Game of Thrones Author George R.R. Martin Hopes House of the Dragon Kicks off MCU-Style Franchise

By Nicole Drum

The first Game of Thrones spinoff series — in this case a prequel — House of the Dragon debuts on HBO on Sunday and author George R.R. Martin hopes not only that it's not the last but that it kicks off a franchise not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Star Wars. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (via The Wrap), Martin said that he isn't sure how many planned spinoffs will actually air, but he would like for it to be "several", and for them all to be part of a larger franchise.

"How many shows will make it to air?" Martin said. "I don't know, but I hope the answer will be several. And we'll have something akin to the Marvel or Star Wars model by the time it's all settled."

It was reported earlier this year that HBO is developing "a lot of ideas" for spinoffs of the massively popular Game of Thrones.  Back in HBO VP of Original Programming Kara Buckley said that there are many ideas in development, though only the "exciting" ones will get focus.

"We developed a lot of ideas, we were still developing a lot of ideas, and I think we're really excited about the one that will air later this summer," Buckley said. "But we don't feel the need to make another one unless it feels really creatively exciting to us. That's my job at least. And the team that I'm on, that's what we're told to focus on."

At the moment, there are several spinoff series in the works, both live-action and animation, including a Jon Snow spinoff that will star Kit Harrington — and it was Harrington that brought the idea to the team in the first place.

"Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us," Martin said. "I cannot tell you the names of the writers/showrunners, since that's not been cleared for release yet, but Kit brought them in, too, his own team, and they are terrific."

House of the Dragon is described by HBO as follows: "The prequel series finds the Targaryen dynasty at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires-real and imagined-crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins almost 193 years before the events of Game of Thrones, when King Viserys Targaryen breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm."

In addition to Smith, the series stars Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rhys Ifans star in House of the Dragon. The cast also includes Milly Alcock, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Emily Carey, Harry Collett, Ryan Corr, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jefferson Hall, David Horovitch, Wil Johnson, John Macmillan, Graham McTavish, Ewan Mitchell, Theo Nate, Matthew Needham, Bill Paterson, Phia Saban, Gavin Spokes, and Savannah Steyn.

House of the Dragon debuts August 21st on HBO.

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