Game of Thrones director Neil Marshall says he would have done things a lot differently for the final two episodes of the concluding season.
If anyone was to know anything about gruesome fights and barbaric wars, it would be Neil, who directed the pivotal episodes Blackwater and The Watchers on the Wall which had Jon Snow’s (Kit Harrington) first lover Ygritte (Rose Leslie) killed.
However, it doesn’t change the fact that David Benioff and D B Weiss know the show inside and out and had control since the series began.
‘It’s very difficult to second guess those guys because they are geniuses and they have done such an amazing job,’ the Hellboy creator exclusively told Metro.co.uk.
‘Inevitably, I would’ve taken a different approach to directing. One of the greatest experiences I had with working on both those episodes was that they were so open to bringing my ideas, particularly about battle scenes and how battles worked.
‘I would’ve definitely added my strategy and knowledge to that.’
From The Descent to Westworld, Neil has had endless experience in creating the horrifying and impactful movies and series, so it was no surprise when he created some of the best battle scenes in Game of Thrones.
Neil said: ‘I kind of agree with a lot of the criticism that it was really rushed.
‘Everyone ended up where they were meant to end up but they got there in a little bit of a rush in the end.’
Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin had also agreed with the extreme backlash to the series.
He lashed out at HBO producers for forcing him to throw the spotlight on characters he otherwise wouldn’t have and cutting the finale short.
‘It can be… traumatic,’ the creator of Westeros told Fast Company. ‘Because sometimes their creative vision and your creative vision don’t match, and you get the famous creative differences thing — that leads to a lot of conflict.
‘The [final] series has been… not completely faithful. Otherwise, it would have to run another five seasons.
‘You get totally extraneous things like the studio or the network weighing in, and they have some particular thing that has nothing to do with story, but relates to “Well this character has a very high Q Rating so let’s give him a lot more stuff to do.”’
It might be a while until GOT fans get over what they felt like was a betrayal, George RR Martin is a bit too busy with the prequel Bloodmoon to dwell too hard on it and Neil has got his hands full with his upcoming movie The Reckoning and a super unnerving interactive experience Kraken Screamfest: Director’s Cut happening in London.
Who’s down?
‘I wanted to do something that was different from everything I’ve done before,’ he said.
‘All the dead and millions who have died at sea: ship captains, the pirates, the cruise liners are now coming back from the sea.’
Spooky.
Expect to see the terrifying Kraken and a lot more shock-inducing undead characters who will be haunting London for two nights only.
Kraken Screamfest: Director’s Cut will take place from Thursday, October 31 to Friday, November 1, at 2083 Acton Mews, Haggerston, London E8 4DG.
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