Why Henry Cavill shouldn't play Aegon the Conqueror in HBO's Game of Thrones prequel

Henry Cavill is a beloved actor. He just is. Whether it's that time he posted a video of himself building a PC, the fact that he's been involved with so many high-profile fantasy and sci-fi franchises (Superman, The Witcher, Highlander, Warhammer, etc), the fact that he's really really good-looking, or some combination of these, many fans have cleared out places in their hearts for the British performer. People are always excited when he announces a new project, and regularly fan-cast him in new shows and movies.

Case in point: for years now, Game of Thrones fans regularly bring up Cavill's name whenever there's fresh talk about Aegon I Targaryen, the original Targaryen warlord who conquered Westeros alongside his sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya before becoming the first king of the Seven Kingdoms (well, technically Six Kingdoms; Dorne held out for a while). We've known for a while that HBO was considering making a TV show about Aegon, and just recently we learned that they've signed up a writer: The Batman: Part Two scribe Mattson Tomlin. And so the calls for Cavill to play the legendary dragon-rider resume.

That said, checking the reactions online, there's also a fair bit of fatigue over the suggestion that Cavill be first in line to play Aegon. "There is only one person I want to see play aegon the conqueror and it’s Henry Cavill," tweets out one fan. "Cast Henry Cavill as Aegon asap. There is no one else," opines another. But I'm more intrigued by the fans who seem tired of this. For example:

• "I don’t want to hear ANYONE say Henry Cavill for Aegon!!"
• "Everytime I see Henry Cavill photoshopped as Aegon, I shed decade off my life."
• "Stop the 'we want Henry Cavill as Aegon' madness, please!"
• "i swear if i see one more tweet saying henry cavill as aegon i will break something"
• "Every time someone fancasts HenryCavill and Chris Hemsworth as Targaryens, winds of winter is delayed by one day."

One person brings up that, at 40 years old, Cavill may be a bit too long in the tooth to play Aegon, who was in his 20s when he stormed Westeros with his sisters. I don't think that's too big an impediment to casting him; Cavill is a good-looking guy and they could probably change things around a bit to fit him. Plus, Aegon's story does continue after he becomes king. That said, I think he's a bit of an uninspired choice for the part.

The necessity of doing something different

Sometimes I think that people default to picking Cavill as Aegon because he's playing another fantasy character with long silver-white hair: Geralt of Rivia on The Witcher. But that alone doesn't qualify him to play Aegon. We don't know the qualifications yet; they will depend on how HBO chooses to portray him, assuming this new Game of Thrones prequel show ever gets made.

At one point when HBO was developing its Aegon the Conqueror show, it was considering depicting Aegon as a "drunken lout." The idea there was to draw a parallel to William the Conqueror, the real-life historical figure on whom Aegon is loosely based. That idea could also dovetail with what we learned about Aegon in House of the Dragon, HBO's first Game of Thrones spinoff: that he was burdened with a prophetic dream that he had to take over Westeros so humanity would later be prepared to fight the existential threat posed by the White Walkers. That kind of thing could drive someone to the bottle.

We don't know if HBO is still going in this direction, but I like the idea of giving Aegon some kind of twist. In George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, Aegon is painted with broad strokes. What kind of person takes it upon themselves to conquer a nation and install himself as its king? With Cavill in the role, I think what most people envision is a straight-forward hero type, a strong leader with the will to do what no one else can. But that template feels a little tired to me, not to mention that when those types of characters turned up on Game of Thrones — Ned Stark, Robb Stark, etc — they tended to die horrible deaths, so I'm not sure George R.R. Martin is very interested in them either. He seems to have more affection for the marginalized and offbeat characters, like the wise-cracking Tyrion Lannister or the vengeance-fueled Arya Stark.

So if this Aegon show comes to pass, I'd be interested in seeing HBO swerve a bit with the casting. What if they decided to go with creepy Aegon and cast IT's Bill Skarsgård? How about giving Aegon a touch of danger by casting Dune star and Hollywood golden-boy-in-the-making Austin Butler? What about Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe as a timid, messy Aegon who goes off to meet his destiny against his better judgment? Or (and this is the most likely, best option), what about casting a largely unknown actor who fits whatever parameters HBO comes up with?

And even if Mattson Tomlin does decide to make Aegon a straight-forward fantasy hero, resisting the most obvious casting choice could be a good move. Look at what happened with the character of Daemon Targareyen on House of the Dragon. Before he was cast, a lot of people were recommending he be played by actors like Travis Fimmell, who had cut his teeth on the show Vikings. Fans were skeptical that Matt Smith, an actor best known for playing the Doctor on Doctor Who, could pull off a character as famously mercurial as Daemon, but he's since made Daemon the breakout character from that series. Sometimes perfection can come from the most unexpected of places.

All of this is very early days; we don't know if the Aegon show will ever make it to air, let alone who HBO will cast if it does. But if we get to that point, I hope people keep an open mind when it comes to casting. Henry Cavill will have a splendid career whether or not he plays the role of Aegon. And who knows? Maybe he'd be perfect. But I want HBO to go beyond asking what the fans want to see, and ask what this show needs to be different, daring, and indispensable.

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