Game of Thrones prequel by The Batman writer will be like "Napoleon or Alexander the Great," as another spin-off goes into production

House of the Dragon season 2 trailer
(Image credit: HBO)

Two upcoming Game of Thrones spin-offs have received positive updates – and it sounds like one of them is shaping up to be a fantasy historical epic. 

A show about Aegon the Conqueror – the first Targaryen king – is in the works, though it hasn't been officially greenlit just yet. It's being penned by Mattson Tomlin (who also worked on The Batman), and, like House of the Dragon, is adapted from George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood novel, which is a (fictional) historical account of the Targaryen reign. 

"In speaking to George, it became really clear, 'This is history, treat this like it is what happened,'" Tomlin told Entertainment Weekly. "Unlike the original series, I don't have thousands of pages to go off to adapt. I've got a couple hundred that I'm really focused on, and in those pages of Fire & Blood, there are a lot of clues. It kind of turns into doing Napoleon or doing Alexander the Great or doing some great historical figure where we know a lot about the guy. We know where he was, we know who he conquered, we know who lived, and we know who died. That all becomes the plot, and then it becomes my job to go, but what did it mean thematically? How did it feel? What were the emotions when this person died and this person lived? We don't have the context. We don't know what anybody said."

The Aegon show isn't the only prequel in the pipeline, either, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight also on the way. HBO boss Casey Bloys revealed at a recent Warner Bros. presentation that the show is in production and is set to arrive in 2025 (H/T The Wrap). 

"Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends," reads The Hedge Knight's logline. Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell star.

Up next for Westeros is House of the Dragon season 2, which recently dropped a new, epic trailer. It's arriving this June 16. 

In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming new TV shows to start getting excited about. 

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Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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