HBO confirms the 'Game of Thrones' spin-offs won't include any characters you already know

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The INSIDER Summary:

• HBO programming president Casey Bloys confirmed details about the "Game of Thrones" spin-offs in the works.
• Though there are five sets of writers working on developing scripts, only one is likely to make it to air.
• Bloys told The Hollywood Reporter that none of the ideas involve existing characters.
• The spin-off also wouldn't air for at least a year after "Game of Thrones" ends.

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"Game of Thrones" fans desperate for news about the pending spin-off series were just given a few more tantalizing hints. HBO programming president Casey Bloys spoke at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour in Los Angeles about the status of the five working spin-off ideas.

During the TCA presentation, Bloys confirmed the news reported by The Hollywood Reporter in early July — none of the current ideas involve existing characters and it's likely that only one of the five scripts is turned into a full TV series.

"We'll be lucky to get one that hits and we're hopeful and we'll see," Bloys told THR. 

Helen Sloan/HBO

News initially broke that HBO hired four teams of writers to develop four different ideas, and then later author George R.R. Martin confirmed that a fifth script was in the works.

While the specifics of those ideas have been kept under wrap, fans are at least getting confirmation of what the scripts won't include. We now know not to expect familiar faces, such as Arya Stark or even younger versions of beloved characters like Ned and King Robert (R.I.P. Robert's Rebellion series). 

Martin also told fans that he preferred the term "successor show" for the different series ideas.

"None of these new shows will be 'spinning off' from 'Game of Thrones' in the traditional sense," Martin wrote on his blog in May 2017. "Every one of the concepts under discussion is a prequel, rather than a sequel. Some may not even be set on Westeros. Rather than 'spinoff' or 'prequel,' however, I prefer the term 'successor show.' That's what I've been calling them."

HBO

You also shouldn't expect to see HBO rolling out one of the "successor shows" right away. At the TCA presentation, Bloys said HBO plans on giving the final season of "Game of Thrones" its time in the spotlight. 

"That [final] season will happen, and my guess is it would be at least a year before you saw anything else," Bloys said. "What I don't want is the attention to be drawn from the final season, which I think is going to be epic and amazing, and somehow have the distraction of a new 'Game of Thrones' airing right after that. It's best to separate it and that's what we'll do."

THR also reports that even Bloys can't speculate on when the final season of "Game of Thrones" will air. There's a possibility for showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to spend extra time on production for the final season — pushing its air date back to 2019.

In the meantime, "Game of Thrones" continues with its seventh season — follow our coverage of the series here.

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