HBO Developing New Epic Fantasy Series Based On Comic Book Series ‘Asunda’
WithGame of Thronesset to slay its last White Walker this year, HBO is eager to find its next hit fantasy series. The network has begun development on the epic fantasy seriesAsunda, based on the comic book universe of the same name created bySebastian A. Jones.TheAsundaTV series will center on an orphan girl born of two nations who must battle an ancient enemy in a “culturally rich world” that looks to be even more diverse thanGame of Thrones
Deadlinereports that HBO has begun developing anAsundaTV series that will be co-written and executive produced by Jones, whose independent imprint, Stranger Comics, began publishing comics set in the Asunda universe in 2014 following aKickstartercampaign. The universe of Asunda would continue to be fleshed out in “shared universe” titles published by Stranger Comics includingNiobe,Dusu,ErathuneandEssessa— all named after people or places in the culturally diverse, war-torn world of magic and epic battles.
TheAsundaTV series will focus on the titular character ofNiobe, an orphan girl who was conceived through violence and raised in the tiny desert town Oasis, and must search for her ancestors in order to face an ancient enemy. First introduced in the graphic novelThe Untamedin 2014, Niobe Ayutami went on to become the face of the franchise, with her further adventures chronicled in titles such asNiobe: She Is LifeandNiobe: She Is Death.
Here is the logline for theAsundaTV series, per Deadline:
Asundais set in the culturally rich but war-torn world of Asunda, where an orphan girl is born of two nations and raised in a small desert town. Hunted by all, she will search for her ancestors and the courage to bind them against an ancient enemy.
The world ofAsundais reportedly inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth epics and Greek mythology, and is “similar in setting to Westeros,” which makes it an easy fit for theGame of Thrones-sized hole that HBO will soon have in its schedule. It’s encouraging too thatAsundais already looking to be more racially diverse thanGame of Thrones, a problem that the series struggle with. However, I wonder if HBO can repeat the success ofGame of Throneswith another similar series, or if the hit fantasy show was lightning in a bottle for the network.
