Rumours of a spin-off have been circulating since the colossal series came to an end in 2019.
If you ask any Game of Thrones fan which of the show’s iconic characters would they like to see a spin-off series expand on, the majority will say the Bastard of Winterfell, Jon Snow.
From beginning to end, the underdog character, played by Kit Harrington, had perhaps the most riveting and heroic story arc of them all – and that’s no small statement.
We first meet Jon Snow in the series premiere, when he is introduced to us as the bastard son of Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark. He comes across as an outsider of his family (because of illegitimacy), as well as an outsider at the Night’s Watch – a military order which holds and guards the Wall to keep the wildlings and White Walkers from crossing into the Seven Kingdoms.
As the series progresses, so too does Jon’s status and responsibility. As his adopted family is slowly wiped out, Jon becomes the protecter of not just his remaining siblings, but eventually the Seven Kingdoms too.
While 2022’s House of the Dragon was relatively well-received by most of the fanbase, most lovers of the show have been holding out for a spin-off exploring the origins of Snow and potentially what happens next for him.
Unfortunately, it sounds very much like it’s not going to happen.
During an interview with Screen Rant for new film Blood for Dust, Kit Harrington revealed that the Jon Snow spinoff series is no longer in development at HBO, citing ‘the inability to find the right story’ as the reason for its scrapping.
The 37-year-old actor said that while things were looking good previously and all signs pointed towards the commencement of filming, it’s now “off the table”.
“I hadn’t really ever spoken about it, because it was in development,” he said. “I didn’t want it leaked out that it was being developed, and I didn’t want the thing to happen where people kind of start theorising, getting either excited about it or hating the idea of it, when it may never happen. Because in development, you look at every angle, and you see whether it’s worth it.
“And currently, it’s not. Currently, it’s off the table, because we all couldn’t find the right story to tell that we were all excited about enough.
“So, we decided to lay down tools with it for the time being. There may be a time in the future where we return to it, but at the moment, no. It’s firmly on the shelf.”
Fans of the franchise can take solace in the fact that another George R.R Martin curated prequel is on the way.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight begins filming in June of this year, so we can expect to see that one sometime next year all going well. Dexter Sol Ansell and Peter Claffey have been cast in the lead roles.
The prequel is set in the generation between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones.
On top of that, we’ll have House of the Dragon season 2 on our screens by the end of June, so hopefully those two prospects will ease the pain of the lack of a Jon Snow follow through.
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