Even before Game of Thrones wrapped up its tremendously lucrative eight-season run on HBO back in May of 2019, HBO was working on multiple potential spin-offs of the series. 

The first planned spin-off, starring Naomi Watts, got very far along in development, with a reported $30 million being spent before HBO pulled the plug on the project. The next spin-off, House of the Dragon, actually went ahead and will debut its first season this summer. 

House of the Dragon will be set in familiar locations, with all sorts of things people loved about the series, from castles to dragons to intrigue over who gets to sit on the Iron Throne. But because the series is set centuries before the events of Game of Thrones, it won’t feature any of the characters that viewers know from the original series. 

However, there’s now word that HBO is looking at yet another continuation of Game of Thrones, one that would in fact feature a familiar face from the first series. 

According to the Hollywood Reporter, HBO is developing a sequel series based on the character of Jon Snow, who became an all-around hero in the latter days of the series. According to the report, Kit Harrington is attached to the new series. It would join several other Thrones series in different stages of development, although the Jon Snow series would be the first set after the events of Game of Thrones. 

Game of Thrones ended with Jon Snow, having killed his lover Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), going into exile north of the Wall. It’s not clear if the new series would be set primarily in that location, or if it would have Jon once again venturing south. It’s also not clear which other characters might return. 

House of the Dragon is based on previously published work from A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin. But because Martin has famously not yet completed his novel The Winds of Winter, any show set in a post-Game of Thrones chronology would not be based on anything Martin has already published. 

It’s also not clear who would be writing or producing a Jon Snow show. D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, the showrunners for the entire run of Game of Thrones, have moved on to a production deal with Netflix and are not involved with House of the Dragon, and they would presumably not be involved with a Snow show either. 

Considering how complex a production Game of Thrones is, it would likely be a long time before a Snow show, if it moves forward, comes to fruition. 

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters