The debut of House of the Dragon, the eagerly awaited new prequel series to Game of Thrones, is just a few weeks away, and a new trailer debuted this week. But beyond that, the creator of the original novels is eyeing much more. 

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, a Westeros extended universe may soon be on the way, based on the wealth of source material created by author George R.R. Martin over the course of many years. 

“The MCU has The Avengers, but they also have something offbeat like WandaVision,” Martin said in the interview. “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.”

Several other Game of Thrones spinoffs and successor series are known to be in development and under consideration, although none have been officially greenlit with the exception of the upcoming House of the Dragon. 

It was announced last month that Kit Harington is attached to return to the role of Jon Snow in a sequel series, but that show has not been officially greenlit. Most of the other rumored series’—seven in total, according to The Hollywood Reporter—is set before the events of Game of Thrones. 

Martin also said he thinks about what role he will be playing personally as these projects roll out. Martin has written episodes of both shows, and is credited as an executive producer, but was not the showrunner of either. 

“Not Stan Lee at the end,” Martin said of his potential role in the Thrones universe going forward. “He had no power, no influence. He wasn’t writing any stories. He couldn’t say, ‘Don’t do this character.’ He was just a friendly person they brought to conventions and who did cameos. To be sidelined on the world and characters that you created, that would be tough.” 

The interview added that Martin is still “grinding away” on The Winds of Winter, the next novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which is the basis for Game of Thrones and its different spinoffs. House of the Dragon is set to debut on HBO and HBO Max on August 21. It will go up against The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, another fantasy series based on a well-known literary property. That show will land on Amazon Prime Video on September 2. 

Audiences got looks at both upcoming shows this week at the annual San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) event. SDCC is the biggest convention in the world, and new content from various companies is always announced.  

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.