Summary
Game of Thronesstar Kit Harington elaborates on why theJon Snowspinoff series was canceled, saying “nothing got us excited enough.” After HBO’s massively popular fantasy series came to an end in 2019, with Jon Snow exiled from Westeros and returning to the lands beyond the Wall with the Wildlings, it was first reported in 2022 that a sequel series for the character was in development. However, earlier this year, Harrington revealed that theJon Snow spinoffis no longer in active development at HBO.
Now, during a profile byGQ,Harington elaborated on why the Jon Snow spinoff series was canceled. The star says that he and HBO spent a couple of years developing the idea, but he ultimately backed out because “nothing got [them] excited enough,” and he feared that pushing it further could result in a subpar project. Read his full comments below:
What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, “Would you consider this?” My first reaction was no. And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war. I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way. We spent a couple of years back and forth developing it. And it just didn’t… nothing got us excited enough. In the end, I kind of backed out and said, “I think if we push this any further and keep developing it we could end up with something that’s not good. And that’s the last thing we all want.”
HBO & Kit Harington Made The Right Decision With The Jon Snow Spinoff Series
It Would’ve Likely Disappointed
Though there might have been an intriguing and meaningful story to tell about Jon Snow’s life after theGame of Thronesending,HBO and Harington were unable to find the right direction, and they ultimately made the right decision to abandon development. Since the original series ended in 2019,Game of Throneshas thrived as a franchise, withHouse of the Dragonpremiering in 2022 to rave reviews and record-breaking viewership for HBO, and season 2 receiving similarly strong reviews.
AnotherGame of Thronesspinoff,A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is also in the works and set to premiere in 2025. Notably, both spinoff series are prequels, withHouse of Dragonset about 200 years beforeGame of Thrones, andA Knight of the Seven Kingdomstaking place about 100 years after that. In turn, they haven’t had to deal withGame of Thrones' divisive ending.The prequels are also based on George R.R. Martin’s books,Fire & Bloodand hisTales of Dunk and Eggnovellas, and therefore have plenty of source material to work with.
HBO’s Jon Snow Sequel Cancellation Kills My Big Game Of Thrones Season 9 Concern
Kit Harington’s Jon Snow sequel won’t be moving forward at HBO, which is good given it would have had to be Game of Thrones season 9 in some way.
As a direct sequel toGame of Thrones,the Jon Snow spinoff would have had to deal directly with its divisive ending. Also, with no source material to work with, they would likely have run into many of the same issues that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss did during the latter seasons ofGame of Thrones. Overall, in the case of theJon Snowspinoff series, HBO and Harington made the right decision to scrap it rather than risk once again disappointing fans with something that wasn’t up to standard.
Source:GQ
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a multimedia franchise created by George R.R. Martin. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones, which lasted for eight seasons. After the incredibly divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the series was followed up by the prequel series House of the Dragon, which also received critical acclaim.
