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Game of Thrones Prequel Will Have an Ensemble Cast & Strong Female Characters
HBO has stated that the Game of Thrones prequel pilot will have an ensemble cast featuring multiple strong female characters. The network officially confirmed plans to develop a Game of Thrones prequel series earlier this year, which happens to be only one of five spinoff shows that were being considered. The pilot was written by Jane Goldman (Kingsman: The Golden Circle), who will serve as showrunner, should the pilot be ordered to series, and executive produce alongside George R.R. Martin, the author behind the A Song of Ice and Fire novels.
The showrunners of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, will not be involved. No title for the series has been announced as of yet, but a plot synopsis released in June revealed that the series will take place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones and will look into the origin of the white walkers. The prequel will also look at the dark secrets in Westeros’ history concerning many of the biggest families, including House Stark. And while no character details have been revealed yet, some details about the nature of the cast has come to light.
HBO president of programming Casey Bloys told Deadline at the summer TCA press tour that the Game of Thrones prequel will have an ensemble cast and feature strong female characters. He said, “There are very strong female characters but it’s an ensembles, there is men and women. Jane (Goodman) is a very good writer, we don’t want to limit her to writing female leads. There are a lot of very complicated leads in [the pilot].”
Bloys further detailed how Goldman wanted her script to exist on its own merits and not be tethered down to answering all of the questions to Game of Thrones. Bloys confirmed that, while Goldman’s story is unique in its own way, it will still have all of the fantastical thrills that Game of Thrones is known for. “It will feel very different because it’s 8,000 years before, it’s a very different setting, a very different time in Westeros. It will feel different but still Game of Thrones.”
Earlier today, Bloys also confirmed that Game of Thrones’ season 8, which has already finished filming, will premiere during the first half of 2019.With the TCA press tour going on, Bloys took the chance not only to confirm Game of Thrones season 8’s rough premiere timetable, but he also shot down early reports that the prequel series would be filming this October, saying that HBO is shooting for an early 2019 production with Goldman’s pilot.
Game of Thrones has always been known for the complex characterization of its leads and strong female characters such as Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth, Cersei Lannister, and Ygritte. It is encouraging to hear that HBO is intent on continuing this legacy forward with Game of Thrones’ prequel series. Characters like Arya and Cersei have garnered strong fan bases due to their fiery tempers, tenacious attitudes, and abilities to go toe-to-toe with (or even surpass) the talents of their fellow male characters. According to Bloys’ many comments, the same will be true of the characters that live in Goldman’s script.
