Game Of Thrones Prequel: Who Will Naomi Watts Play In The Long Night?
Jane Goldman's Game of Thrones spin-off just got even more exciting.
The Game of Thrones prequel series just got even more exciting, with Naomi Watts cast in a lead role.
The series, which comes from writer Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, X-Men, Kingsman), is going to tell the story of the Age of Heroes and The Long Night, and word comes from Variety that Watts has signed on to lead the show after lengthy negotiations.
The show, which Goldman created alongside George R.R. Martin, is being unofficially referred to as The Long Night, and the synopsis promises that it "chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour" and is "not the story we think we know".
Quite where Watts fits into this version of the world, which pre-dates Thrones by thousands and thousands of years, is unclear, with the only description of her character being that she's "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret."
That doesn't exactly fit with a lot of what we know from this period, which conjures up images of the North, of Bran the Builder and the Children of the Forest, and a much more barren Westeros, rather than the kind of place you might find a socialite. With her blonde hair, however, the description could fit a Lannister.
It's assumed this series will introduce us to Lann the Clever, the man who took Casterly Rock from the Casterlys with nothing but his wits, and went on to found House Lannister. Watts could be playing his wife, or even, in a twist, a gender-swapped version of Lann - after all, this isn't the story we know, and there'd be something intriguing about this legendary figure, celebrated for his smarts but also reported to have raped and impregnated hundreds of women, actually being a female.
Of course, Watts may not be Westerosi at all. The series also promises us secrets of the East, and Valyria in all of its glory is certainly the kind of place you'd find a socialite hiding a dark secret. The rise of Valyria is largely believed to have started after the Long Night - but again, they can change things here - and if Watts was key to that, and to the discovery of dragons (because, let's be honest, HBO have got to be thinking about involving them in any way they can), then that would fit with both the description and her being one of the stars of an ensemble cast, which would span across Westeros and Essos.
So much of this period is simply based upon legend and tales passed down, and much more unknown, that Watts could be just about anyone, but being crucial to the foundation of House Lannister or the discovery of dragons would fit with an actress of her talent and status.
Are you excited for the Game of Thrones prequel? Who do you think Watts will play? Let us know down in the comments.