"It's off the table"- Kit Harington reveals that Jon Snow spinoff is no longer happening
Kit Harington has recently confirmed to Screen Rant that the Jon Snow spinoff will not be moving forward.
As per Harington, the Jon Snow spinoff series was indeed in development but has now been scrapped. The 37-year-old actor, who portrayed the character in George R.R. Martin's epic adaptation, confirmed:
"I hadn't really ever spoken about it, because it was in development. 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 theorizing, getting either excited about it or hating the idea of it, when it may never happen...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."
Harington also went on to elaborate on why the series was canceled.
However, there are many other rumored spinoffs and sequels of Game of Thrones that HBO would be looking into, and some of them may get past the development stage.
Why was the Jon Snow spinoff canceled?
In the same interview with Screen Rant, Kit Harington also explained why the series did not go forward, and it seems to be a good enough reason. Harington said that the Jon Snow spinoff was called off because there wasn't a story exciting enough to tell about the character.
"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."
Moreover, wherever the franchise would go beyond Game of Thrones, there would have to be a freshly written part based outside the source material, which has still not wrapped up the original saga of A Song of Ice and Fire.
However, HBO is still going forward with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which, along with House of the Dragon, may be the only spinoff of Game of Thrones, unless there are further developments from the network.
Why it is difficult to make a Game of Thrones spinoff based on Jon Snow
The ending of Game of Thrones and the way it left several other characters, like Arya Stark (Massie Williams), make it difficult to take the story forward. While Arya Stark's story could take viewers to a completely different place, Jon Snow was returning to the Wall at the end of the show.
This makes his position much more complicated, as all the threats beyond the Wall, i.e., the Wildlings and the Whitewalkers, were all neutralized by the end of the show. So there was really nothing to defend the Wall from. This raised the question of which direction the universe would have to take to accommodate a new story with a new threat.
Given that almost everything was resolved at the end of Game of Thrones, even if it wasn't done with much conviction, it is still difficult to take Snow's story forward, especially if it is set in the Wall or beyond the Wall.
Moreover, trying to force a story where it does not exist would have resulted in another sloppy entry like the final season of Game of Thrones.
House of the Dragon season 2 will, however, premiere on June 16, 2024.