive toward [her] monkey… she redeems herself in the end.”

As Ausiello’s conversation continues with Miranda, Wilson and Dafne Keen, who plays heroine Lyra Belacqua, the trio do their best to explain Dust, share what it was like to act opposite puppet versions of their alter egos’ daemons, and one of them reveals why their character’s relationship with their daemon plays “like a buddy-cop movie.”

To find out which one it is, press PLAY on the video above, then hit the comments. Do you think the series will get right what The Golden Compass didn’t (especially after seeing that eye-popping trailer)?