Alex Honnold speaks out about being a ‘villain’ in HBO’s ‘Dark Wizard’

In a recent episode of his podcast, world famous rock climber Alex Honnold got candid about what he describes as being “cast as the villain” in HBO’s new four-part docuseries “The Dark Wizard.” 

The series explores the life and legacy of Dean Potter, an extreme climber and BASE jumper who made a name for himself through his risky climbs, highline walks and BASE jumps, especially in Yosemite National Park. Potter died in a BASE jumping accident in 2015. In the series’ third episode, directors Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen explore Potter’s rivalry with Honnold, which developed in the early 2000s as the two men began competing with each other over various climbing projects in Yosemite Valley. 

Their rivalry started to escalate in 2008, when Honnold became the first person to climb Half Dome with no safety gear or ropes, which is known as free soloing. 

“I had mixed feelings when Alex came around,” Potter said in footage included in “The Dark Wizard.” “You know, partially I was like, f–k. I wanted that. Another part was just like, that’s the way it goes. You know, Alex has been real competitive with me, trying to do things that he knows I want to do and you know he’s younger, he’s real competitive … He knew that was my life’s goal, and he did it before me because he was a competitive, kind of like, twerp.”

By 2012, Honnold had tackled multiple projects that Potter had his eyes on, including one of the greatest achievements in climbing history: a free solo ascent of the West Face of El Capitan. 

“2012 is a big f–king year, because I basically did everything that Dean had ever done or wanted to do, and generally in better style and, you know, faster and whatever,” Honnold said in the episode. “Yeah, poor Dean.”

In a recent episode of Honnold’s podcast, Climbing Gold, Honnold expressed that he found it “interesting” to be cast in “The Dark Wizard” – for the first time ever – as a villain.

“We did, like, 12 hours of interview, and they basically took all the most extreme stuff and turned it into, like, ‘Extremely competitive! Hates Dean!’” Honnold said. “You’re kind of like, oh. It’s slightly annoying.” 

Honnold went on to call Potter his “childhood hero,” and said that in the fourth and final episode, which airs May 5 at 6 p.m., the two men had a “kumbaya moment” at the Telluride Film Festival prior to Potter’s death. He added that the feats of his 2012 climbing season came more as a result of trying to complete as many projects as he could while in Yosemite Valley, and less out of any desire to “one-up” Potter. 

Even in the podcast, though, Honnold continues taking not-so-subtle jabs at his hero-turned-rival. 

“I always sort of thought that, in some ways, he was probably happy to not have to do some of those things,” Honnold says of the climbing challenges he completed before Potter. “You have to believe in his heart of hearts, he’s kind of like, ‘Thank God I don’t have to do that.’ Because if you really wanted to do it, he could have done it six months ago or, like, a year ago, but he just hadn’t.”

Despite his portrayal in the series, Honnold described “The Dark Wizard” as “amazing.”

“I’m glad they made it, regardless of any opinions about me being cast as a villain,” Honnold said. “Dean was such a hero of mine, and really the whole generation of climbers. And it makes me slightly sad that people that get into climbing now will have never heard of him, because, you know, he died… And so it’s nice to sort of remember his legacy in some way.”