Jon Snow Actor Kit Harington Opens Door to Returning After Scrapped Game of Thrones Spinoff

Actor Kit Harington has softened his stance on HBO’s now-scrapped Jon Snow spinoff, telling fans he could see “a world in which something could work” with the project he once vowed to walk away from. Speaking on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Game of Thrones star reflected on his decision to step back from Snow, the sequel he helped develop with the network over several years. The shift in tone comes after years of separation from the character, and Harington suggested he has grown more comfortable with Jon Snow and the world he inhabits.

When Harington first walked away from the project, he was emphatic that he would not return to the role. Last year, when asked about reprising his part for a potential Game of Thrones audiobook, he was quick to dismiss the idea. “No, god no,” he said at the time. “I don’t wanna go anywhere near it. I spent 10 years doing that. Thanks, I’m alright.” That comment, paired with his earlier remarks about not going “anywhere near” the character again, had led many to believe the door was firmly shut.

A Dark Tale of Grief and Ghost

The scrapped spinoff was never meant to be a triumphant return. Snow was set to tell a dark story of Jon Snow’s return to the Northern wilderness following the shock ending of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation. Consumed by grief and suffering from PTSD, the character would have ditched his beloved direwolf Ghost and famous sword Longclaw, then spent his time building cabins only to burn them down again. According to Martin himself, Harington had called for his character to die and avoid being a hero. The idea was ultimately canned, and Harington has subsequently suggested he was done with the character for good. But now, after several years of separation from Jon Snow, Harington said he could see “a world in which something could work.”

“We developed it for two years or so and I still think there’s a world in which something could work,” Harington said. “I wouldn’t have gone into it in the first place if I didn’t. But I was very insistent at the start — and they were as well, HBO and George [R.R. Martin] — that if we don’t find the right thing, we won’t do it, it’s much, much better that we don’t. And after a while of thinking about it, I think it was me that said ‘look, I think this isn’t quite the right time.'”

Kit Harington

“And I think I was right because I’ve gone and done all these other things and now I’m more comfortable with that character and that world again, in where it sits in my life.”

The community reaction to Harington’s comments has been a mix of nostalgia and curiosity. For many viewers, Jon Snow remains one of the most defining characters of the series’ final run, and the prospect of the actor revisiting the role — even in a different capacity — has reignited interest in the franchise’s future. The question of whether Harington could ever return as Jon Snow in the future remains open, though fans are also watching to see whether HBO’s broader plans for the universe evolve.

Looking Ahead

Even if Snow itself never gets made, HBO is said to be exploring the idea of a replacement spinoff sequel focusing on Arya. Perhaps Harington could pop up in that? Until then, the Jon Snow spinoff remains firmly in the past, but Harington’s willingness to revisit the character suggests the door is not entirely closed. Whether the network decides to pursue a new direction for the franchise, or whether Harington returns in some form, remains to be seen — but for now, the actor seems more at peace with the world he helped create.