The story of theGame of Thronespanel at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 continues to be so juicy we should probably just name it the king of Westeros for no reason. The Hall H event was set to be the first public appearance and interview from showrunnersDavid BenioffandDan Weissfollowing the highly divisive eighth and final season of HBO’s fantasy mega-hit. However, an updated list of attendees from HBO notes that Benioff and Weiss had to pull out, along with directorMiguel Sapochnik(“The Long Night”, “The Bells”) and cast membersNathalie EmmanuelandIain Glen. [UPDATE: HBO chalked Benioff and Weiss' absence up to “production and scheduling conflicts”, according toio9.]
For the record, the list of people still participating is an A+ list of extremely charming human beings who probably don’t deserve to get bombarded with questions about why Drogon burned the Iron Throne:John Bradley,Nikolaj Coster-Waldau,Jacob Anderson,Liam Cunningham,Conleth Hill,Maisie Williams,Isaac Hempstead Wright.
But still, this is a huge bummer. I wasdyingto know what the atmosphere would be like in that room with Benioff and Weiss in attendance. Comic-Con is a characteristically positive crowd that’s more about hype than criticism, but man…Game of Thronesseason 8. What athing. And the fact that this would’ve been the very first chance to ask the showrunners about their decisions? Would there have been boos sprinkled in, like whenJohnny Deppshowed upduring theCrimes of Grindelwaldpanel in 2018? Would the notoriously strict HBO try and somehow verify therewasn’t?
Alas, now we’ll never know. Meanwhile, no amount of low Rotten Tomatoes scores and possible Hall H boos could stopGame of Thronesfrom notching32 Emmy nominationsyesterday, a record for a single season of television. As for Benioff and Weiss, they’re busy plotting their own trilogyin a galaxy far, far away. See you at D23, maybe?
For more on what youcanexpect at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, check out the links below:
