Last month, we learned that a company called Colossal Biosciences had managed to bring dire wolves, massive wolves that have been extinct for over 10,000 years, back into our world. Dire wolves have enjoyed renewed interest thanks to Game of Thrones, where each of the Stark children got to raise one. Colossal knew that and took full advantage, inviting A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin to be part of the experience and photographing two newborn brothers — Romulus and Remus — dozing on the Iron Throne:
Scientists revived dire wolves, which have been extinct for thousands of years, and then photographed them on the Iron Throne: pic.twitter.com/MqLgqEcO3f
— Winter is Coming (@WiCnet) April 7, 2025
Colossal was also smart enough to reach out to Game of Thrones stars like Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) to get their reactions. And just the other day, Turner posted a couple of pics of the new dire wolves while marveling that such a thing could exist in this day and age.
"For 15 years, dire wolves have been a huge part of my life, but only in stories and on screen–until now," Turner wrote. "Thanks to Colossal, we are getting to experience a monumental moment, not just for the return of the iconic dire wolf, but for science, for conservation, and for everyone who’s ever dreamed of the impossible."
It's true that dire wolves have been in Turner's life for a long time. After Sansa's own direwolf Lady died very early on in Game of Thrones, Turner actually adopted Zunni, the Mahlek Northern Inuit dog who played her, to raise as a pet!
Sansa's dire wolf, Lady, was played by Zunni from Mahlek Northern Inuit Dogs. After Zunni was no longer needed for the show, Sophie Turner adopted Zunni as her own pet pic.twitter.com/77ccvqtnTN
— Thrones Facts | HOTD 🐉 (@Thrones_Facts) October 30, 2019
Man, what if dire wolves on a future Game of Thrones spinoff are actually played by dire wolves provided by Colossal Biosciences?
We have to mention now that there's debate over whether Collosal actually revived real dire wolves; technically, they edited the genes of modern grey wolves to make them look like what we think dire wolves looked like thousands of years ago. But if it walks, barks and howls like a dire wolf, does it make a difference? A question for the philosophers.
In any case, Colossal plans to use their technology to revive other extinct species like the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth, as well as to help bring endangered species back from the brink. As for Turner, she'll soon be starring in a medieval horror film called The Dreadful alongside none other than Kit Harington.
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