George R.R. Martin Wants the Game of Thrones Universe to Take Its Cues From One MCU Series

George R.R. Martin has never wanted every Thrones spinoff to be another scramble for the Iron Throne. And honestly, he might finally be getting the variety he’s been asking for — one of the new shows is aiming for a very different vibe, and the broader slate is starting to look a lot like a medieval MCU (in a good way).

GRRM’s pitch: not just more throne fights

Martin told The Hollywood Reporter he wants the franchise to mix big, familiar epics with oddball experiments — the way Marvel pairs Avengers movies with something weirder like WandaVision.

"The MCU has The Avengers, but they also have something offbeat like WandaVision. That’s what I hope we can do with these other Game of Thrones shows, so we can have a variety that showcases the history of this world. There are only so many times you can do a competition for the Iron Throne."

And with House of the Dragon already rolling and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on the way, Westeros has clearly moved beyond the original show’s timeline. The scope is widening.

So what’s the Thrones version of WandaVision?

The comparison isn’t about Marvel cameos. It’s about tone. WandaVision broke from Marvel’s usual formula with a retro-sitcom wrapper and a genre-bending approach — critics loved it (92% on Rotten Tomatoes), and it still fed the larger MCU story. For the record: it was created by Jac Schaeffer, directed by Matt Shakman, and ran January 15 to March 5, 2021.

Martin’s WandaVision-ish entry is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a spinoff he’s described as lighter and funnier than Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. In an interview with Collider, he said the two leads are unusual for fantasy, the tone is softer, and he hopes viewers are open to that shift. Translation: fewer dragons, fewer apocalyptic ice zombies, more character-forward adventure set in a crucial corner of Westerosi history.

How big is this getting?

Back in 2024, at a talk at the Oxford Writers’ House (as relayed by the always-plugged-in Westeros.org), Martin said there are seven Thrones shows in the works: three live-action and four animated. Some are public, some are still under wraps, and a couple have quietly changed form along the way.

• House of the Dragon (live-action) — the current flagship prequel, already on the air.
• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (live-action) — the lighter, more humorous detour; next up in the pipeline.
• Aegon’s Conquest (live-action) — in early development; the Targaryen blitz that reshaped Westeros.
• Ten Thousand Ships (live-action) — still quiet; updates have been scarce.
• The Golden Empire (animated) — confirmed, but details are minimal.
• Nine Voyages, aka Sea Snake (animated) — also confirmed as animated; expect nautical Corlys Velaryon stories, but HBO hasn’t spilled much.
• Plus additional animated projects Martin alluded to — titles not yet public.

Put together, that’s the variety Martin’s been pushing for: sprawling history, different tones, and not everything orbiting the same throne room. It’s already starting to feel like a franchise that can shift gears without losing the bigger story.

What flavor of Westeros would you actually want next — gothic horror in the North? Political farce in Oldtown? Something completely out of left field? I’m game for all of it if the execution’s there.

Game of Thrones is streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max).