*After “Game of Thrones” creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss leave Westeros for good, the pair will move on to their next project that has already been greenlighted by HBO…and mauled on Twitter as a racist fantasy series for the alt-right.
The cable network has given a series order to “Confederate,” which takes place in an alternate timeline where the southern states successfully secede from the Union in a Third American Civil War, giving rise to a nation in which slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution.
The story follows characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone – freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.
Benioff and Weiss created “Confederate” and will serve showrunners, executive producers and writers, along with Nichelle Tramble Spellman (“Justified,” “The Good Wife”) and Malcolm Spellman (“Empire”), who will co-write the series and executive produce. “Game of Thrones” producers Carolyn Strauss and Bernadette Caulfield will also serve as executive producers.
“We have discussed ‘Confederate’ for years, originally as a concept for a feature film. But our experience on ‘Thrones’ has convinced us that no one provides a bigger, better storytelling canvas than HBO. There won’t be dragons or White Walkers in this series, but we are creating a world, and we couldn’t imagine better partners in world-building than Nichelle and Malcolm, who have impressed us for a long time with their wit, their imagination and their Scrabble-playing skills,” said Benioff and Weiss.
Needless to say, Twitter is not happy with the show’s premise.
#HBO‘s #Confederate is about to have people ‘ironically’ wearing confederate flags for fandom purposes. It’s gonna be like ‘hail Hydra’.
— Zora Neale Hustlin’ (@MarsinCharge) July 19, 2017
Are Confederate writers too rich to actually know the racial climate that they actually live in? Because this is so not a good idea.
— ☔BlackPplAreHuman♿ (@SparrowOnTheEye) July 20, 2017
Like even if Confederate is critical of current day racism, do we need another series about the suffering of POC, written by white men?
— peat ape (@kamilumin) July 19, 2017
whose fantasy is @hbo‘s #confederate trying to satisfy? pic.twitter.com/TgJLAw0uxe
— Scott Heath (@rscottheath) July 20, 2017
Oh, I get it! It’s a metaphor for how slavery hasn’t truly ended with Jim Crow & mass incarceration. No? HBO is just dumb? OK. #Confederate
— Evan Morgenstern (@evanjm02) July 20, 2017
Dear @HBO, if you want to spend millions on a show about slavery, pick up @UndergroundWGN. Not this #Confederate shit. Signed,ALL the Blacks
— Kellee Terrell (@kelleent) July 19, 2017
HBO is actually going for it. They’re doing their own “Springtime for Hitler.” #Confederate
— Violet Gray (@VioletSilver) July 20, 2017
I refuse to watch Man in the High Castle too, but yeah, this #Confederate malarkey is on a whole ‘nother level of wrong. https://t.co/RSVM2fyxOE
— Muhammad Butt (@muhammadbutt) July 20, 2017
And not to be That Person™ but given the climate we’re existing in rn, where OVERT white supremacists are emboldened…? #Confederate #HBO. pic.twitter.com/CzS7Ah0VdZ
— Zora Neale Hustlin’ (@MarsinCharge) July 19, 2017
Production on “Confederate” will begin after the final season of “Game of Thrones.” Season 7 just premiered last weekend to record ratings, and Season 8 is expected to debut in late 2018 or early 2019. Together, both seasons will span just 13 episodes.
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