Direct 'Game Of Thrones' Spin-Offs May Still Happen, HBO Boss Says

Despite the ending of Game of Thrones landing with somewhat of a cultural thud, HBO knows there is loads of untapped potential in the fictional land of Westeros. There are multiple prequel shows in various stages of development, and in a new interview, HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys does not rule out the chance of direct Game of Thrones spin-offs hitting the small screen one day. Would you want to see a whole show following the continuing adventures of Jon Snow, or maybe tracking Arya as a pirate sailing the high seas?

During a Television Critics Association panel last night, Bloys reportedly did not shut down the idea of more Game of Thrones spin-offs from the mothership series at some point down the road. "The good news with the prequels is that there is history that George [R.R. Martin] has laid out," he said. "We are working with George, [direct spin-offs] would really be something we talk about with him, but for right now, the prequels lend themselves to it because of the really expansive history that George laid out in his world."

So far, HBO has concentrated solely on shows that are set before the events of the main series. But I can easily imagine a scenario in which we Maisie Williams comes back for an Arya show one day – or maybe even an El Camino-style, one-and-done movie.

Deadline also reports that Bruno Heller, the co-creator of HBO's Rome and the creator of FOX's Gotham and Epix's Pennyworth, "is believed to be one of the writers who has had an exploratory meeting about potentially tackling a GoT project." Like the Star Wars galaxy, I think the kingdoms of Westeros and Essos (and beyond) provide such a vast playground that there is room for all types of shows with all types of different tones to co-exist. If Heller wants to return to his Rome roots with a grounded(ish) take, cool. But I also wouldn't mind him bringing the ludicrousness of something like Gotham into the Thrones universe, just to mix things up a little and expand our idea of what a Game of Thrones-adjacent project can be.

"We've been talking about areas to develop, which is where this prequel [House of the Dragon] came from," Bloys said. "We are talking about other areas that make sense as well. George R.R. Martin's world is so big and what's interesting about it, not only is it big but he's got a lot of road maps in terms of history. So one of the great things about House of the Dragon is that's an established history that leads you to Game of Thrones the show, and there is a lot of little branches. There is a lot of opportunities and stories to tell."

House of the Dragon, a prequel series set 300 years before Thrones, will begin production this April. It sounds like Bloys never outright confirmed the recent report about a Dunk and Egg prequel show, but he didn't deny it, either. And he did say that the animated prequel for HBO Max was in the works, although he described its status as "embryonic."