Missing “Game of Thrones,” even if you’re not happy about how it ended?
This week we got an update on “House of the Dragon,” the “GOT” prequel series coming down the pike.
The HBO series is set 300 years before the events of the previous show but focuses on a dynasty with which “GOT” fans are all too familiar: House Targaryen. The show is based on the 2018 George R.R. Martin book “Fire & Blood,” a Targaryen history.
Martin, who grew up in Bayonne and calls his own upbringing inspiration for the Targaryen Mother of Dragons character Daenereys Targaryen in “GOT,” is the co-creator of “House of the Dragon.” He’s collaborating with Ryan Condal (”Colony”), with Condal and frequent “Game of Thrones” director Miguel Sapochnik (”Battle of the Bastards” and “The Long Night” are among the episodes he helmed) serving as showrunners.
Here’s what else we know so far.
“House of the Dragon” will take us back 300 years before the events of “Game of Thrones.”HBO Max
Who’s in the show?
Paddy Considine (”The Third Day,” “The Outsider”), will play King Viserys Targaryen, successor to Jaehaerys Targaryen.
So says HBO: “A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from ‘Game of Thrones,’ good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”
Paddy Considine will star as a Targaryen king in “House of the Dragon.”JC Olivera | Getty Images
Also in the cast: Olivia Cooke (”Ready Player One”) as Alicent Hightower, daughter of the hand of the king, Otto Hightower, and “the most comely woman in the Seven Kingdoms.”
Matt Smith plays Prince Daemon Targaryen, younger brother of Viserys. Smith has played a prince before: in “The Crown,” he was Prince Philip of Greek and Denmark, who became the Duke of Edinburgh when he married Queen Elizabeth.
Daenaerys Targaryen with her dragon Rhaegal. The new series will examine her family history hundreds of years before the fall of House Targaryen that sent her into exile.HBO
Emma D’Arcy plays Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, daughter and firstborn child of Viserys. “Of pure Valyrian blood,” and a dragonrider.
“Many would say that Rhaenyra was born with everything,” HBO says. “But she was not born a man.”
Shades of Daenerys or something else entirely?
When is ‘House of the Dragon’ coming out? What channel?
WarnerMedia announced this week that the series would premiere in 2022, allowing ample time for any errant coffee cups to be edited out. The show has been given a 10-episode order.
While “House of the Dragon” is an HBO show, there will be crossover with HBO Max.
Here’s an HBO Max supertrailer teasing future programming (the lineup “through 2022″; remember, many productions came to a halt or went on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic). The clip shows off a logo for the show, even though there is no footage yet.
What happened to that other ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel?
Another “GOT” prequel series written by Jane Goldman that was to star Naomi Watts got the ax in 2019.
The news emerged the same day HBO announced that “House of the Dragon” was ordered straight to series.
The Watts show was to be set not hundreds but thousands of years before the events in “GOT.”
“Game of Thrones,” based on Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series of books, ran for eight seasons on HBO under showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, winning the Emmy for best drama four times. Peter Dinklage, who grew up in Mendham and played Tyrion Lannister on the show, won four Emmys for the role, becoming the winningest actor in the supporting actor category
Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.
Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
