HBO Max’s New High-Stakes 4-Part Docuseries With Alex Honnold Is Impossible To Look Away From

HBO Max’s new high-stakes four-part documentary sequence that includes legendary free solo climber Alex Honnold is already one of many streamer’s most charming and adrenaline-pumping reveals. After premiering on Tuesday, April 14th, the primary episode of this new HBO Max sequence earned a powerful 9.1 ranking on IMDb, making it one of the thrilling and top-rated new releases of 2026 to this point.

Though it isn’t but on HBO Max’s high 10 most-watched TV reveals on the earth this week, Darkish Wizard has already shortly gained the hearts of viewers who’ve seen the sequence premiere. Three further episodes will probably be launched each Tuesday till Could fifth. So there’s nonetheless loads of time to dive into one in all HBO’s greatest hidden gem new releases, as HBO is hoping for a surge in reputation following the large drop of the brand new season of Hacks and Euphoria.

Just like the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo, HBO’s Darkish Wizard facilities on Dean Potter, one of the prolific free solo climbers of all time. Honnold has change into well-known world wide for his unbelievable climbing feats, together with scaling one of many world’s tallest buildings with out a harness or security internet in Netflix’s Skyscraper particular, however he isn’t the true star of HBO’s Darkish Wizard. The position is stuffed by Potter, a pure thrill-seeker with a divisive character who is known in his area.

HBO Max’s ‘Darkish Wizard’ is already a must-see documentary sequence

The Darkish Wizard sequence premiered quietly final week on HBO Max, and here is why it is one of many streaming platform’s most promising new releases and value your time. As a documentary sequence, the story and material are fully actual. So all the pieces Dean Potter does within the documentary sequence is 100% authorized. Darkish Wizard begins with a pure and convincing scene during which Potter free-solos down an enormous cliff, mistimes his soar, and falls a whole bunch of toes. Happily, he was outfitted with a parachute at the moment.

These are the sorts of scenes you’ll be able to anticipate to see in “The Darkish Wizard,” as Potter climbs extra cliffs, walks slacklines above large canyons, and BASE jumps from nice heights. HBO Max’s dozens of motion films and thriller sequence might be extremely tense and suspenseful, however there’s nothing fairly like watching a grasp mountaineer break the boundaries of what most people consider is feasible. Dean Potter was a pioneer on the earth of free soloing and one of many biggest gamers of all time, however his controversial historical past turned a typical characteristic of his lasting legacy.

Alex Honnold had an advanced previous with ‘darkish wizard’ Dean Potter

Earlier than Honnold turned the worldwide face of free climbing, Dean Potter was on the high of this area of interest sport. He described himself as a really non secular one who desires to push the boundaries of all the pieces he encounters, whether or not it is constructing friendships or relationships with corporations he desires to work with. Potter’s story is explored in nice depth within the HBO documentary sequence, which makes use of interviews and private diary entries to discover the unknown path of the creative adventurer’s soul.

Data concerning Dean Potter’s destiny is well-known and extensively documented, but it surely’s finest to leap into HBO Max’s Darkish Wizard with out understanding an excessive amount of about what’s to come back. Alex Honnold seems within the docuseries as a pleasant face to many who had an advanced relationship with Dean as his arch-rival, and is explored within the sequence alongside along with his daring bodily feats. If Honnold’s tasks like Free Solo and Skyscraper fully blew your thoughts, HBO Max’s Darkish Wizard is a must-see.