With Game of Thrones set to go off the air following Season 8, many television viewers have been wondering what creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will do for an encore.
And now they have the answer.
And now they are pretty pissed off about it.
On Wednesday, HBO announced that Benioff and Weiss will team up to executive produce Confederate.
The drama will take place in an alternative timeline during which a Third American Civil War is on the horizon.
According to the network synopsis, the southern states have seceded from the Union and are now home to a country in which slavery is legal… and has even evolved into a modern institution.
The story will follow a wide swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone: freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, reporters, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.
It certainly sounds like an intriguing concept.
Not to mention a controversial one.
Slavery will be legal in this universe?!?
“As the brilliant Game of Thrones winds down to its final season, we are thrilled to be able to continue our relationship with Dan and David, knowing that any subject they take on will result in a unique and ambitious series,” said HBO programming president, Casey Bloys, adding:
“Their intelligent, wry and visually stunning approach to storytelling has a way of engaging an audience and taking them on an unforgettable journey.”
While Game of Thrones is the most popular show on television, it has received some criticism over the years for its lack of diversity.
There isn’t an African-American in the main cast, for example, which has prompted some on Twitter to question Benioff and Weiss’ next project.
To wit:
“How is @HBO showing an “alternate timeline” when the current prison system requires thousands of black people to work with no pay?” asked another concerned/annoyed Internet user.
Others, meanwhile, brought up the recent cancellation of WGN’s Underground.
This critically-acclaimed drama centered on vital figures involved in the Underground Railroad and it’s sort of a bummer that it received the axe.
Does it really have anything to do with Confederate? No.
But some people can’t help but see a sad contrast here, considering HBO just gave the green light to a series that will depict slavery as an accepted part of some new world.
Nichelle Tramble Spellman and Malcolm Spellman will co-write the upcoming show and also serve as executive producers.
Said Benioff and Weiss in a statement:
“We have discussed Confederate for years, originally as a concept for a feature film.
“But our experience on Thrones has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO.
“There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world, and we couldn’t imagine better partners in world-building than Nichelle and Malcolm, who have impressed us for a long time with their wit, their imagination and their Scrabble-playing skills.”
What do you think of this slavery-themed series?
Is it a bad idea? An interesting idea? Or is way too early to judge?
