Tessa Thompson joins George R.R. Martin to produce Who Fears Death for HBO

Tessa Thompson teams up with George R.R. Martin and others to produce Who Fears Death, a post-apocalyptic fantasy show set in North Africa.

The TV fantasy revolution kicked off by Game of Thrones has already resulted in shows like The Witcher and His Dark Materials, with upcoming shows like The Wheel of Time keeping it going. And it’s far from over. HBO has more fantasy series in the hopper, including Who Fears Death, an adaptation of Nnedi Okorafor’s award-winning 2011 novel.

Who Fears Death is set in a post-apocalyptic version of Sudan, where the light-skinned Nuru oppress the dark-skinned Okeke. The protagonist, Onyesonwu, is the child of an Okeke woman raped by a Nuru man. She goes on a journey to defeat her sorcerer father, mastering her magical abilities while becoming a beacon for an oppressed people.

The show sounds more than interesting enough on its own merits. Also noteworthy is that A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has been on board as an executive producer pretty much since the beginning, and wrote last year about how he was “still involved in trying to bring Nnedi Okorafor’s brilliant WHO FEARS DEATH to the small screen.” Angela Mancuso and Michael Lombardo are also EPs, and Okorafor herself is a co-executive producer. Jessica Jones and Luke Cage writer Aïda Mashaka Croal is serving showrunner, writer and exec producer.

Now, Deadline reports that Westworld and Thor: Ragnarok star Tessa Thompson is also coming on board as an executive producer, working through her newly formed production company as part of a bigger deal she has with HBO and HBO Max. “I’m beyond thrilled to officially launch my production company, Viva Maude, which has been a real passion project and labour of love over the last few years,” she said in a statement. “I’m elated to begin this partnership and to bring entertaining and impactful television projects to my friends and collaborators at HBO and HBO Max. Together we are committed to developing interesting and inclusive stories with inventive creators and to discover new voices and visionaries.”

This particular show sounds like it’s a ways off, but there’s some impressive talent coming together behind the camera. HBO was at the cutting edge of the fantasy genre when it took a gamble on Game of Thrones, so let’s hope their working off similar instincts here.

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