HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys doesn't think Game of Thrones will ever be as big as Marvel or Star Wars. Game of Thrones became a sensation during its eight season run on HBO. The show consistently broke ratings records for the network with its new episodes and even scientists have given reasons for its popularity. When the series ended, though, many were left disillusioned with much of what had come before.
Game of Thrones' final season was divisive, to say the least. For such a huge pop culture phenomenon, it left the public consciousness quite quickly. HBO is still pursuing a spinoff series, though. At one point, there were at least five different series in the works, but all of that has been whittled down to one, set to premiere in 2022. House of Dragon will follow the Targaryen dynasty prior to the events of Game of Thrones. Even though most of the spinoffs have been presumably scrapped, Bloys says more could still happen in the future.
Those other spinoffs are a long way off, though, and likely contingent of House of the Dragon's success, but Bloys says even if more come, he doesn't think they will ever build an extended universe akin to Marvel or Star Wars. In an interview with Variety, Bloys said that with those two franchises decades old, he doesn't see Game of Thrones reaching those heights. Bloys isn't even sure that the world of Westeros could even sustain that many stories and sprawling plot lines.
Those are fantastic properties that are decades and decades old. I don’t know that it would get that big, but certainly it is a great resource that we have and an amazing world. So I don’t think it’s just going to be the one [show] for the rest of its life.
Bloys has already gone on the record saying that Game of Thrones will never have a direct sequel or spinoff, nixing any hopes that fans will get to revisit their favorite characters and it's probably in the series' best interest. After the show's divisive ending, any revisiting of the characters fans knew and loved could be equally as controversial. Expectations would be too high, making even the smallest of failures a gigantic misstep. The fates of the Starks should be left alone.
As for the other series in the works, like House of the Dragon, those are more likely to succeed for several reasons. Without the involvement of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who many feel fumbled the ending of the original series, things could go a lot more smoothly. Exploring the established world is the easiest recipe for success. The world of Westeros and its surrounding continents is rife with potential story, as is the mythology that author George R.R. Martin has laid out. While Game of Thrones will go down in history as one of the most popular shows of all time, it will also go down as one of the most sloppily executed endings. Building an extended universe out of those characters, rather than the vast world Martin has built, would be a mistake.
Source: Variety