The Time Traveler's Wife First Look: Theo James And Rose Leslie's Time-Crossed Love Debuts On HBO This Spring

Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel, "The Time Traveler's Wife," is a classic love story that explores the themes of miscommunication in relationships, loss, and free will (and still sends me right into the nexus of an existential crisis). Now you can also experience these whirlwinds of emotions in series form, as "The Time Traveler's Wife" will debut this spring on HBO, as per a press release by Warner Media. Directed by Steven Moffat ("Doctor Who," "Sherlock"), "The Time Traveler's Wife" stars Rose Leslie and Theo James as Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble respectively. The upcoming romance drama series will be available for streaming on HBO Max.

The central premise of "The Time Traveler's Wife" is the romantic relationship between Henry, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to travel across time unpredictably, and Clare, his wife, who has no choice but to cope with his abrupt comings and goings. Henry's continuous absence, or rather, discontinuous presence, forms the crux of the classic tale. The six-episode HBO series will be adapting this premise in its own unique manner, and the narrative has been described as an "intricate and magical love story."

Now, I absolutely love Theo James as much as the next person and personally feel he would comfortably fit into the shoes of Henry, a troubled man whose absence in the relationship captures the arbitrariness and transience of love. This is not James' first brush with either romance or science-fiction and given his understated performance in 2020's "Archive," it will be interesting to witness how he assumes this role. On the other hand, Leslie will be the core focus of the drama, as her character will be at the receiving end of a wide gamut of emotions from a narrative point of view.

Per Deadline, Moffat commented the following about the scope of the story as a whole during HBO's TCA press conference:

"What is thrilling of the interaction of time travel and a love story here, is it makes the most common phenomenon of a completely happy marriage, interesting again. Love stories, or love movies, tend to end at the alter. We never do the bit where people are perfectly happy for decades because it seems like a dramatic thing. By scrambling it all up and constantly reminding you that love is inextricably linked to loss, which is a cheery thought, you make this very common phenomenon of a happy marriage, thrilling and full of attention and tragedy."

Apart from James and Leslie, Desmin Borges and Natasha Lopez are also a part of the cast, playing the roles of Gomez and Charisse respectively. An exact release date for "The Time Traveler's Wife" has not been revealed yet, but expect to witness whether love stands the test of time, sooner rather than later.