It’s been a minute since we’ve gotten a significant update from House of the Dragon, HBO’s upcoming spinoff series set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. But out of nowhere, here’s a big chunk o’ casting news: Paddy Considine is set to play King Viserys Targaryen.
Considine, a veteran character actor and HBO favourite who’s currently appearing in The Third Day and also had a key role in The Outsider, has also popped up in movies like The Girl With All the Gifts, The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, and In America. News of his casting in House of the Dragon comes straight from HBO, which describes the character thusly: “King Viserys Targaryen…was chosen by the lords of Westeros to succeed the Old King, Jaehaerys Targaryen, at the Great Council at Harrenhal. A warm, kind, and decent man, Viserys only wishes to carry forward his grandfather’s legacy, but as we’ve learned from Game of Thrones, good men do not necessarily make for great kings.”
A warm, kind, and decent man? Yep, he’s probably doomed.
Considine is the first major casting news for House of the Dragon, which will be based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 book Fire & Blood, with House Targaryen — ancestors of the Mother of Dragons herself, Daenerys in Game of Thrones — at its centre. The series is co-created by Martin and Ryan Condal, with Condal and Emmy-winning Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik sharing showrunning duties.
House of the Dragon’s not slated to hit HBO until 2022, but it’s never too early to place your bets on whether you’ll be able to watch a new Game of Thrones series or read a new Game of Thrones book first.