Though it may have come to an end nearly a year and a half ago now, Game of Thrones and the hype surrounding it seems to be live and well. This is evident based upon the number of, and subsequent excitement around, spin-off series in development, the first of which likely to hit screens being House of Dragons. This would make sense given the new series is set to be a prequel to Game of Thrones, and has more or less been confirmed by Collider as they confirmed earlier today that the lead to the series has been casted. Set to portray Viserys Targaryen, the production team working on House of Dragons has casted English Actor Paddy Considine, known for his roles in Hot Fuzz and HBO series The Outsider.
Set three centuries prior to Game of Thrones, House of Dragons follows the notorious Targaryen family, headed by fan-favorite Daenerys Targaryen played by Emilia Clarke, and revisits some of the stories that influenced the Targaryen family in the original show. Considine will play King Viserys Targaryen as he is elected to succeed the Old King, and follow him as he navigates substantial events in the history of the series such as the Dance of Dragons, the Targaryen family civil war. A similar production team is set to oversee the series, with Ryan Condal, writer of the original series’ pilot script, returning to serve as co-showrunner of the series alongside original author George R.R. Martin and industry veteran Miguel Sapochnik. Writers Vince Gerardis and Sara Lee Hess, among others, will also be returning to executive produce for the new series.
Though it is set to be the first spin-off series to reach screens, we aren’t set to see an official release until 2022, and that could be delayed even further given the COVID pandemic and recent spikes that have been seen. With that being said however, Game of Thrones thrived during a time when people were not as reliant upon entertainment for their sanity; now that this has changed dramatically, this would appear to be the perfect storm for such a series to succeed. Though only time can tell, it is difficult to imagine any world where any series that exists in Martin’s fictional universe does not achieve a substantial level of acclaim, and it will continue to receive an equally substantial level of excitement until the series’ initial 10-episode order eventually reaches consumers.
