George R. R. Martin's next series, House of the Dragon is set to premiere next month. The Targaryen-centered series will serve as a prequel to Martin's Game of Thrones, which starred Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen throughout its eight-season run. Martin's new series will adapt his Fire & Blood novel and focus on the dragon-blooded family's initial history, including the "Dance of Dragons" civil war.
In preparing for House of the Dragon's release, Martin has expressed how he hopes the franchise continues to develop. Aside from the upcoming House of the Dragon series, HBO also has several Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works, including a Jon Snow series where Kit Harington will reprise his role. With several other live-action and animated Game of Thrones projects in development, Martin hopes he will continue to have a creative voice within each project.
As Martin continues to write the novels these HBO series are based on, he has begun to question where he will fit in the franchise as it continues to grow. "Sometimes I sit around trying to figure out who the hell I am in this whole scenario," Martin said. "Am I George Lucas? Am I Gene Roddenberry? Am I Stan Lee?" When asked which of the three creators he'd like to be, Martin admitted that he wasn't sure, but knew which one he didn't want to be like. "Not Stan Lee at the end," Martin said. "He had no power, no influence. He wasn't writing any stories. He couldn't say, 'Don't do this character.' He was just a friendly person they brought to conventions and who did cameos. To be sidelined on the world and characters you created, that would be tough."
Despite Martin's concerns over ending up in a predicament like Stan Lee, Martin did acknowledge that he would want the Game of Thrones franchise to end up like the MCU. "The MCU has The Avengers, but they also have something offbeat like WandaVision," Martin said. "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." With this flexibility Martin hopes to find in his franchise, he hopes to avoid creating anything that feels repetitive. After all, "There are only so many times you can do a competition for the Iron Throne."
Martin will begin to test the Game of Thrones franchise's flexibility with House of the Dragon. The series features a fresh cast that includes Paddy Considine, Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, and a number of others. The Targaryen series will follow the regal family through a number of difficult periods, two centuries before Daenerys began her quest for the Iron Throne in Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon will be a test of how future Game of Thrones spin-off series may be received. After the backlash Game of Thrones experienced after its final season ended, many viewers of the series have vowed to never watch any projects associated with the fantasy series. However, with three years having passed since the Game of Thrones finale, it has given fans plenty of time to work through their anger and potentially give House of the Dragon their undivided attention.
Game of Thrones is now available on HBO Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter