In a recent interview, author George R.R. Martin hopes that his acclaimed series Game of Thrones can become a franchise similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU has both blockbuster movies and television series, spanning decades of entertainment and Martin hopes that his series could expand similarly.
Martin began his famous fantasy book series with Game of Thrones in 1996. In 2011, the as-of-yet unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire series was adapted for television by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss for HBO. The series has become a worldwide sensation and remains one of the most-watched series ever despite it completing its run in 2019. Despite the controversial ending of the series, Martin and HBO still want to capitalize on the show’s success and several spinoff projects are in development.
Among the spinoff shows that are in development are a sequel about Jon Snow (Kit Harrington), a Tales of Dunk and Egg series based on Martin’s novellas, and a series about the nine voyages of the Sea Snake written by Gotham scribe Bruno Heller. Martin and HBO also have three animated projects on the way. Soonest of all, the prequel series, House of the Dragon, chronicling the events of the House of Targaryen, up to the familial civil war, the Dance of the Dragons, will be released in August.
In an interview, Martin declared:
“The MCU has The Avengers, but they also have something offbeat like WandaVision. That’s what I hope we can do with these other Game of Thrones shows, so we can have a variety that showcases the history of this world. There are only so many times you can do a competition for the Iron Throne.”
The Marvel Cinematic Universe definitely has very diverse projects. WandaVision is a superhero, romantic sitcom that ties directly into the events of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness; Hawkeye is a Christmas comedy show, complete with a musical; and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has episodes ranging from incredibly tragic to hilariously comedic, with episodes in the past and the future, and dealing with enemies as diverse as androids, ancient Inhumans and Hydra. On the other hand, they also have more “typical” superhero movies like The Avengers. Martin would like this diversity to become a part of the Game of Thrones franchise.
Martin is right that retreading old ground of HBO’s Game of Thrones would not be expanding the universe. Similar to how the MCU has expanded in many ways, the Star Wars franchise has developed several Disney Plus shows, both live action and animated ones, as well as having big-screen movies. In order for Game of Thrones to become a similarly diverse and large franchise, Martin is right that different sides of the world has to be shown.
Although Martin wants to create more “unusual” projects similar to WandaVision to expand the world of Game of Thrones, HBO’s first spinoff series will be House of the Dragon, which is quite similar to Game of Thrones, despite being a prequel series.
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