Kit Harington will return as Jon Snow for a 'Game of Thrones' sequel series

In the three years since Game of Thrones ended its eight-season run on HBO, the network has been focused on expanding the franchise with prequel shows. Now, the first Game of Thrones sequel is on the way, and it's reportedly set to follow one of the show's original heroes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kit Harington is attached to return as the White Wolf himself, Jon Snow, for a new live-action series at HBO, marking the first time since Game of Thrones ended in 2019 that the network has set its sights on a direct follow-up to the original show. It's not clear yet if the show will move forward beyond the development phase, but Harington is apparently prepared to head back into the life of the character who made him a star. 

One of the few characters who survived the entire run of the series, Jon Snow was introduced as the bastard son of Eddard Stark (Sean Bean) and an unnamed woman. Initially serving on the Night's Watch at the Wall in the North of Westeros, Jon's story eventually took him right to the center of the conflict at the heart of the show, and it was later revealed that he was actually the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Eddard's sister, Lyanna Stark, making him the last surviving male heir to the Targaryen dynasty. This news brought him into conflict with his lover Daenerys Targaryen, to whom he'd already pledged loyalty, and put a burden on him to kill Daenerys when she went mad and destroyed the city of King's Landing in the final stages of her invasion of Westeros. Devastated by the events at the end of the show, Jon chose to leave Westeros at the end of the series, riding off beyond the now-destroyed Wall with the Wildlings, presumably to act as the new King Beyond the Wall. 

It's not clear yet where the show might go beyond that setup, or how involved other members of the core original cast might be should the sequel move forward past the pilot stage and into a full series, but this means that the seal has officially been broken on Game of Thrones sequels over at HBO. If the Jon Snow series works out, or even if it doesn't, there's the potential for several other major characters within the core cast to get follow-ups of their own, particularly if the franchise's second series, House of the Dragon, works out. 

House of the Dragon, a prequel series following an internal conflict within the Targaryen Dynasty centuries before the events of Game of Thrones, will arrive this August. It's the first of several developing projects set to expand the world of Westeros. Other Game of Thrones shows in development include the Princess Nymeria series 10,000 Ships, an animated Essos series titled The Golden Empire, and a series based on George R. R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. And those aren't even the only prequels in the works. If House of the Dragon proves to be a hit for HBO, we can expect adventures in Westeros for years to come, expanding in all directions.