The series finale of Game of Thrones is imminent. After eight long seasons of investment, millions of fans across the globe will finally see how this high fantasy epic concludes its story. So, the big question is: which TV drama will the world obsess over now that our time in Westeros is coming to an end?
There are rooms full of TV executives who are trying to answer that very question with a show they can profit from, so there are a lot of exciting upcoming shows. Here are 10 Upcoming TV Series That Could Replace Game Of Thrones As Everyone’s Favorite Show.
The Mandalorian
One of the first original series to premiere on Disney+, The Mandalorian is set in the Star Wars universe and will take place starting a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The Empire has fallen and a lone gunfighter is roaming through what remains of the galaxy.
The series has been created and written by Jon Favreau, who is also directing The Lion King and starring in Spider-Man: Far From Home this year, so he’s having a busy 2019. If the show is done right, this could be Game of Thrones set in the Star Wars universe.
Y
What audiences have responded to in Game of Thrones is not the fantasy elements, but, rather, how the show has used those fantasy elements as a lens through which to tell very human stories and examine society.
That’s always been the greatest strength of Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s comic book series set in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by women with only one surviving man. There have been countless attempts to adapt this science fiction study of class and gender for the screen, with one finally moving forward at FX in the form of a serialized hour-long drama series.
The Gilded Age
Julian Fellowes is following up Downton Abbey with another historical family saga, this time set in America in the so-called Gilded Age. The Gilded Age will tell the story of a wealthy family in the 1880s who make their money in railroads and hold conservative views. Fellowes has called being able to write the show, which has been ordered for a full 10-episode first season, “the fulfillment of a personal dream.”
He promised, “Nothing could give me more pleasure than be the person to bring that compelling history to the screen.” Fellowes had initially developed the series for NBC, but it has since made the leap to HBO, where it will premiere later this year.
Contraband
J.J. Abrams has an executive producer credit on a lot of movies and TV shows, but when he actually puts his mind to something that he created, and writes and directs it himself, it’s usually something really special, like Super 8. Originally titled Demimonde, Contraband was created by Abrams and will air on HBO.
The exact plot is being kept under wraps, but it’s been described as “an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama,” which will be “centered around a world’s battle against a monstrous, oppressive force.” It sounds as mysterious as we’ve come to expect from Abrams, but it could be a good show.
Too Old To Die Young
While it seems like a stretch that a fantasy epic like Game of Thrones would be replaced in the public’s eye by a crime drama, Too Old to Die Young does sound promising. It was created by Nicolas Winding Refn, the director of Drive, and will likely have the same slick neo-noir visuals that he’s known for.
The Witcher
Video game adaptations generally suck, but Netflix’s long-form take on The Witcher series is showing some promise. It’ll star Henry Cavill as a monster hunter named Geralt of Rivia, who roams the land and finds that the other humans are more monstrous than the creatures.
This premise already has shades of Game of Thrones – high fantasy aimed at adults – but it also shares similarities with the underlying philosophy of everyone’s other favorite genre show, The Walking Dead (which is that humans, at their core, are worse than supernatural beasts). This show could easily fail, but there’s a chance it’ll be a huge hit.
The Boys
Just like Game of Thrones was a dark take on the established genre of medieval fantasy, The Boys will be a dark take on the established genre of superheroes. It’s reportedly “set in a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame,” while the actual plot of the show “revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as ‘the Boys,’ who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.”
Lovecraft Country
This curious new horror series from producers J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele certainly seems interesting. Lovecraft Country is set in Jim Crow America in the ‘50s and will tell the story of two African-American friends embarking on a road trip across the country.
In addition to the vicious racism they will face from people of the time, they will also have to contend with a legion of Lovecraftian monsters that roam the American landscape. It seems right up Peele’s alley, combining the real horrors of racism with the fantastical horrors of monsters. The series will shoot in Illinois and Georgia, and it’s based on a novel by Matt Ruff.
The Eddy
As one of the most talented young directors in Hollywood, Damien Chazelle has been knocking it out of the park again and again. He made jazz drumming cinematic in Whiplash, then he brought back the musical in La La Land, and he spectacularly recreated the Moon landing in First Man.
Now, he’s making the jump to the small screen with a musical series called The Eddy for Netflix. The streaming service has already ordered the show straight to series with an eight-episode season. It’s a musical drama series that will be set in Paris. Jack Thorne wrote the series, while Glen Ballard is writing the music, and Chazelle will direct some episodes.
Watchmen
HBO’s new adaptation of Alan Moore’s acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen promises to be dark, engaging, and mature enough to be branded as “Game of Thrones with superheroes” in the same way that GoT itself was initially branded as “The Sopranos in Middle-earth.” For years, the comic was considered to be “unfilmable,” and then Zack Snyder directed his own take that divided audiences and critics.
The new TV version will be able to flesh out the characters and their two narrative timelines a lot better than a feature film. Plus, it’s being overseen by Lost’s Damon Lindelof, who has experience in getting the world to obsess over a mysterious TV drama.
