A New HBO Series, ‘The Dark Wizard,’ Examines the Life and Death of Climbing Legend Dean Potter
Dean Potter isn’t a name you forget. On May 16, 2015, the famous climber and BASE jumper fell to his death after a wingsuit flight in Yosemite. He was 43 years old.
I had just started working for Outside as a news writer and social media manager a couple of weeks earlier. I stumbled upon the news on an old climbing forum, and those far more senior than I worked to verify the facts. Even as someone not deeply embedded in the hardcore climbing scene and brand new to the outdoor industry at the time, I was familiar with Dean’s career and knew the community had lost a legend.
Dean Potter became known in the Yosemite climbing world in the 1990s for tackling free-solo (climbing without a rope for protection) climbs in the park. He began to experiment with free-soloing while wearing a parachute for protection, which he called free-basing. Throughout his career, he also tried highlining, wingsuit flights, and BASE jumping, and he created a film about BASE jumping with his small dog, Whisper.
In 2002, Potter graced the cover of Outside magazine. The accompanying profile, titled “Climbing at the Speed of Soul,” chronicled his talents as a speed climber on El Capitan, where he shattered various records for ascending the toughest routes.
Now, a new HBO series that explores the life of Potter is about to be released. The Dark Wizard is directed by Emmy-winning filmmakers Peter Mortimer of The Alpinist, The Dawn Wall, and Valley Uprising and Nick Rosen of Valley Uprising and The Alpinist. It features cameos from big-name climbers like Alex Honnold and Cedar Wright. “He was the most badass motherfucker in the Valley,” says Wright of Potter in the trailer.
The four-part series premiered at SXSW on March 15, 2026, and will move to HBO on April 14. Outside received an early release of the trailer for The Dark Wizard, which you can watch above.
“When I was a little boy, my first memory was this dream of falling,” says Potter in the trailer. “My whole life, I’ve been obsessed with the dream. But maybe it wasn’t me falling to my death; maybe it was me flying.”
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