With a second season already introduced, Amazon is leaning closely into Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time universe as the reply to HBO’s wildly profitable Game of Thrones. During San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, showrunner and govt producer Rafe Judkins kicked off the Amazon Prime Video panel by speaking about what viewers can anticipate from the primary season.

The Wheel of Time is a a lot, a lot adored American fantasy collection that launched in 1990, that features 14 books (and a prequel!). According to panelists, 90 million copies of the books have been offered. Judkins started by speaking about his personal historical past with the challenge, noting that he learn the collection when he was youthful and that he related with the fabric on a deep stage.

“It was this book series that connected us with others — especially after I came out of the closet — it was this thing that let us see what it’s like to be a person who’s different in the world.” This is probably going comforting to longtime followers of the books who wish to see a creator who actually understands the supply materials they’re bringing to display screen.

While the primary e-book within the collection, The Eye of the World, is basically informed by the angle of Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski), Judkins calls Rosamund Pike’s character Moiraine — a strong magic-user and what the textual content refers to as an Aes Sedai — the lead of the collection. In the e-book, Moiraine is hoping to keep away from the tip of the world by discovering the prophesied Dragon Reborn amongst a gaggle of small-town younger folks. What she will get is excess of she anticipated with a number of evils and a number of heroes preventing layered battles between males and monsters.

There’s a lot that occurs Jordan’s books, and it will likely be fascinating to see how the collection will pare down the story with out shedding what makes it so beloved to its very passionate fanbase. Judkins stated as a lot on the panel.

“My danger will be never running out of books — the challenge that we face is how do we tell this story the most cohesively and coherently in what is a reasonable number of episodes.”

When requested about how carefully the present will comply with the collection, he acknowledged the significance the books held in addition to the restrictions of tv as a medium. “Obviously, I want to stay as close to the books as we possibly can — these are really beloved books, I love them, there’s a great story there, we want to tell it and we want to tell it in the way that’s best for television. Like, this really is a true adaptation of the series, so there will be a lot of things that are different than the books certainly, but I think it stays true to the heart of the books and the spine of the storytelling.”

The specter of HBO’s Game of Thrones tv collection (and its much-maligned finale), nonetheless, was to not be dismissed. Judkins made it clear that he had already thought concerning the ending and the way 14 books might work as a tv collection, noting that he’d already labored out eight seasons price of story earlier than he’d even completed writing the pilot.

Because the Wheel of Time has such a longstanding fanbase, the query of followers and harsh criticism got here up, however Judkins isn’t apprehensive. He stated that the Wheel of Time crew labored to offer a variety of perception behind the digital camera. “I think it’s really important to find that balance around you all the time, I always want to hire people around me who challenge me.”

Darrell Ok. Sweet/Tor

The writing workers was a mix of people that knew and beloved the collection and writers who had by no means picked up the e-book, which allowed them to drag out the story that was most necessary for an adaptation. Judkins made certain to say significance of inclusive casting for what confirmed up in entrance of the digital camera, as effectively. “The Wheel of Time has always sat as the most diverse fantasy book that came out in its time, and I think when we were adapting it to be on television today, we also need to do that in order to honor the books that are there and make this the most diverse fantasy TV show that’s been on television.”

There’s a transparent understanding of how necessary character and Jordan’s world are to Rafe Judkins’ understanding what makes the Wheel of Time distinctive within the fantasy house. He referred to as it “the connective tissue between Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones” when recognizing Jordan’s contribution of multi-perspective storytelling to the fantasy style. But there’s one factor he sees as probably the most necessary elements of the Wheel of Time, and he’s trying ahead to bringing to the display screen.

“Thematically, right now a story that is really about balance is something that’s meaningful in the world.” He stated, earlier than persevering with so as to add, “it’s really refreshing to see a fantasy series that isn’t so much good versus evil as balance versus imbalance. That is a message worth writing about right now.”

The panel ended with a reveal of the primary teaser poster for The Wheel of Time (seen under). Judkins set the poster up for the viewers, who he sees each as followers of the books and individuals who have by no means learn a phrase. “Fans of the books will acknowledged this as a really iconic second in The Eye of the World and what I like about it for individuals who don’t know something concerning the books, this can be a second if you see our lead, Rosamund Pike, Moiraine, trying again over her shoulder and saying we don’t know what’s by right here, however come alongside for the trip.”

The Wheel of Time’s first season will come to Amazon in November 2021.

Image: Amazon Studios