7 actors who should play Aegon the Conqueror in new Game of Thrones prequel

3. Aaron Taylor-Johnson should play Aegon the Conqueror

If you had asked me a few years ago whether I thought Aaron-Taylor Johnson could have pulled off a role like Aegon, I would have been hesitant. But after seeing him in movies like Godzilla and Bullet Train, I think it’s safe to say that he can exude the kind of gravitas required for a character like Aegon, while also giving him a slightly more scrappy edge. And while it’s maybe not the best example of his acting, we’ve even seen him rock a white wig before in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He’s got the look and the talent!

Taylor-Johnson has a lot of experience playing action heroes as well as characters with surprisingly dense emotional lives. At 32, he’s the youngest actor on the list so far as well. For my money, he could believably play someone in their late twenties as well as someone much older, which would be important if the Aegon show went on for a while and covered different parts of his reign.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson also comes with the added bonus that while he’s done a lot of genre stuff in the past, he’s never had an iconic enough role in his adult life that he’s associated with sci-fi and fantasy specifically. With Cavill, the Geralt comparisons will be inevitable; same for Campbell Bower and Vecna. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is an established actor with a huge range, but playing Aegon could provide him with a breakout role. He’d be Aegon first, with no baggage attached, a breath of fresh air in Westeros!