It’s been a long time coming, but HBO Max is finally set to cash in on the Game of Thrones craze… nearly three years after it ended with a thud. HBO released the first teaser trailer for its upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, today, and it teases the same kind of high-stakes drama, politicking, and white-haired people being dicks as the original series did.
The House of the Dragon trailer really is a teaser, revealing almost nothing but a few shots of the show’s stars while narration from Matt Smith lays out the general gist of what the series will be about. There is a shot of the Iron Throne looking even more domineering than ever, but aside from that, it’s mostly just teasing of a time when the Targaryens ruled Westeros. The series takes place about 200 years before Game of Thrones and focuses on the Targaryen rule before the last of the dragons died. The series stars Paddy Considine as King Viserys Targaryen, Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Lord Corlys Velaryon, and Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower.
HBO is going hard on Game of Thrones content as it tries to juice up subscriptions for HBO Max. Along with House of the Dragon, the streamer has a slew of other efforts in the works that include multiple live-action series and an animated spin-off. The real question is if it’s all coming a bit too late. After the routinely panned finale that left many soured on the entire series and an extended break thanks to COVID-19 delays, is the massive audience the show enjoyed still around and interested? Well, possibly.
House of the Dragon will release in 2022 on HBO and HBO Max but does not have a set release date.
