A new series reimagining if full blown slavery continued into 2017 is coming to HBO. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss revealed that they will begin executive producing the alternative history series once they’ve wrapped up with the final season of GOT.
Confederate follows a fictional timeline—during the Third American Civil War—of the South actually seceding from the Union and maintaining the legality of slavery into the modern era. According to The Wrap, the characters are based on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, including slave hunters, politicians, freedom fighters, abolitionists, journalists and more (in addition to the obvious slaves and their families).
The duo will be joined in the writer’s room by Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“Justified,” “The Good Wife”) and Malcolm Spellman (“Empire”). After Weiss and Benioff toyed around with the plot for years, holding back because thought it best suited the big screen, they ultimately decided HBO was the best home for the series.
“Our experience on ‘Thrones’ has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO,” they said in a statement. “There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world.”